Transition Curvature and Transition Broadening Analysis Using the Spin-Stand Imaging Technique

This paper presents an improved methodology of estimating transition curvature and transition broadening in perpendicular magnetic recording, using a spin-stand imaging technique. Due to the finite read resolution widths in the cross-track direction, the curvature and broadening of the measured transition will deviate from that in the magnetization. It is demonstrated that the reader width effects can be substantially eliminated by performing a specially designed trimming process which allows the reader to only see the written transitions from a small fraction of the track. Simulations illustrate that the trimming process effectively produces a narrow boxcar reader. This paper compares the results of this method for two heads with similar reader width but different writer width. It is shown that the trimming process has a stronger impact on the head with a larger ratio of reader width to writer width.