Writer and Reader Head-to-Media Spacing Sensitivity Assessment in HAMR

We collate multiple experimental measurements of heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) near-field transducer (NFT) and reader sensitivity measurements on spinstand to compare and contrast with the conventional perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR). The readback process shares many similarities, but differences appear due to the increased measured curvature of the prewritten track, which increases the observed pulsewidth (Pw50), lower readback amplitude due to reduced flux from the media transition (MrT), and increased coating thicknesses. We find that the reader head-to-media spacing (HMS) sensitivities and requirements converge toward the conventional scaling requirements. The HAMR write process is more complex due to the uncertainties associated with the optical properties and protrusion position of the NFT. However, accumulating multiple studies varying write HMS with coatings, NFT changes, and media changes, we consistently observe lower sensitivities compared with the conventional writer HMS, in line with modeled comparisons, leading to more relaxed requirements on the NFT clearance than the PMR write HMS. A 1.5 Tbpsi basic technology demonstration demo is shared using the HMS numbers in the bounds of the claims.