Method and system for providing an NFT having improved mechanical stability
A method and system provides an EAMR transducer. The transducer is coupled with a laser for providing energy and has an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to a media during use. The EAMR transducer includes a composite near field transducer (NFT), a write pole and at least one coil for energizing the write pole. The write pole is configured to write to a region of the media. The composite NFT is for focusing the energy onto the region of the media. The composite NFT includes at least one metal and at least one insulator therein.
1. An energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer coupled with a laser for providing energy and having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to media during use, the EAMR transducer comprising: a composite near field transducer (NFT) for focusing the energy onto a region of the media, the composite NFT including a plurality of metal layers interleaved with at least one insulating layer, the plurality of metal layers sandwiching the at least one insulating layer, a metal layer of the plurality of metal layers residing at a surface of the composite NFT, the surface of the composite NFT configured to focus the energy, the plurality of metal layers sharing a plurality of interfaces with the at least one insulating layer, the plurality of interfaces being substantially perpendicular to the ABS, the composite NFT including at least one metal and at least one insulator therein, the at least one insulator including at least one of SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 and C and comprising at least two volume percent of the NFT; a write pole configured to write to the region of the media, no portion of the write pole forming a part of the plurality of metal layers; and at least one coil for energizing the write pole.
2. An energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer coupled with a laser for providing energy and having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to media during use, the EAMR transducer comprising: a composite near field transducer (NFT) for focusing the energy onto the region of the media, the composite NFT including a plurality of metal layers interleaved with at least one insulating layer, a metal layer of the plurality of metal layers residing at a surface of the composite NFT, the surface of the composite NFT configured to focus the energy, the composite NFT including at least one metal and at least one insulator therein, and the at least one insulator including at least one of SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 and C and comprising at least two volume percent of the NFT; a write pole configured to write to a region of the media, no portion of the write pole forming a part of the plurality of metal layers; and at least one coil for energizing the write pole; wherein the composite NFT has a total thickness and wherein each of the plurality of metal layers is not thicker than one third of the total thickness and each of the at least one insulating layer is at least one nanometer.
3. The EAMR transducer of claim 2 wherein each of the plurality of metal layers is not more than one fifth of the total thickness.
4. An energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer coupled with a laser for providing energy and having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to media during use, the EAMR transducer comprising: a composite near field transducer (NFT) for focusing the energy onto a region of the media, the composite NFT including a plurality of metal layers interleaved with at least one insulating layer, a metal layer of the plurality of metal layers residing at a surface of the composite NFT, the surface of the composite NFT configured to focus the energy, the composite NFT including at least one metal and at least one insulator therein, the at least one insulator including at least one of SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 and C and comprising at least two volume percent of the NFT; a write pole configured to write to a region of the media, no portion of the write pole forming a part of the plurality of metal layers; and at least one coil for energizing the write pole; wherein the composite NFT has a total thickness and wherein each of the plurality of metal layers is not thicker than one half of the total thickness and each of the at least one insulating layer is not more than 2.5 nanometers thick and at least 1.5 nanometers.
5. The EAMR transducer of claim 1 wherein the at least one insulating layer includes not more than four insulating layers.
6. The EAMR transducer of claim 1 :
wherein the composite NFT has a total thickness of not more than fifty nanometers.
7. An energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer coupled with a laser for providing energy and having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to media during use, the EAMR transducer comprising: a composite near field transducer (NFT) for focusing the energy onto a region of the media, the composite NFT including at least one metal and at least one insulator therein; a write pole configured to write to the region of the media; and at least one coil for energizing the write pole wherein the composite NFT includes a plurality of insulating particles in a metal matrix and wherein the plurality of insulating particles includes C.
8. The EAMR transducer of claim 7 wherein the plurality of insulating particles constitute not more than twenty volume percent of the composite NFT.
9. The EAMR transducer of claim 7 wherein the plurality of insulating particles constitute at least two volume percent of the composite NFT.
10. The EAMR transducer of claim 7 wherein the plurality of insulating particles constitute at least four volume percent of the composite NFT.
11. The EAMR transducer of claim 1 wherein the at least one metal includes at least one of Au and Ag.
12. The EAMR transducer of claim 1 further comprising: a heat sink thermally coupled with the composite NFT and the write pole.
13. An energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer coupled with a laser for providing energy and having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to media during use, the EAMR transducer comprising: a composite near field transducer (NFT) for focusing the energy onto a region of the media, the composite NFT including a plurality of metal layers interleaved with and sandwiching at least one insulating layer, the at least one insulating layer consisting of at least one insulator, the plurality of metal layers consisting of at least one metal, a metal layer of the plurality of metal layers residing at a surface of the composite NFT, the surface of the composite NFT configured to focus the energy, the at least one metal including at least one of Au and Ag, the at least one insulator including at least one of SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 and C, the at least one insulator constituting at least two volume percent of the composite NFT, the plurality of metal layers sharing a plurality of interfaces with the at least one insulating layer, the plurality of interfaces being substantially perpendicular to the ABS; a write pole configured to write to the region of the media, no portion of the write pole forming a part of the plurality of metal layers; and at least one coil for energizing the write pole.
14. An energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) disk drive comprising: media; a slider having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to the media during use; a laser coupled with the slider and for providing energy; an EAMR head coupled with the slider and including an EAMR transducer optically coupled with the laser and including a composite near field transducer (NFT), a write pole, and at least one coil, the composite NFT for focusing the energy onto a region of the media, the composite NFT including a plurality of metal layers interleaved with and sandwiching at least one insulating layer, a metal layer of the plurality of metal layers residing at a surface of the composite NFT, the surface of the composite NFT configured to focus the energy, the plurality of metal layers sharing a plurality of interfaces with the at least one insulating layer, the plurality of interfaces being substantially perpendicular to the ABS, no portion of the write pole forming a part of the plurality of metal layers, the composite NFT including at least one metal and at least one insulator therein, the at least one insulator including at least one of SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 and C and comprising at least two volume percent of the NFT.
15. A method for providing an energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer coupled with a laser for providing energy and having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to media during use, the method comprising: providing a composite near field transducer (NFT) for focusing the energy onto a region of the media, the composite NFT including a plurality of metal layers interleaved with and sandwiching at least one insulating layer, a metal layer of the plurality of metal layers residing at a surface of the composite NFT, the surface of the composite NFT configured to focus the energy, the plurality of metal layers sharing a plurality of interfaces with the at least one insulating layer, the plurality of interfaces being substantially perpendicular to the ABS, the composite NFT including at least one metal and at least one insulator therein, the at least one insulator including at least one of SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 and C and comprising at least two volume percent of the NFT; providing a write pole configured to write to a region of the media; and providing at least one coil for energizing the write pole.
16. The method of claim 15 wherein the step of providing the composite NFT further includes: depositing a first metal layer of the plurality of metal layers; depositing an insulating layer of the at least one insulating layer; depositing a second metal layer of the plurality of metal layers; and patterning the composite NFT.
17. A method for providing an energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer coupled with a laser for providing energy and having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to media during use, the method comprising: providing a composite near field transducer (NFT) for focusing the energy onto a region of the media, wherein the step of providing the composite NFT further includes: depositing a first metal layer of a plurality of metal layers, the plurality of metal layers including at least one metal therein; depositing an insulating layer of at least one insulating layer, the at least one insulating layer including at least one insulator therein, the at least one insulator including at least one of SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 and C and comprising at least two volume percent of the NFT; depositing a second metal layer of the plurality of metal layers; and patterning the composite NFT; providing a write pole configured to write to the region of the media; and providing at least one coil for energizing the write pole; wherein the composite NFT has a total thickness, wherein each of the first metal layer and the second metal layer is not more than one half of the total thickness and the insulating layer is at least one nanometer thick and not thicker than three nanometers.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein the insulating layer is at least 1.5 nanometer thick but not more than 2.5 nanometers thick.
19. A method for providing an energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer coupled with a laser for providing energy and having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to media during use, the method comprising: providing a composite near field transducer (NFT) for focusing the energy onto a region of the media, wherein the step of providing the composite NFT further includes: depositing a first metal layer of a plurality of metal layers, the plurality of metal layers including at least one metal therein; depositing an insulating layer of at least one insulating layer, the at least one insulating layer including at least on insulator therein, the at least one insulator including at least one of SiO 2 , MgO, Al 2 O 3 , Ta 2 O 5 and C and comprising at least two volume percent of the NFT; depositing a second metal layer of the plurality of metal layers; and patterning the composite NFT; repeating the insulating layer depositing and second metal layer depositing steps until a first desired number of metal layers and a second desired number of insulating layers are provided, the first desired number of metal layers sharing a plurality of interfaces with the second desired number of insulating layers, the plurality of interfaces being substantially perpendicular to the ABS; providing a write pole configured to write to the region of the media; and providing at least one coil for energizing the write pole.
20. The method of claim 19 wherein the first desired number of metal layers is not more than five and the second desired number of insulating layers is not more than four.
21. The method of claim 17 wherein the composite NFT has a total thickness of not more than fifty nanometers.
wherein the composite NFT has a total thickness of not more than fifty nanometers.
22. A method for providing an energy assisted magnetic recording (EAMR) transducer coupled with a laser for providing energy and having an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to media during use, the method comprising: providing a composite near field transducer (NFT) for focusing the energy onto a region of the media, the composite NFT including at least one metal and at least one insulator therein, wherein the at least one metal and the at least one insulator are immiscible and the step of providing the composite NFT further includes: co-depositing the at least one insulator and the at least one metal such that the composite NFT includes a plurality of insulating particles in a metal matrix, the plurality of insulating particles including C; providing a write pole configured to write to a region of the media; and providing at least one coil for energizing the write pole.
23. The method of claim 22 wherein the plurality of insulating particles constitute not more than twenty volume percent of the composite NFT.
24. The method of claim 22 wherein the plurality of insulating particles constitute at least two volume percent of the composite NFT.
25. The method of claim 22 wherein the plurality of insulating particles constitute at least four volume percent of the composite NFT.
26. The method of claim 15 wherein the at least one metal includes at least one of Au and Ag.