A magnetic recording writer is disclosed. In some embodiments, the writer includes a main pole having a front portion and a back portion, a gap layer surround the main pole at the ABS, and a shield structure. The front portion includes a pole tip at an ABS plane, a pole tip thickness in a down-track direction, and curved sidewalls on each side of a center plane that is orthogonal to the ABS and bisects the main pole. The back portion includes first flared sidewalls extending from the curved sidewalls at an angle between 0 and 25 degrees relative to planes parallel to the center plane. The shield structure includes sidewalls having a sidewall portion facing the main pole and formed substantially conformal to the curved sidewalls up to a height of about 30-200 nm where the sidewall portions no longer follow the shape of the main pole.

According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device comprises an actuator configured to drive a head stack assembly including a plurality of magnetic heads, a preamplifier connected to each of the magnetic heads with a plurality of traces, and a control section configured to control read/write of the plurality of magnetic heads from/to the magnetic disk through the preamplifier. While a first magnetic head among the plurality of magnetic heads executes a write operation, the control section interrupts access of a second magnetic head in proximity to the first magnetic head to the magnetic disk.

According to one embodiment, a magnetic disk device includes a rotatable disk-shaped recording medium, a magnetic head including a write head having a main magnetic pole that applies a recording magnetic field to the recording medium, an assist element that assists magnetic recording by the main magnetic pole, and a plurality of thermal actuators that control a head gradient with respect to the recording medium, and a controller which includes a detection unit configured to detect deterioration of the magnetic head, and changes a head gradient of the magnetic head by the thermal actuator according to the detected deterioration.

A magnetic recording writer is disclosed. In some embodiments, the writer includes a main pole having a front portion and a back portion, a gap layer surround the main pole at the ABS, and a shield structure. The front portion includes a pole tip at an ABS plane, a pole tip thickness in a down-track direction, and curved sidewalls on each side of a center plane that is orthogonal to the ABS and bisects the main pole. The back portion includes first flared sidewalls extending from the curved sidewalls at an angle between 0 and 25 degrees relative to planes parallel to the center plane. The shield structure includes sidewalls having a sidewall portion facing the main pole and formed substantially conformal to the curved sidewalls up to a height of about 30-200 nm where the sidewall portions no longer follow the shape of the main pole.

This magnetic recording head includes a main magnetic pole, a write shield, and an oscillation element. The oscillation element has a first oscillation portion, a second oscillation portion, and a non-magnetic conductive layer provided therebetween. The oscillation element has a first current path connecting the main magnetic pole and the non-magnetic conductive layer to each other, and a second current path connecting the write shield and the non-magnetic conductive layer to each other.

The present disclosure generally relates to data storage devices, and more specifically, to a magnetic media drive employing a magnetic recording head. The magnetic recording head comprises a main pole and a trailing shield disposed adjacent to the main pole. A recessed edge of the trailing shield has throat heights varying in the cross-track direction. In one embodiment, a central portion of the trailing shield disposed adjacent or closest to the main pole has a first throat height less than a second throat height of outer portions of the trailing shield further from the main pole. In another embodiment, the central portion of the trailing shield has a first throat height greater than a second throat height of outer portions of the trailing shield. The trailing shield having varying throat heights in the cross-track direction strengthens the writing capability or improves the XTI of the magnetic recording head.

A manufacturing method for a magnetoresistive element includes: a step of forming a stack; a step of forming an insulating film to cover the stack; a step of forming an initial magnetic layer to cover the stack and the insulating film so that a thickness of the initial magnetic layer in a first direction is greater than a thickness of the stack in the first direction; a step of forming an organic material film on the initial magnetic layer; and an etching step of etching a part of the initial magnetic layer and the organic material film by ion beam etching so that the initial magnetic layer becomes a pair of magnetic layers.

A magnetic recording head having air bearing surface (ABS) includes a main pole, a side shield laterally spaced from the main pole by a first side gap and a second side gap, an electrically conductive non-magnetic gap material layer disposed between the main pole and the side shield in the first side gap, and a dielectric non-magnetic gap material matrix and a conformal dielectric spacer layer disposed between the main pole and the side shield in the second side gap.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide various magnetic recording slider structures and fabrication methods that can reduce head overcoat (HOC) thickness without significantly reducing the lifetime and reliability of a slider by using a protective cap placed on preselected locations on the outermost surface or HOC of the slider. A slider includes a writer comprising an energy-assisted recording element. The writer is configured to store information on a magnetic medium using the energy-assisted recording element. The slider includes a head overcoat (HOC) layer providing an outermost media facing surface. The slider further includes a protective cap positioned on the HOC layer to at least partially cover the energy-assisted recording element, the protective cap including a preselected shape configured to protect the energy-assisted recording element.

According to one embodiment, a magnetic head includes a first magnetic pole, a second magnetic pole, and a stacked body provided between the first and second magnetic poles. The stacked body includes a first magnetic layer, a second magnetic layer provided between the first magnetic pole and the first magnetic layer, a third magnetic layer provided between the first magnetic pole and the second magnetic layer, a first nonmagnetic layer provided between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic pole, a second nonmagnetic layer provided between the second and first magnetic layers, and a third nonmagnetic layer provided between the third and second magnetic layers. The third magnetic layer includes first and second elements. The first and second magnetic layers do not include the second element. Or concentrations of the second element in the first and second magnetic layers are less than in the third magnetic layer.