An apparatus according to one embodiment includes a transducer structure having: a lower shield, an upper shield above the lower shield, a current-perpendicular-to-plane sensor between the upper and lower shields, and an insulating layer between the at least one lead and the shield closest thereto. At least one lead is selected from a group including: an upper electrical lead between the sensor and the upper shield and a lower electrical lead between the sensor and the lower shield. The at least one lead is in electrical communication with the sensor. A width of one or more of the at least one lead in a cross track direction is about equal to a width of the sensor.

A computer program product for orienting a head, according to one embodiment, includes a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith that are readable/executable by a controller to cause the controller to determine a desired pitch for transducers of a magnetic head for reading and/or writing to a magnetic tape, and are readable/executable by the controller to cause the controller to cause a mechanism to orient the magnetic head towards first and second positions to achieve the desired pitch when the tape travels in first and second directions, respectively. Outer data transducers of the third array are about aligned with outer data transducers of the second array when the magnetic head is positioned towards the first position, and the outer data transducers of the third array are about aligned with outer data transducers of the first array when the magnetic head is positioned towards the second position.

[Object] To provide a technology of a servo write head and the like capable of improving the recording accuracy of a servo pattern. [Solving Means] A servo write head according to the present technology includes a recording surface. This recording surface has a first region and a second region, and records a servo pattern on a magnetic tape by a magnetic gap, the first region being formed in with a first width a width direction and corresponding to a position where the magnetic gap is provided in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the width direction, the second region being formed with a second width narrower than the first width and corresponding to a position where no magnetic gap is provided in the longitudinal direction.

The present disclosure is generally related to a tape drive comprising a tape head and a controller coupled to the tape head. The tape head comprises one or more modules, each module comprising a plurality of write heads aligned in a first row, a plurality of read heads aligned in a second row parallel to the first row, and at least four first servo heads aligned in the second row. Two or more first servo heads of the at least four first servo heads are configured to concurrently read first servo data from a first servo track. The controller is configured to concurrently process the first servo data, to compute the position of the tape head based on a known spacing between the at least two servo heads, and to dynamically adjust a position of the tape head based on the processed first servo data.

The present disclosure is generally related to a tape head and a tape drive including a tape head. The tape head comprises one or more head assemblies, each head assembly comprising a plurality of write heads aligned in a row, at least one writer servo head aligned with the row of write heads, a plurality of read heads aligned in a row, and at least one reader servo head aligned with the row of read heads. The writer servo head and the reader servo head are independently controllable and are configured to operate concurrently. The tape head is able to accurately and independently position the write heads using the writer servo head(s) when writing data to a tape and position the read heads using the reader servo head(s) when reading data from the tape, even if the write heads and read heads are or become mis-aligned.

An apparatus, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, includes an inner array of data transducers on a module, the data transducers of the inner array being aligned along a common axis that extends between distal ends of the module. Two outer arrays of data transducers are positioned to sandwich the inner array therebetween. Inner servo readers are positioned between the inner array and the outer arrays. Outer servo readers are positioned toward outer ends of the outer arrays. Widths of at least some of the outermost data transducers in the inner array are less than widths of at least some of the innermost data transducers in the inner array.

Embodiments are disclosed for a method. The method includes determining a reference plane for a tape drive read-write array. The tape drive read-write array includes a first array element, a predetermined array element, and a last array element. Further, determining the reference plane is based on a first array position of the first array element and a last array position of the last array element. The method also includes capturing a position of a predetermined array element using an imaging device. The method further includes determining a deviation of the captured position from the reference plane. Additionally, the method includes generating a plot of an in-plane bow based on the deviation.

The present disclosure generally relates to a tape drive. The tape drive comprises a first tape head and a second tape head linearly aligned with one another, where the first tape head and the second tape head are configured to concurrently operate. The first tape head and the second tape head each comprise a plurality of write transducers, a plurality of read transducers, and a plurality of servo transducers. The tape drive further comprises a first actuator coupled to the first tape head and a second actuator coupled to the second tape head. The first and second actuators are configured to independently tilt and move the first and second tape heads, respectively. Tilting and moving the first and second tape heads individually enables the tape drive to compensate for non-linear tape dimensional stability effects.

The present disclosure generally relates to a tape head of a tape drive, and methods of forming thereof. In one embodiment, a tape head for magnetic storage devices comprises a trailing shield, a leading shield, a first write pole coupled to the trailing shield, a second write pole coupled to the leading shield, and side shields spaced from the first write pole and the second write pole by a thin insulation layer. The side shields are further disposed between the trailing shield and the leading shield. In another embodiment, a tape head for magnetic storage devices comprises a main pole disposed between a trailing shield and a leading shield and a side shield disposed adjacent to the main pole. The side shield is further disposed between the trailing shield and the leading shield and spaced from the main pole by a thin insulation layer.

The present disclosure generally relates to a tape drive including a tape head. The tape head comprises one or more modules, each module comprising a plurality of writers disposed in a first row, a plurality of readers disposed in a second row parallel to the first row, a first servo reader aligned with either the first row or the second row, and a second servo reader aligned in a third row parallel to the first and second rows. The first servo reader and the second servo reader are offset from one another in a first direction and in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, the first direction being a cross-track direction. The first servo reader and the second servo reader are spaced apart in the first direction about 1 μm to about 20 μm.