IP Library Granted Patent US 12,444,436
Granted Patent B1
US 12,444,436 · App. 18/678,681 · Granted Oct 14, 2025

Parabolic shaped plasmonic waveguide blocker for heat assisted recording head

Inventors: Hong Guo (Fremont, CA); Dayu Zhou (Fremont, CA); Tobias Maletzky (San Jose, CA); Weihao Xu (San Jose, CA); Koji Shimazawa (Cupertino, CA); Tsutomu Chou (Chiba, JP)
Assignee: Headway Technologies, Inc.
G11B5/40G11B2005/0021
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,444,436
App. No.
18/678,681
Granted
Oct 14, 2025
Kind
B1
Abstract

The present embodiments relate to a near-field transducer (NFT) for a hard disk drive write head with a parabolic waveguide blocker. The waveguide blocker can include a parabolic curved surface in a center portion of a first side of the waveguide blocker and a first side comprising a slope angle of between 10-90 degrees. The waveguide blocker can be configured to reduce electromagnetic radiation from the waveguide core and recycle a scattering field emitting from the NFT to mitigate a thermal background in a recording medium and improve a thermal gradient to increase an area density capacity (ADC) of the hard disk drive write head.

Claims (20)

1. A near-field transducer (NFT) for a hard disk drive write head, the NFT comprising:

a main pole (MP);

a bilayer transducer disposed adjacent to the MP;

a waveguide core; and

a waveguide blocker disposed adjacent to the waveguide core, wherein the waveguide blocker comprises a parabolic shape with a surface configured to be exposed to an ABS surface of the write head, wherein the waveguide blocker is configured to reduce electromagnetic radiation from the waveguide core and recycle a scattering field emitting from the NFT to mitigate a thermal background in a recording medium and improve a thermal gradient to increase an area density capacity (ADC) of the hard disk drive write head.

2. The NFT of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide blocker comprises a parabolic curved surface in a center portion of a first side of the waveguide blocker.

3. The NFT of claim 2 , wherein the curved surface is defined as a function of y=x{circumflex over ( )}2/(4*focal), wherein focal is a focal length of the waveguide blocker.

4. The NFT of claim 2 , wherein the first side of the waveguide blocker comprises a slope angle WGBa ranging between 10 and 90 degrees.

5. The NFT of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide blocker at least partially comprises Rhodium Iridium, Gold, Silver or Ruthenium.

6. The NFT of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide blocker comprises a Ruthenium layer disposed above both a leading shield layer and a silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer.

7. The NFT of claim 6 , wherein any of the Ruthenium layer and SiO2 layer is tapered ranging between 10 and 90 degrees as part of an ion beam etching and photoresist masking process.

8. The NFT of claim 7 , wherein a full film of SiO2 is disposed over the Ruthenium layer.

9. The NFT of claim 8 , wherein the waveguide core comprises Tantalum Oxide (TaOx) and is disposed on the full film of SiO2 adjacent to the Ruthenium layer.

10. A waveguide blocker for a write head comprising:

a first side that is tapered at an angle-ranging between 10 and 90 degrees; and

a parabolic portion disposed in a center of the first side of the waveguide blocker, wherein the waveguide blocker is configured to reduce electromagnetic radiation from a waveguide core and recycle a scattering field emitting from the NFT to mitigate a thermal background in a recording medium and improve a thermal gradient to increase an area density capacity (ADC) of the write head.

11. The waveguide blocker of claim 10 , wherein the parabolic portion has curvature defined as a function of y=x{circumflex over ( )}2/(4*focal), wherein focal is a focal length of the waveguide blocker.

12. The waveguide blocker of claim 10 , wherein the waveguide blocker comprises a Ruthenium layer disposed above both a leading shield layer and a silicon dioxide (SiO2) layer.

13. The waveguide blocker of claim 12 , wherein any of the Ruthenium layer and SiO2 layer is tapered to between 10 and 90 degrees as part of an ion beam etching and photoresist masking process.

14. The waveguide blocker of claim 13 , wherein a full film of SiO2 is disposed over the Ruthenium layer.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2024
From: GUO, HONG; ZHOU, DAYU; MALETZKY, TOBIAS; XU, WEIHAO; SHIMAZAWA, KOJI; CHOU, TSUTOMU
To: HEADWAY TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Reel/Frame 068583/0640 →
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