Thin Film Head for Perpendicular Magnetic Recording

Thin film heads for perpendicular recording were fabricated, with a main pole of Co-Zr-Nb and auxiliary pole of Permalloy, and their performances compared with those of unilateral bulk-type heads. When recording at 1.7 kFCI, the thin film heads yielded outputs twice as high as bulk heads at the same recording current. According to FEM analyses, this is because from 25 to 50 percent of the magnetic flux passing through the pole tip is linked with the coil, versus only about 15 percent for bulk heads. If the auxiliary pole thickness, auxiliary pole tip position and other factors are optimized, further improvements in sensitivity are possible.