Verification of thermally induced nanometer actuation of magnetic recording transducer to overcome mechanical and magnetic spacing challenges

Protrusion of the recording element during the write process due to Joule heating and eddy-current losses adds a significant constraint in reducing the flying height of sliders found in magnetic recording devices. Variation of the drive temperature also adds similar constraint to the system. One method of overcoming these challenges is to control the relative position of the magnetic recording transducer with respect to the disk surface by thermally heating the transducer region, a concept outlined in a U.S. patent. In this paper, we experimentally show that the thermal actuation concept outlined in the patent can indeed be employed to control the magnetic spacing.