HAMR near field transducers based on microcavity disk lasers

This paper presents a design for a near field transducer (NFT) for heat assisted magnetic recording. The envisioned device is a microcavity disk laser that is proximate to a metallic needle. The optical excitation of the end of the needle from modes within the laser is carried to the surface of the medium along the needle and localized within the medium as a hot spot. Aspects of the design which are examined and optimized include the optical efficiency, i.e. the fraction of emitted optical power delivered to the FWHM of the hot spot (~10%), the ratio of temperature in the medium to that in the needle (4x) and possible routes to fabricating a realistic structure using a flip chip material transfer process.