Seagate Technology Incorporated

Samuel Gan

Lihong Zhang

Xiong Liu

Shashwat Shukla

Djohni Chandra

Terang KongBeng Thia

Tanghe Guo

MuiChong Chai

Takashi Fujita

Sanh Tran

A data storage device may be configured with a transducing head separated from a data storage medium by an air bearing. The transducing head and data storage medium are each contained within a housing. The transducing head can consist of a variable resistance sensor that is connected to a temperature module positioned within the housing. One or more operational variables can be measured by the variable resistance sensor to allow an ambient temperature within the housing to be calculated based on a measured operational variable.

Data storage device with moving ambient temperature sensor

The present application provides a transducer head comprising a laser source configured to heat a target storage medium surface, and a thermal sensor configured to detect a defect on the target storage medium surface. The present application also provides a method comprising heating a target storage medium surface with an energy source configured in a transducer head to irradiate the target storage medium surface, and detecting a defect on the target storage medium surface using a thermal sensor configured in the transducer head. Other implementations are also described and recited herein.

Disk surface defect detection

A method comprises sensing for thermal asperities while sequentially scanning a plurality of tracks of a magnetic recording medium in a first direction relative to an inner or outer diameter of the medium. The method comprises halting the scanning at a first track in response to detecting a thermal asperity at the first track, and skipping a predetermined number of tracks in the first direction to a second track. The method also comprises sensing for the thermal asperity while sequentially scanning the plurality of tracks beginning with the second track in a second direction opposite the first direction. The method further comprises halting the scanning at a third track in response to detecting the thermal asperity at the third track, and logging the first and third tracks as tracks between which the thermal asperity is located.

Thermal asperity detection apparatus and method

A slider generally comprises a substrate forming at least part of a body of the slider, a heat-assisted media recording (HAMR) read/write transducer proximate the substrate, and an end cap substantially encapsulating the HAMR read/write transducer. The end cap has a first surface proximate the substrate and a second surface as a trailing edge of the slider. The end cap has a first coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) similar to a corresponding CTE of the substrate. At least a portion of the second surface of the end cap has a second CTE that is lower than the first CTE. A body of the end cap is intermediate to the first and second surfaces of the end cap and has a CTE intermediate of the first and second CTE.

Head slider with adjusted thermal profile

A device may be configured at least with a controller connected to a transducer or transducing assembly that is positioned proximal a data storage medium having at least one thermal asperity or other similar defect. The controller may be configured to select a clearance height above the data storage medium in response to a measured severity of the at least one thermal asperity.

Adaptive defect avoidance device

Apparatus for recording data and method for making the same. In accordance with some embodiments, a magnetic recording layer is adapted to store data along perpendicular magnetic domains. A protective overcoat layer is formed on the magnetic recording layer to substantially protect the magnetic recording layer from environmental effects. The protective overcoat layer is made of carbon intermixed with at least one transition metal, such as but not limited to chromium.

Protective overcoat layer of carbon and a selected transition metal

A head crash in a hard disc drive is predicted by periodically measuring a head-disc contact energy level on an actuator arm supporting the head and identifying a predetermined change in the energy level between at least two energy level measurements. The head-disc contact energy level is measured by a positioning microactuator on the actuator arm, and comparing that energy level to a threshold established during an earlier or selected contact start-stop cycle. A circuit is coupled to the microactuator and is periodically operable to identify a magnitude of contact energy. An indicator is coupled to the circuit and responsive to the representations to indicate presence of symptoms of an impending crash.

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Singapore, Singapore

Samuel Gan