Western Digital Technologies, Inc.

Pradeep Senanayake

Hamid Balamane

Takuya Matsumoto

Mingjun Yu

Sung Hun Wee

Shawn Tanner

A heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) write head contains a main pole, a waveguide, and a near-field transducer containing an antenna disposed between the waveguide and the main pole. A first portion of the antenna includes a layer stack of three or more gold-based component layers that contain a waveguide-side outermost gold-based component layer, a pole-side outermost gold-based component layer, and one or more intermediate gold-based component layers. An intermediate gold-based component layer of the one or more intermediate gold-based component layers includes at least one platinum group metal (PGM) at a maximum total atomic percentage that is greater than a total atomic percentage of the at least one PGM in the waveguide-side outermost gold-based component layer and is greater than a total atomic percentage of the at least one PGM in the pole-side outermost gold-based component layer.

Heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) write head with enhanced stability and methods for making the same

Disclosed herein are embodiments of a heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head that includes a near-field transducer (NFT) with a trailing bevel. Also disclosed are sliders and data storage devices comprising those HAMR heads, and methods of manufacturing HAMR heads with NFTs having trailing bevels. A HAMR head comprises a waveguide core, a main pole, and a NFT comprising a trailing beveled edge at an acute angle to an air-bearing surface (ABS) of the HAMR head. A method of fabricating a HAMR head comprises depositing material for a NFT, creating a trailing-side surface of the NFT, and creating a trailing beveled edge in the trailing-side surface of the NFT at the ABS, and forming a dielectric layer over the trailing beveled edge. The trailing beveled edge is at an acute angle to the ABS, and a remainder of the trailing-side surface of the NFT is substantially perpendicular to the ABS.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Pradeep Senanayake