Media noise improvement through head-disk spacing reduction

Experimental and theoretical results show that media noise decreases with reduced head-media separation. Media with the same magnetic layer but with Cr overlayers of varying thickness were fabricated as a means to adjust head-media separation. Noise power vs. recording density curves exhibit an initial linear region followed by a supralinear region indicative of appreciable bit interaction. The noise maximum for the lower flying cases occurs at a higher density. The slope of the noise curve is also lower for lower fly heights, indicating a lower noise level per transition. Simulations of transition pairs show a clearly defined zig-zag structure for large head-media separations. When flying near contact, the zig-zag amplitude is greatly diminished