Recording Head Technology (DT312)

SynopsisThis course provides a broad overview of magnetic head technology to engineers working in the hard disk drive (HDD) industry. Starting with a brief introduction to hard disk drives so as to understand the importance of magnetic heads from a system perspective, the course will gradually move on to an in-depth coverage of fundamentals of magnetism and magnetic materials, and core technologies of magnetic read and write heads. In addition to magnetic heads, a brief introduction will also be given to magnetic recording media.

This comprehensive course is intended for magnetic heads design, fabrication, integration and quality control engineers who want to gain further understanding of the theories and principles of recording head technology. The course will discuss the challenges and limitations of various types of head designs and provide a comprehensive account on the state-of-the-art head designs and future technologies.

What You Will Learn

• Block diagram of HDD and roles of magnetic heads
• Basics of magnetism and magnetic materials
• Basics of magnetic circuit design
• Magnetic write head
• Anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR) read head
• Giant magneto-resistive (GMR) read head
• Magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) read head
• Current-perpendicular-to-plane (CPP) read head
• Recording media technology
• Future development of read/write head technology

Who Should Attend

• Design engineers
• Production engineers
• System integration engineers
• Quality control and failure analysis engineers

PrerequisiteBasic knowledge in electrical engineering, physics, materials science or working experience in relevant industry. Preferably, participants should have attended a fundamental course related to recording head technology or acquired a similar level of knowledge or experience in this subject area.

Course MethodologyThis course is conducted in a seminar room. Each participant will receive a set of course materials and a CD.

Course Duration4 days, 9am - 5pm

Course StructureDay 1

• Overview of Magnetic Recording Technology
• Origin of magnetism
• Magnetic materials
• Magnetic field, magnetic induction and magnetization
• Magnetic anisotropy
• Magnetic domain structure
• Magnetization process
• Basic magnetic circuit
• Magnetic writer

• Inductive magnetic reader
• Spin polarization
• Spin dependent electron transport in magnetic materials
• Anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR)
• Giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect
• Magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ)
• Spin-valve sensor
• AMR head design
• Spin valve head design
• Tunneling magneto-resistive (TMR) head
• Current-perpendicular-to-plane (CPP) head

• Head Fabrication process
• Electrostatic discharge (ESD)
• Basic read/write process
• Design of thin film media
• Crystalline structure and microstructure of thin film media
• Correlations between microstructure and magnetic properties
• Medium noise
• Medium thermal stability and superparamagnetic limit

• AFC media for improving thermal stability
• Perpendicular recording media
• Patterned media
• Future of read/write head technology
• Overview of solid state memory
• HDD versus SDD