Seagate Technology Incorporated

Song Chen

Declan Macken

Xiaoyue Huang

Chubing Peng

Yuhang Cheng

Tae-Woo Lee

Patrick Carl Fletcher

Kent Edward Bodurtha

Sissay Yoseph

An apparatus comprises a slider configured for magnetic recording. The slider comprises an air bearing surface (ABS), a writer, a reader, and a plurality of electrical bond pads. A thermocouple is situated at the ABS proximate the reader and coupled to a pair of the electrical bond pads. The thermocouple is dimensioned to sense for a thermal asperity on a surface of a magnetic recording medium.

Slider incorporating a thermocouple for detecting thermal asperities

Waveguides that include a top cladding layer; a bottom cladding layer; and a core layer positioned between the top cladding layer and the bottom cladding layer, the core layer including a material having a refractive index of not less than 2.1, for example amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide (SiC:H), or bismuth titanate. Methods of forming core layers of waveguides are also disclosed.

Waveguides including novel core materials

A waveguide core extends from an input coupler towards a media-facing surface of a read/write head. A cap is located between a terminating end of the waveguide core and the media-facing surface. The cap is formed of a high index of refraction, high-corrosion resistant material that is different than a material used to form the waveguide core. A near-field transducer is proximate the cap in a down-track direction. A head overcoat on the media-facing surface covers the cap.

Corrosion resistance cap located on end of waveguide core

A slider is configured for heat-assisted magnetic recording and comprises an NFT and a transparent thermocouple configured to produce a signal indicative of temperature at the NFT. A detector can be coupled to the thermocouple and configured to detect one or both of spacing changes and contact between the slider and a magnetic recording medium.

Growing community of inventors

Edina, MN, United States of America

Song Chen