Magneto-optic determination of magnetic recording head fields

A magneto-optic method for measuring the field from a magnetic recording head is presented. This technique relies on a high resolution scanning magneto-optic photometer system to acquire the data. Data is presented on the off-track fringe field from three heads of varying gap length and track width. As the gap length increases, it is found that the spatial extent of the fringe field increases. Also, as the track width decreases the effect of the opposite side of the track on the fringe field can be seen. For a narrow track head, the effect of closure domains, which limit the extent of the maximum field, is observed.