PROXIMITY RECORDING - THE CONCEPT OF SELF-ADJUSTING FLY HEIGHTS

The working behavior of ''proximity recording'' heads is described in terms of physical changes which occur at the interface. The concept of in-situ adjustment of fly height is described and verified with both acoustic and component characterization techniques. We then contrast s uccessfully versus unsuccessfully designed proximity interfaces, and i llustrate two failure mechanisms associated with proximity recording. An adequate understanding and control of these behaviors is shown to b e critical for achieving a successful proximity design. We close with comments regarding several generalized design constraints.