High speed fet write driver for an inductive head

Abstract

An FET write driver providing high rates of data transfer to a magnetic storage medium by effectively utilizing the voltage swing provided by supply voltage. A first and a second p-channel FET power switch are coupled between the voltage supply and the inductive head, each having a high aspect ratio for low resistance. A first and a second current mirror are coupled at their inputs to the inductive head and a current source, each current mirror having a reference arm coupled to the current source and a mirror arm coupled to the inductive head. Each current mirror has an output coupled respectively to a first and a second mirror enabling FET switch, each having a high aspect ratio for low resistance. A pair of differential signals dp and dn selects the ON and OFF states of the FET switches to provide either a first current path through the first FET power switch and the second current mirror to provide a write current in a first direction or a second current path through the second FET power switch and the first current mirror to provide a write current in a second opposite direction. During operation, the low voltage drops across the FET switches allow for a substantial portion of the voltage supply to be available for writing using the inductive head. The circuit is inherently stable and avoids ringing and overshoot, which results in improved timing and maintains signal integrity. The write driver can operate with low voltage power supplies for cost reduction or low power consumption in products such as portable computers while still retaining a high data transfer rate. For multiple head disk drive units, a plurality of write drivers are provided that include an additional switch at the current source input, which allows a single current source to be utilized as a reference current and a single set of differential signals to control all of the write circuits.