Thermal analysis of a magnetic head

A magnetic head was thermally analyzed. A high-resolution measurement of the temperature distribution on an air-bearing surface (ABS) both during when a slider is flying and when it is not revealed a "butterfly"-shaped temperature distribution around the head elements. The distribution is important to accurately understand the head thermal protrusion and to design the head structure. The maximum temperature increase during when the slider was flying was as low as one fourth of that when it was not flying at the same applied write power. The temperature distribution across the head was very narrow when the slider was flying. The temperature increase at the slider body was similar to the flexure when the slider was not flying. Moreover, the temperature increase rate was about 1.46/spl deg/C/mW with an applied read power, and it was not large enough to interference the read performance and reliability during normal read operation.