A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head has a slider with a gas-bearing-surface (GBS). The slider supports a near-field transducer (NFT) and a main magnetic pole that has a step or recess in the NFT-facing surface near the GBS that contains plasmonic material. A thermal shunt is located between the NFT and the main pole to allow heat to be transferred away from the optical spot generated by the NFT. The NFT-facing surface of the main pole that is recessed from the step away from the GBS is in contact with the thermal shunt, and the thermal shunt is in contact with the plasmonic material in the step in the back region recessed from the GBS, so there is no increase in the spacing between the NFT and a large portion of the main pole.

The present disclosure generally relates to a tape head and a tape drive including a tape head. The tape head comprises a first same gap verify (SGV) head assembly comprising a first media facing surface (MFS) and a plurality of first write transducer and first read transducer pairs, and a second SGV head assembly comprising a second MFS and a plurality of second write transducer and second read transducer pairs. During operation, when a tape or magnetic media moves in a first direction over the tape head, the tape contacts the second MFS and is spaced from the first MFS, and when the tape moves in a second direction opposite the first direction over the tape head, the tape contacts the first MFS and is spaced from the second MFS. As such, the tape contacts only one edge of either the first or second MFS during operation.

An apparatus such as a device having a writer for magnetic media has a trailing pole piece having a portion adjacent a write gap, the portion having a throat height (h1) of between about 100 and about 800 nm, and an aspect ratio of thickness/throat height (t1/h1) in a range of 0.5 and 2.

An apparatus according to one embodiment includes a module having a tape bearing surface, a first edge, and a second edge. A sensor is located in a thin film region of the module. The sensor has a free layer. A distance from the first edge to the free layer is less than a distance from the second edge to the free layer. A method according to another embodiment includes detecting a distance between a free layer of a sensor and an edge closest thereto. The free layer is positioned between an upper shield and the edge. A wrap angle is selected based on the detected distance for inducing tenting of a magnetic recording tape in a region above the free layer when the magnetic recording tape moves over the module.

In one general embodiment, an apparatus includes a magnetic transducer having a CoFe layer and an at least partially polycrystalline alumina-containing coating on a media facing side of the CoFe layer. A graded layer comprising Co, Fe, Al and oxygen is positioned between the alumina-containing coating and the CoFe layer, wherein a ratio of Co to Al in the graded layer decreases from the CoFe layer toward the alumina-containing coating. In another general embodiment, an apparatus includes a magnetic transducer having a CoFe layer and an at least partially polycrystalline alumina-containing coating on a media facing side of the CoFe layer. CoFe-oxide crystallites are present at an interface region of the CoFe layer and the alumina-containing coating and the CoFe layer. Fabrication methods are also presented.

In one general embodiment, a method includes forming a slot on a tape bearing surface of at least a chip having a thin film layer with a plurality of transducers therein, the slot defining a skiving edge. A second operation is performed on the tape bearing surface of at least the chip for removing a portion of the chip positioned on an opposite side of the slot as the transducers. In another general embodiment, an apparatus includes a substrate, a thin film layer on the substrate having transducers therein, and a portion of a slot extending along the substrate, the portion of the slot defining a skiving edge. A length of a tape bearing surface between the substrate and the skiving edge is in a range of about 7 to about 30 microns.

A tunneling magnetoresistive (TMR) read head for magnetic tape has a tape-bearing surface (TBS) and includes a first magnetic shield, a first gap layer on the first shield, a TMR sensor on the first gap layer and recessed from the TBS, a second gap layer on the TMR sensor, a second magnetic shield on the second gap layer, and a magnetic flux guide between the first and second gap layers between the TBS and the recessed TMR sensor. The first gap layer has an insulating portion with an edge at the TBS and a non-magnetic electrically-conducting portion recessed from the TBS, with the TMR sensor located on the conductive portion. The sense current is between the two shields. An insulating isolation layer may be located between the first gap layer and the first shield layer with the sense current being between the second shield and the first gap layer.

A magnetic writer includes a high magnetic moment write pole layer on a main write pole, the write pole layer including a proximal end recessed from the air bearing surface, and a Wide Area Track Erasure (WATER) reservoir recessed from the proximal end of the write pole layer and transverse to a longitudinal direction of the main write pole. The write pole layer may be conformal in shape to, but have smaller dimensions relative to, the main write pole, such that a distance between their outer surfaces is generally constant in a flare region. The WATER reservoir width, in a cross-track direction, may be greater than or equal to the maximum width of the main write pole.

A recording head includes a near-field transducer proximate a media-facing surface. The near-field transducer comprises an aperture portion surrounded by walls of plasmonic material, the walls oriented normal to the media-facing surface. A notch protrudes within the aperture. The notch comprises at least one of Rh and Ir. A write pole is proximate the near-field transducer. The write pole has a back surface facing away from the media-facing surface and an aperture-facing surface proximate the aperture.

A tape head including a body with a tape-bearing surface configured to contact a magnetic tape, at least one transducer that is a read or write element, configured so the tape head may read from or write to the tape, in operation; and a monobloc closure with a structured cross-sectional profile, so as to exhibit: contact part, fixed on a side of the body which adjoins the tape-bearing surface at an edge thereof, the contact part having a top surface level with the tape-bearing surface; and connecting part integral with the contact part, the connecting part having a top surface recessed from the contact part's top surface, perpendicularly to a contact plane defined by said tape-bearing surface, so the connecting part's top surface does not contact the tape, in operation; and a broken line of mechanical weakness that extends at an end of said third surface.