Advanced MR read/inductive write heads for high performance, high density tape applications

Multi-track magnetic tape heads for use in high performance, high density storage subsystems are going through a rapid period of change in response to the continuing demand for increased capacity and data transfer rate. The luxuries of wide read and write tracks and low coercivity media have disappeared, increasing the problem posed for tape head design and manufacturing. The multi-track nature of the head is becoming more complex with the move to full thin film write head structures akin to the thin film disk head. The dramatic increases in track density while maintaining interchange requirements are resulting in significant dimensional reductions in the magnetoresistive (MR) read devices. The increasingly complex new heads dictate stringent process control and correspondingly more lenient head designs in order to achieve an acceptable yield. This paper summarizes the technology transition and the factors that drive those head changes from the media type and track density issues to the recording density and recording code advances.