International Business Machines Corporation

Peter Baechtold

Giovanni Cherubini

Evangelos Stavros Eleftheriou

Michel Despont

Gerd K Binnig

Johannes Georg Bednorz

Charalampos Pozidis

Abu Sebastian

Urs T Duerig

Armin W Knoll

Walter Haeberle

Deepak Ranjan Sahoo

Theodor W Loeliger

Gian R Salis

Evangelos S Eleftherious

A topography sensor and method include a probe configured to traverse a surface to determine a topography. A stray magnetic field is disposed in proximity to the probe. A magneto-resistive sensor is configured so that the stray magnetic field passing through it changes in accordance with positional changes of the probe as the probe tip traverses the surface.

Magneto-resistance based topography sensing

A storage device including a storage medium for storing data in the form of topographic or magnetic marks. At least one probe is mounted on a common frame, the common frame and the storage medium designed for moving relative to each other for creating or detecting said marks. Each probe includes a tip facing the storage medium, a read sensing element, a write element and a capacitive platform, that forms a first electrode and is designed for a voltage potential applied to it independent from a control signal for said read sensing element and for said voltage potential applied to said capacitive platform being independent from a control signal for said write heating element. It further comprises a second electrode arranged in a fixed position relative to the storage medium forming a first capacitor together wherein said first electrode and a medium between the first and second electrode.

Data storage device

Methods and apparatus for compensating offsets in a read signal generated by a sensor associated with a probe of a local-probe data storage device during read-scanning by the probe of bit-positions on a storage surface. An apparatus comprises a generator for generating an offset compensation signal, and a subtraction stage for producing an output signal dependent on the difference between the offset compensation signal and the sensor read signal at each bit-position. In some embodiments, an offset signal generator generates an offset compensation signal dependent upon a predetermined measurement of the sensor read signal. In another aspect the offset signal generator low-pass filters the sensor read signal during read scanning to generate the offset compensation signal. Particular embodiments also include a secondary offset compensation stage for applying additional offset compensation techniques to the output signal from the subtraction stage.

Offset compensation in local-probe data storage devices

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Gattikon, Switzerland

Peter Baechtold