ARTIFICIAL DOMAIN CONTROL OF A SINGLE-POLE HEAD AND ITS READ WRITE PERFORMANCE IN PERPENDICULAR MAGNETIC RECORDING

A single-pole head for perpendicular magnetic recording utilizes a sof t magnetic film as a main pole which acts as a flux guide. The propert ies of the main pole govern the head performance. In this paper, the r elation between the domain structure of the main pole film and its rec ording characteristics were investigated. In addition, the effects of domain-control techniques has been shown for film forming small notche s along its sides, and for multilayered film. We conclude that when th e spin rotation is dominant in the main pole film compared with the wa ll motion, high sensitivity and stability are accomplished. Finally, w e demonstrate a D50 of 170 kFRPI and an error rate of 10(-11) at 200 k FRPI utilizing a thin main pole film whose thickness is about 100 nm.