VCSEL array for HAMR
The present disclosure relates to pretreating a magnetic recording head for magnetic media drive. For a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head, a light source provides the necessary heat for the drive to operation. A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) is mounted to a top surface of a slider. A plurality of laser beams are emitted from the bottom surface of the VCSEL and directed to a corresponding number of waveguide structures within the HAMR head. The waveguide structures feed into a multimode interference (MMI) device that then directs the laser into a single waveguide for focusing on a near field transducer (NFT). The VCSEL lasers are phase coherent and have no mode hopping.
1. A magnetic recording head assembly, comprising:
a main pole;
a near field transducer (NFT) disposed near the main pole;
a waveguide structure coupled to the NFT, wherein the waveguide structure comprises:
a first waveguide coupled to the NFT;
a multimodal interference (MMI) device coupled to the first waveguide at a first end; and
a plurality of second waveguides coupled to a second end opposite the first end of the MMI device, wherein the plurality of second waveguides extend from the MMI device to a top surface of the head assembly, wherein the top surface of the head assembly is opposite a media facing surface; and
a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) device coupled to the top surface, wherein an output of the VCSEL device is phase coherent.
2. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a leading shield, wherein the NFT is coupled between the main pole and the leading shield.
3. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of laser apertures are aligned with the plurality of second waveguides in a near field.
4. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 1 , wherein a plurality of laser apertures are spaced from the top surface by a first distance of between about 1 microns to about 20 microns.
5. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of second waveguides comprises 2-16 second waveguides.
6. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 1 , wherein the first waveguide emits laser light from the MMI device that includes a combined power of a plurality of input lasers from the plurality of second waveguides.
7. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 1 , wherein the VCSEL device has a plurality of laser apertures that align with the plurality of second waveguides, and wherein the plurality of second waveguides align with a plurality of inputs to the MMI device, the inputs of the MMI device being phase coherent.
8. A magnetic media drive comprising the magnetic recording head assembly of claim 1 .
9. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 1 , wherein the VCSEL device has a plurality of laser apertures that align with the plurality of second waveguides.
10. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of laser apertures are spaced apart by a pitch of about 2 microns to about 5 microns.
11. A magnetic recording head assembly, comprising:
a main pole;
a near field transducer (NFT) disposed near the main pole;
a waveguide structure coupled to the NFT, wherein the waveguide structure comprises:
a first waveguide coupled to the NFT;
a multimodal interference (MMI) device coupled to the first waveguide at a first end; and
a plurality of second waveguides coupled to a second end opposite the first end of the MMI device, wherein the plurality of second waveguides extend from the MMI device to a top surface of the head assembly, wherein the top surface of the head assembly is opposite a media facing surface, wherein the first waveguide emits laser light from the MMI device that includes a combined power of a plurality of input lasers from the plurality of second waveguides; and
a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) device coupled to the top surface.
12. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 11 , further comprising a leading shield, wherein the NFT is coupled between the main pole and the leading shield.
13. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 11 , wherein a plurality of laser apertures are aligned with the plurality of second waveguides in a near field.
14. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 11 , wherein a plurality of laser apertures are spaced from the top surface by a first distance of between about 1 microns to about 20 microns.
15. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of second waveguides comprises 2-16 second waveguides.
16. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 11 , wherein the VCSEL device has a plurality of laser apertures that align with the plurality of second waveguides.
17. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of laser apertures are spaced apart by a pitch of about 2 microns to about 5 microns.
18. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 11 , wherein the VCSEL device is coupled to the top surface via one or more contacts.
19. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 18 , wherein the one or more contacts each comprises one or more electrodes.
20. The magnetic recording head assembly of claim 19 , wherein the one or more electrodes comprise a first electrode disposed on the top surface and a second electrode disposed on the VCSEL device.