Off-Track and Azimuth Angle Effects in Perpendicular Replay

We investigated the effects of transition curvature on T₅₀ and V_p-p for a shielded giant magnetoresistive (GMR) element reading a single, isolated transition recorded on a perpendicular medium in the presence of a soft magnetic underlayer. We considered displacement and rotation of the read head relative to the recorded track and a range of read head geometries. The curvature of the transition adversely affects T₅₀, which also increases with azimuth angle. Both T₅₀ and V_p-p decrease as either the GMR element or the element-side shield spacing is reduced