DETERMINATION OF THE NARROW READ WIDTH OF THIN-FILM MAGNETIC RECORDING-HEADS USING AN ERROR RATE MODEL

A method to deterimine the magnetic-recording characteristics of a thi n film head has been developed using error rate sampling, By combining results from a typical '747' curve and a modified '747' curve, called adjacent data curve, parameters such as the write width, the read wid th, and the side fringing erased band of a thin film head can be direc tly measured. In addition, the signal to noise ratio and the noise int ensity level in the side fringing erased bands, normalized to signal s trength, can also be determined. These measured parameters can be used to calculate the track profile width When comparing the calculated pr ofile widths with those obtained from the directly measured track prof ile curve, excellent agreement has been found, thus validating the pro posed method.