Censtor Corporation

Seagate Technology Incorporated

Wd Media, LLC

Ultratech Stepper, Inc.

Robert D Hempstead

Harold J Hamilton

Dimitre A Latev

Darren Todd Imai

William C Cain

Michael E Devillier

Alexander P Payne

David D Roberts

Keith R Berding

Michael A Baldwinson

Garrett A Garrettson

David A Markle

Andrew M Hawryluk

Christopher S Gudeman

Joachim Walter Ahner

Allen J Bourez

Mark Ian Lutwyche

Thomas Francis Ambrose

Maissarath Nassirou

Randolph S Gluck

Kai-Chieh Chang

Michael H Azarian

Jinliang Chen

Yew Ming Chiong

Richard D Anderson

Kaynam Chun

Kwang K Kim

A processing system for and a method of producing ions inside a process chamber and shielding the ions from a magnetic field by directing the magnetic field through a magnet keeper is described.

Processing system having magnet keeper

Epitaxial ferroelectric and magnetic recording structures having graded lattice matching layers are disclosed. A single crystal material such as Si may be used as a substrate material upon which the graded lattice matching layers are deposited. The lattice matching layers may comprise metals and metal alloys, or may comprise oxides doped with selected elements or deposited under different oxygen pressures. A recording layer, such as ferroelectric lead zirconium titanate or a magnetic Fe/Pt multilayer structure, is deposited on the graded lattice matching layers.

Epitaxial ferroelectric and magnetic recording structures including graded lattice matching layers

An information storage system includes a transducer having a loop of ferromagnetic material with pole tips separated by an nonferromagnetic gap located adjacent to a medium such as a rigid disk. During writing the separation between the pole tips and the media layer of the disk is a small fraction of the gap separation. Due to the small separation between the pole tips and the media layer, the magnetic field generated by the transducer and felt by the media has a larger perpendicular than longitudinal component, favoring perpendicular recording over longitudinal recording. The media may have an easy axis of magnetization oriented substantially along the perpendicular direction, so that perpendicular data storage is energetically favored. The transducer may also include a magnetoresistive sensor for reading magnetic information from the disk.

Hard disk drive for perpendicular recording with transducer having submicron gap between pole tips

A method of, and apparatus for, defining disk tracks in magnetic recording media. The track-writing apparatus ( ) is capable of forming tracks ( ) with a track width (TW) and track spaces ( ) with a space width (SW) on a magnetic media disk ( ) having an upper surface ( S), wherein the disk comprises a magnetic medium with a thermal diffusion length (X). The apparatus comprises, in order along an optical axis (A ), a laser light source ( ) capable of providing a pulsed laser light beam (B ), a light pipe ( ), and illumination shaping optical system ( ) that provides substantially uniform illumination over an exposure region (ER), and a phase plate ( ) having a phase grating ( ) with a grating period (p), arranged proximate and substantially parallel to the upper surface of the disk so as to form an periodic irradiance distribution ( ) at the surface of the disk when the phase plate is illuminated with the exposure region. The irradiance distribution is capable of heating one or more regions of the disk to beyond the Curie temperature of the magnetic media. A method of defining the disk tracks using Spatial Period Division (SPD) with the track writing apparatus described above by forming closed annular demagnetized spaces in a periodic magnetized pattern ( ) formed in the disk is also disclosed.

Method of and apparatus for defining disk tracks in magnetic recording media

A hard disk drive head operates in close proximity and dynamic contact with a rapidly spinning rigid disk surface, the head including a transducer with a magnetically permeable path between a poletip disposed adjacent to the disk surface and a magnetoresistive (MR) sensor situated outside the range of thermal noise generated by the surface contact. The magnetically permeable path is the same as that used to write data to the disk, eliminating errors that occur in conventional transducers having MR sensors at a separate location from the writing poletips. Moreover, the magnetically permeable path is preferably formed in a low profile, highly efficient &ldquo;planar&rdquo; loop that allows for manufacturing tolerances in throat height and wear of the terminal poletips from disk contact without poletip saturation or poletip smearing. The MR layer is formed in one of the first manufacturing steps atop the substrate, so that the MR layer has a relatively uniform planar template that is free from contaminants. A preferred embodiment has a laminated yoke for improved high frequency efficiency, with the MR element situated between the yoke lamina for improved sensitivity.

Contact planar magnetoresistive head

A transducer for a hard disk drive system has a planar magnetic core and a pair of poletips that project transversely from the core for sliding contact with the disk during reading and writing. The transducer is formed entirely of thin films in the shape of a low profile table having three legs that slide on the disk, the poletips being exposed at a bottom of one of the legs for high resolution communication with the disk, the throat height of the poletips affording sufficient tolerance to allow for wear. The legs elevate the transducer from the disk sufficiently to minimize lifting by a thin air layer that moves with the spinning disk which, in combination with the small size of the thin film head allows a low load and a flexible beam and gimbal to hold the transducer to the disk. The transducer includes a loop shaped core of magnetic material that ends at the poletips, the core extending further parallel than perpendicular to the disk surface and preferably being formed of a plurality of slightly spaced ribbons of magnetic material in order to increase high frequency permeance. A high magnetic saturation layer may be formed adjoining the gap in at least the trailing poletip, in order to avoid saturation at the poletips during writing. The dimensions of the yoke adjacent to the poletips are also designed to avoid saturation at the poletips by saturating at a lower flux in the yoke than the poletips. The close relationship between the transducer and the media of the disk affords high density magnetic data storage and retrieval.

Planar magnetic ring head for contact recording with a rigid disk

An information storage system having a ring head sliding on a rigid magnetic storage disk in such close proximity that the magnetic field felt by the media layer or layers of the disk has a larger perpendicular than longitudinal component so that data is stored in a perpendicular mode. The head to media separation during writing of data to the media is a small fraction of the amagnetic gap separating the poletips of the head. Reading of data may be inductive or may be via a magnetoresistive sensor which is coupled to the magnetically permeable core of the ring head far from the poletips. The media preferably has a high perpendicular anisotropy.

Hard disk drive having ring head with predominantly perpendicular media fields

An information storage system having a ring head in such close proximity to a rigid magnetic storage disk that the magnetic field felt by the media layer or layers of the disk has a larger perpendicular than longitudinal component so that data is stored in a perpendicular mode. Reading of data is accomplished with a magnetoresistive sensor which may be coupled to the magnetically permeable core of the ring head far from the poletips, which may contact the disk. The media preferably has a high perpendicular anisotropy, and may be formed in a plurality of films with crystalline structures traversing the films.

Hard disk drive with magnetoresistive head and perpendicular media

A operationally contacting hard disk drive system has reduced friction due to lower capillary adhesion between the disk surface and a transducer in a substantially continuous sliding relationship with the surface. The disk surface has an adhesion-reducing texture that includes a microscopic RMS roughness in a range between about 1.5 and 5.5 nanometers, or a number of asperities having a mean plane to peak height in a range between about 6 and 50 nanometers. The roughness may increase in a radially graded fashion to compensate for the increased linear velocity and concomitant frictional power loss near the outer diameter of the disk. It is important that the uppermost reaches of the textured surface are smooth but not flat in order to obtain lasting low friction operation, which is accomplished by constructing the surface with a highest approximately one percent having an average radius of curvature in a range between 2 microns and 100 microns. An area of the slider in apparent contact with the disk surface is preferably less than 1000 square microns, and a ratio between this nominal area and the mean to peak height is less than 0.3 meters. The slider may also include a substantial thickness of partially wetting material in contact with the disk, or may alternatively be textured with deep grooves or materials having differing wear rates, in order to provide reduced frictional adhesion despite wear of the slider.

Low friction sliding hard disk drive system

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Los Gatos, CA, United States of America

Robert D Hempstead