Headway Technologies, Incorporated

Ken Fujii

Weihao Xu

Koji Shimazawa

Shigeki Tanemura

Tobias Maletzky

Weisheng Hu

The present embodiments relate to a near field transducer for thermally-assisted magnetic recording (TAMR) with a hybrid plasmonic bottom layer. In a first example embodiment, a thermally-assisted magnetic recording (TAMR) write head is provided. The TAMR write head can include a main pole and a near field transducer (NFT). The NFT can include a first layer and a second layer. The first layer can include a first plasmonic material (e.g., rhodium, iridium, platinum). Further, the first layer can be disposed adjacent to the heat sink. The second layer can include a portion of a second plasmonic material (e.g., gold) and a first plasmonic portion (e.g., comprising rhodium). The first plasmonic portion of the second layer can be disposed adjacent to the ABS. The hybrid second layer (e.g., plasmonic bottom layer) can provide an improved NFT reliability during TAMR writing.

Hybrid plasmonic bottom layer for increased near field transducer reliability

A plasmon generator (PG) is formed between a waveguide and main pole, and has a front portion (Au/Rh bilayer) wherein the upper Rh layer has a peg shape at an air bearing surface (ABS), and a tapered backside that is separated from a PG back portion by a dielectric spacer. The lower Au layer has a front side recessed from the ABS and curved sides self-aligned with the Rh layer sides. A key feature is that the back section of lower Au layer curved side forms a smaller angle with a plane aligned orthogonal to the ABS than a front section thereof thereby selectively enabling a deformation of the back end of the Au layer during a heat treatment to &#x3e;300&#xb0; C. at the wafer level. Accordingly, the front end of the lower Au layer is densified and provides an improved heat sink to improve reliability and area density capability (ADC).

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San Jose, CA, United States of America

Ken Fujii