Microtrack profiling technique for narrow track tape heads

Microtrack properties of magnetoresistive (MR) tape heads are difficult to measure with conventional microtrack profiling techniques. The authors present a technique for rapid and dynamic measurement of these profiles for tape heads as narrow as 5 μm using a 5 μm-wide write head translated on a sinusoidal trajectory. The authors have used this technique on two types of tape heads, one where the only longitudinal bias is due to the shape anisotropy and one where exchange bias elements are used for end stabilization. These profiles give insight into the domain structure of the sensor and can be used as a diagnostic tool to predict head Barkhausen noise levels