Abstract: Apparatus and method for mitigating impedance changes in a microactuator conductive joint. In accordance with some embodiments, a microactuating element has a conductive input junction, the junction having dissimilar metals in contact with one another. The microactuating element is adapted to mechanically deform to displace a control object responsive to a micractuation control signal that is applied to the junction. A control circuit applies a bi-directional transition signal to the conductive input junction to reduce an increased impedance of the junction.

Abstract: An apparatus for collecting condensed vapor during physical vapor deposition includes an enclosure configured to be placed adjacent to one or more vapor sources in a vacuum chamber. The enclosure includes an internal surface of the enclosure partially enclosing a volume of space configured to receive an object wherein the enclosure is maintained at a cooler temperature than the one or more vapor sources. The internal surface of the enclosure is coupled to one or more drainage gutters drainage drainage gutters.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided that includes a waveguide adjacent an air bearing surface, a near-field transducer comprising a peg having a side orthogonal to the air bearing surface and a write pole adjacent to the waveguide. The write pole includes a first portion extending towards the air bearing surface at a non-orthogonal angle with respect to the air bearing surface, and a second portion in contact with the first portion comprising a side that extends towards and orthogonally contacts the air bearing surface. The second portion or the write pole defines a gap between the side of the peg orthogonal to the air bearing surface and the side of the second portion of the write pole that extends towards and orthogonally contacts the air bearing surface. A method of making a magnetic recording head that includes the provided apparatus is also disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus having a recording layer of a magnetic material with a concentration of implanted ions that increases in relation to a thickness direction of the recording layer to provide the recording layer with a continuously varied perpendicular magnetic anisotropy constant.

Abstract: Provided herein is an apparatus, including a plurality of disk clamp notches spaced about an outer lip of an annular disk clamp; an annular groove in an outer perimeter of a hub; and a mounting point on the hub for at least one disk, wherein the annular disk clamp occupies the annular groove of the hub, clamping the at least one disk onto the hub at the mounting point for the at least one disk.

Abstract: Displaying storage device status conditions using multi-color light emitting diodes (LEDs) involves monitoring values of a status condition of at least one persistent storage device. The values are mapped to two or more colors, and at least one multi-color LED displays the two or more colors in response to the respective values.

Abstract: An apparatus with reduced torque ripple is disclosed. The apparatus includes a back electromotive force (BEMF) detector, a harmonic identifier, and a compensator circuit. The BEMF detector is configured to detect a BEMF voltage waveform. The harmonic identifier is configured to receive the BEMF voltage waveform and is further configured to identify at least one harmonic contributing to a torque ripple. The compensator circuit is configured to compensate for the at least one harmonic to reduce the torque ripple.

Abstract: A light delivery system in a slider includes a channel waveguide, a mode-index refractive surface, a solid immersion mirror, and a near field transducer. The mode-index refractive surface shapes the angular spectrum of the light on its path to the solid immersion mirror in a manner so as to change the distribution of light energy focused on to the near field transducer.

Abstract: Threshold voltage offsets for threshold voltages are determined. The threshold voltage offsets may be linearly related by a non-zero slope. The threshold voltages are shifted using their respective threshold voltage offsets. The threshold voltages that are shifted by their respective threshold voltage offsets are used to read data from multi-level memory cells.

Abstract: A magnetic write head is disclosed that includes a slider that includes a laser diode having a light-emitting edge or surface of a laser diode and an optical waveguide. The disclosed magnetic write head also includes a dielectric layer disposed in a gap between the laser diode and an input to the optical waveguide. The dielectric layer fills the gap completely and provides a low-loss optical pathway for the laser diode to the input of the optical waveguide. Also disclosed is a method that includes spinning on a dielectric in a gap between the light-emitting surface and the optical waveguide coupler, wherein after the spinning on, the laser diode is optically coupled to the optical waveguide coupler through the dielectric.

Abstract: Shrouding a disc to attenuate excitation energy of windage created by rotating the disc, with a shroud defining an edge-wise gap between the shroud and the disc, and the shroud further defining surface-wise gaps between the shroud and opposing disc surfaces, wherein the surface-wise gaps are characterized by opposing parallel surfaces having protuberant features depending therefrom toward each other that define minimum clearances with the disc surfaces.

Abstract: Implementations disclosed herein allow a magneto-optical polarization rotator to couple light from a light source of a HAMR recording device to waveguide attached to a slider. According to one implementation, the magneto-optical polarization rotator has a magnetophotonic crystal structure with a number of thin film layers configured to rotate the light by 90 degrees.

Abstract: A vibration test fixture includes a shaker and a slip plate coupled with the shaker. A mounting plate may be coupled with the slip plate and a cylindrical bridge may be coupled with the mounting plate. A sensor may be coupled with the bridge.

Abstract: Provided herein is an apparatus, including a plurality of teeth extending from an outer perimeter of an annular disk clamp to an inner perimeter of the annular disk clamp and an annular groove in an outer perimeter of a hub, wherein the plurality of teeth do not engage the annular groove of the hub when the disk clamp is unlocked into an unlocked form, and wherein the plurality of teeth engage the annular groove of the hub when the annular disk clamp is locked into a locked form, clamping at least one disk onto the hub at a mounting point for the at least one disk.

Abstract: Technologies are described herein for implementing modulation coding schemes for TDMR. A data sequence is received to be stored on a first data track of a recording media. The first data sequence is encoded into a first codeword sequence using a modulation coding scheme, and the first codeword sequence is written to the first data track of the recording media. Subsequently, a second data sequence is received to be stored on a second data track of the recording media, the second data track being adjacent to the first data track. A second codeword sequence is generated for the second data sequence based on the first codeword sequence on the first data track, and the second codeword sequence is written to the second data track of the recording media.

Abstract: A magnetic element is generally provided that can be implemented as a data reader. Various embodiments may connect a magnetic stack to a top shield and separate the magnetic stack from a bi-layer side shield. The bi-layer side shield may have a fixed magnetization layer and a soft magnetic layer each magnetically isolated from the top shield.

Abstract: A signal detector/decoder is implemented in multiple stages. The beginning stage is configured to input channel data bits and to output hard data bits based on the channel bits and a maximum likelihood (ML) path. The next stage includes a postcoder coupled to receive channel domain information from the first stage and to convert the channel domain information to user domain information. The final stage includes a reliability unit coupled to receive the user domain information from the postcoder and to output user domain soft information for the hard data bits based on the ML path estimation and the user domain information.

Abstract: A data reader can be configured with at least a magnetically responsive lamination that has a first portion with a first stripe height from an air bearing surface (ABS) and a second portion with a different second stripe height from the ABS. The first portion can be constructed to have a back edge surface shaped at a predetermined angle relative to the ABS by a back edge feature.

Abstract: A variety of data storage devices, methods and systems are implemented for control of memory associated with backup functionality. One such data storage device includes a power circuit that provides main power. The data storage device has a first solid-state memory circuit that maintains data in the absence of electrical power. A second memory circuit is subject to data loss in the absence of electrical power. A storage circuit stores energy and provides the stored energy to the second memory circuit in response to a loss of main power. A test circuit discharges a portion of the stored energy to provide output data indicative of power-providing capabilities of the storage circuit. A memory controller controls data transfers to the data storage device by temporarily storing data destined for the first solid-state memory circuit and setting the amount of memory available for temporary storage in response to the output data.

Abstract: In a particular embodiment, a controller is adapted to perform a garbage collection operation to remove redundant data, to predict a performance parameter associated with performance of the garbage collection operation, and to abort the garbage collection operation when the predicted performance parameter exceeds a threshold.