Magnetic head having track width expansion mechanism, magnetic storage device and control circuit

• US 20090034111A1
• Filed: 12/07/2007
• Published: 02/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Nagai, Makoto
• Granted Patent: US 7,561,362 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 360/59
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2005/0005 Arrangements, methods or circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 2005/0021 Thermally assisted recording using an auxiliary energy source for heating the recording layer locally to assist the magnetization reversal
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/02 Recording, reproducing, or erasing methods; Read, write or erase circuits therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/314 where the layers are extra layers normally not provided in the transducing structure, e.g. optical layers G11B5/3196 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G11B 5/3967 Composite structural arrangements of transducers, e.g. inductive write and magnetoresistive read G11B5/3906 takes precedence

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to a magnetic head and a magnetic storage device using a recording medium. More particularly, the present invention relates to a magnetic head for expanding the track width of the recording medium, a control circuit for controlling the magnetic head, and a storage device that uses the magnetic head and the control circuit. The magnetic head includes a slider, a read element disposed on the slider, and a heater element disposed closer to the leading edge side of the magnetic head than the read element in a position opposite to a recording medium.

Claims

1. A magnetic head comprising:

a slider;

a read element disposed on the slider; and

a heater element disposed closer to the leading edge side of the magnetic head than the read element in a position opposite to a recording medium.

2. The magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the heater element is sandwiched by low-thermal expansion materials having thermal expansion coefficients smaller than that of the slider.

3. The magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein heat sinks are formed on the surface of the slider.

4. The magnetic head according to claim 1, wherein the heater element expands in the cross-track direction of the recording medium.

5. A magnetic storage device comprising:

a magnetic head provided with a heater element disposed closer to the leading edge side of the magnetic head than a read element in a position opposite to a recording medium; and

a recording medium.

6. The magnetic storage device according to claim 5, wherein the heater element causes the track width of the recording medium to expand in accordance with the core width of the read element at the time of read operation.

7. A control circuit comprising:

a heater element control circuit for controlling the amount of heat generated by a heater element in accordance with the core width of a read element; and

a heater element driver for heating the heater element at the time of read operation.