Patents by Inventor Barry C. Stipe
Barry C. Stipe has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
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Publication number: 20250342856Abstract: The present disclosure relates to pretreating a magnetic recording head assembly for magnetic media drive. The magnetic recording head assembly comprises a slider having a media facing surface (MFS), a top surface disposed opposite the MFS, a trailing edge surface disposed adjacent to the top surface, and an optical grating disposed on the trailing edge surface. A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) device is mounted to the trailing edge surface of the slider. The VCSEL device is aligned with the optical grating. A magnetic recording head comprising a waveguide having a grating pattern and a light output pattern. The light output pattern can output in-phase or out-of-phase light. The grating pattern aligns with the optical grating and comprises a plurality of grating bumps. The grating bumps may comprise a high index material, and may have different dimensions.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 16, 2025Publication date: November 6, 2025Applicant: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Barry C. STIPE, Takuya MATSUMOTO, Hossein TAHERI, Wan KUANG
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Patent number: 12148458Abstract: Spot size converter (SSC) in a HAMR magnetic recording head assembly have a plurality of split assist core structures. Each split assist core structure includes multiple assist cores and a main waveguide. Each split core may also include one or more side waveguides such that the main waveguide is sandwiched between the side waveguides and top and bottom assist cores. Adjacent split assist core structures, may share assist cores. The split assist core structures reduce light source power utilized to write data to magnetic media.Type: GrantFiled: July 18, 2023Date of Patent: November 19, 2024Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Norman Nan Shi, Takuya Matsumoto, Barry C. Stipe
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Patent number: 12040001Abstract: The present disclosure relates to pretreating a magnetic recording head assembly for magnetic media drive. The magnetic recording head assembly comprises a slider having a media facing surface (MFS), a top surface disposed opposite the MFS, a trailing edge surface disposed adjacent to the top surface, and an optical grating disposed on the trailing edge surface. A vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) device is mounted to the trailing edge surface of the slider. The VCSEL device is aligned with the optical grating. A magnetic recording head comprising a waveguide and a near field transducer (NFT) coupled to the waveguide is disposed on the trailing edge surface of the slider. The VCSEL device is capable of emitting a plurality of lasers that are phase coherent on to the optical grating. The optical grating is capable of directing the emitted lasers about 90 degrees to the waveguide.Type: GrantFiled: August 3, 2023Date of Patent: July 16, 2024Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventor: Barry C. Stipe
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Patent number: 11817677Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), a head gimbal assembly for mounting a VCSEL, devices incorporating such articles, and to a process for forming a VCSEL. In an embodiment, a VCSEL device provided. The VCSEL device includes a chip for mounting on a slider, the chip having a plurality of surfaces and a notch, the plurality of surfaces comprising: a bottom surface for facing the slider; a top surface opposite the bottom surface; and a plurality of side surfaces, wherein the notch forms a recessed edge spaced away from the bottom surface and toward the top surface, the notch having a shoulder, a side, and an angle (?1) between the shoulder and the side. The VCSEL device further includes two laser diode electrodes positioned in any combination on one or more of the plurality of surfaces of the chip.Type: GrantFiled: June 13, 2022Date of Patent: November 14, 2023Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Takuya Matsumoto, Barry C. Stipe
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Patent number: 11657845Abstract: The present disclosure generally relates to a magnetic recording head for a magnetic media drive. The magnetic recording head comprises a near field transducer (NFT), a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) device, and a waveguide structure coupled between the NFT and the VCSEL device. The waveguide structure comprises a plurality of waveguide channels and a multimodal interference (MMI) combiner coupled to the waveguide channels. One or more of a curvature, a path length, and a propagation length of each of the waveguide channels is optimized such that each waveguide channel is controllable, or otherwise phase coherent with adjacent waveguide channels. The VCSEL device is capable of emitting a plurality of lasers through the plurality of waveguide channels, and the plurality of lasers are phase coherent when input into the MMI combiner. The MMI combiner combines a power of the plurality of lasers, which is output to the NFT.Type: GrantFiled: March 30, 2022Date of Patent: May 23, 2023Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Norman N. Shi, Takuya Matsumoto, Barry C. Stipe
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Patent number: 11651786Abstract: 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.Type: GrantFiled: March 1, 2022Date of Patent: May 16, 2023Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Barry C. Stipe, Takuya Matsumoto, Sergei Sochava
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Patent number: 11651787Abstract: 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.Type: GrantFiled: March 1, 2022Date of Patent: May 16, 2023Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Barry C. Stipe, Takuya Matsumoto, Sergei Sochava
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Patent number: 11651791Abstract: A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head for recording data in data tracks of a HAMR disk has a gas-bearing slider that supports a near-field transducer (NFT) and a main magnetic pole formed of two layers. The first main pole layer has a cross-track width at the slider's gas-bearing surface (GBS) that tapers down in the direction towards the NFT where the optical spot is formed. The second main pole layer is located away from the NFT and has a substantially wider cross-track width than the first main pole layer so as to provide sufficient magnetic field for writing. Layers of heat sink material are located on the sloped cross-track sides of the tapered first main pole layer to reduce the temperature and thus the likelihood of oxidation of the main pole layers.Type: GrantFiled: July 21, 2022Date of Patent: May 16, 2023Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Takuya Matsumoto, Muhammad Asif Bashir, Hamid Balamane, Petrus Antonius Van Der Heijden, Barry C. Stipe
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Publication number: 20220407288Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), a head gimbal assembly for mounting a VCSEL, devices incorporating such articles, and to a process for forming a VCSEL. In an embodiment, a VCSEL device provided. The VCSEL device includes a chip for mounting on a slider, the chip having a plurality of surfaces and a notch, the plurality of surfaces comprising: a bottom surface for facing the slider; a top surface opposite the bottom surface; and a plurality of side surfaces, wherein the notch forms a recessed edge spaced away from the bottom surface and toward the top surface, the notch having a shoulder, a side, and an angle (?1) between the shoulder and the side. The VCSEL device further includes two laser diode electrodes positioned in any combination on one or more of the plurality of surfaces of the chip.Type: ApplicationFiled: June 13, 2022Publication date: December 22, 2022Inventors: Takuya MATSUMOTO, Barry C. STIPE
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Publication number: 20220407287Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL), a head gimbal assembly for mounting a VCSEL, devices incorporating such articles, and to a process for forming a VCSEL. In an embodiment, a process for forming a VCSEL device is provided. The process includes forming a trench in a substrate, forming two laser diode electrodes in the trench, and after forming the two laser diode electrodes, cutting the substrate along the trench to form a VCSEL, the VCSEL comprising a chip for mounting on a slider, the chip having six surfaces, wherein a first surface of the chip is for facing the slider, a second surface of the chip is opposite the first surface, the two laser diode electrodes being positioned in any combination on one or more of a third surface, a fourth surface, a fifth surface, or a sixth surface.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 2, 2022Publication date: December 22, 2022Inventors: Takuya MATSUMOTO, Barry C. STIPE
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Publication number: 20220358964Abstract: A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head for recording data in data tracks of a HAMR disk has a gas-bearing slider that supports a near-field transducer (NFT) and a main magnetic pole formed of two layers. The first main pole layer has a cross-track width at the slider's gas-bearing surface (GBS) that tapers down in the direction towards the NFT where the optical spot is formed. The second main pole layer is located away from the NFT and has a substantially wider cross-track width than the first main pole layer so as to provide sufficient magnetic field for writing. Layers of heat sink material are located on the sloped cross-track sides of the tapered first main pole layer to reduce the temperature and thus the likelihood of oxidation of the main pole layers.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 21, 2022Publication date: November 10, 2022Applicant: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Takuya MATSUMOTO, Muhammad ASIF BASHIR, Hamid BALAMANE, Petrus Antonius VAN DER HEIJDEN, Barry C. STIPE
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Publication number: 20220189508Abstract: 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.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 1, 2022Publication date: June 16, 2022Inventors: Barry C. STIPE, Takuya MATSUMOTO, Sergei SOCHAVA
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Publication number: 20220189507Abstract: 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.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 1, 2022Publication date: June 16, 2022Inventors: Barry C. STIPE, Takuya MATSUMOTO, Sergei SOCHAVA
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Patent number: 10636442Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to a HAMR head. The HAMR head includes a main pole, a waveguide and a NFT disposed between the main pole and the waveguide. The NFT includes an antenna, and the antenna includes a first portion and a second portion. The second portion may be made of a material having a higher melting point than the material of the first portion. Having the second portion helps reduce the temperature rise of the NFT and reduce the laser power applied to the NFT.Type: GrantFiled: August 26, 2019Date of Patent: April 28, 2020Assignee: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Takuya Matsumoto, Vijay Prakash Singh Rawat, Barry C. Stipe
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Publication number: 20190378539Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to a HAMR head. The HAMR head includes a main pole, a waveguide and a NFT disposed between the main pole and the waveguide. The NFT includes an antenna, and the antenna includes a first portion and a second portion. The second portion may be made of a material having a higher melting point than the material of the first portion. Having the second portion helps reduce the temperature rise of the NFT and reduce the laser power applied to the NFT.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 26, 2019Publication date: December 12, 2019Inventors: Takuya MATSUMOTO, Vijay Prakash Singh RAWAT, Barry C. STIPE
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Patent number: 10403315Abstract: Embodiments disclosed herein generally relate to a HAMR head. The HAMR head includes a main pole, a waveguide and a NFT disposed between the main pole and the waveguide. The NFT includes an antenna, and the antenna includes a first portion and a second portion. The second portion may be made of a material having a higher melting point than the material of the first portion. Having the second portion helps reduce the temperature rise of the NFT and reduce the laser power applied to the NFT.Type: GrantFiled: May 6, 2015Date of Patent: September 3, 2019Assignee: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Takuya Matsumoto, Vijay Prakash Singh Rawat, Barry C. Stipe
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Patent number: 10283146Abstract: According to one embodiment, a system includes a head, where the head includes: an optical signal source configured to emit a first optical signal, and a near-field transducer (NFT) configured to focus the first optical signal on a moving ferroelectric storage medium positioned below the head. The system also includes a detector operatively coupled to the head, where the detector is configured to detect a second optical signal generated in and reflected from the ferroelectric storage medium, and where the second optical signal has twice the optical frequency as the first optical signal.Type: GrantFiled: April 3, 2018Date of Patent: May 7, 2019Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Takuya Matsumoto, Barry C. Stipe, Ikuya Tagawa, Roger W. Wood
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Publication number: 20180350397Abstract: According to one embodiment, a system includes a head, where the head includes: an optical signal source configured to emit a first optical signal, and a near-field transducer (NFT) configured to focus the first optical signal on a moving ferroelectric storage medium positioned below the head. The system also includes a detector operatively coupled to the head, where the detector is configured to detect a second optical signal generated in and reflected from the ferroelectric storage medium, and where the second optical signal has twice the optical frequency as the first optical signal.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 3, 2018Publication date: December 6, 2018Inventors: Takuya Matsumoto, Barry C. Stipe, Ikuya Tagawa, Roger W. Wood
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Patent number: 10056098Abstract: A data storage device is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk, wherein the head comprises a first sensor element and a second sensor element. When configured into a first single-ended mode, a bias signal is applied to the first sensor element to generate a first single-ended output signal based on a response of the first sensor element, and when configured into a second single-ended mode, the bias signal is applied to the second sensor element to generate a second single-ended output signal based on a response of the first sensor element. When configured into a differential mode, the bias signal is concurrently applied to the first sensor element and the second sensor element to generate a differential output signal based on a response of the first sensor element and the second sensor element.Type: GrantFiled: November 29, 2017Date of Patent: August 21, 2018Assignee: Western Digital Technologies, Inc.Inventors: Sukumar Rajauria, Erhard Schreck, John T. Contreras, Joey M. Poss, Rehan A. Zakai, Robert Smith, Barry C. Stipe
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Patent number: 9852749Abstract: An apparatus, according to one embodiment, comprises a near field transducer; an adhesion layer on a media facing side of the near field transducer, the adhesion layer comprising Ni and Cr; and a protective layer on a media facing side of the adhesion layer. Other apparatuses, systems and methods are described in additional embodiments.Type: GrantFiled: March 15, 2017Date of Patent: December 26, 2017Assignee: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.Inventors: Xiaoping Bian, Qing Dai, Alan C. Lam, Barry C. Stipe