Abstract: A near-field optical head includes: a near-field light generating element, formed on a counter surface of a slider facing the surface of a magnetic recording medium and having two or more side surfaces each of which are in contact with the counter surface at a certain angle with the counter surface, for generating the near-field light; at least one lower wiring formed on at least one of the side surfaces of the near-field light generating element; a thin-film-like magnetic pole disposed to a position covering the lower wiring; at least one upper wiring disposed on one of the two sides of the magnetic pole, opposite to the side on which the lower wiring is disposed; at least one side surface wiring connecting the lower wiring and the upper wiring; insulating layers insulating each of the lower wiring, the magnetic pole, and the upper wiring from the others; and a coil wound around the magnetic pole by connecting the lower wiring and the upper wiring alternately and serially using the side surface wiring.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an information recording and reproduction apparatus which records the information on a disk by heating the disk with near-field light and causing magnetization reversal by applying a recording magnetic field to the disk. An optical waveguide 32, which introduces light beam emitted from a laser light source into a slider, and a plurality of electric wiring lines 31, which electrically connects the slider and a control unit to each other, are provided. A photoelectric composite wiring line 33 is provided in which the optical waveguide 32 and the plurality of electric wiring line 31 are integrally formed.

Abstract: Of side surfaces of a flexible substrate provided on a flexure, one surface opposing an optical fiber forms a mirror surface inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of the optical fiber. Owing to this configuration, the optical fiber is optically coupled to a near-field light element inside a slider.

Abstract: There are provided a head gimbal assembly and an information recording and reproducing apparatus capable of easily positioning a light guiding portion and a slider on a tongue portion and performing a stable recording and reproducing operation.

Abstract: A near field optical head includes: a slider provided so as to float from a surface of the magnetic recording medium by a predetermined distance, the slider having a facing surface faced to a surface of the magnetic recording medium; a tipped-shaped near field light generating element formed on the facing surface to have a bottom surface in contact with the facing surface, a top surface formed into a flat surface by cutting a top end of a cone or a pyramid, the flat surface being at a predetermined angle with the bottom surface, and a side surface connecting the bottom surface with the top surface for generating near field light from the top surface; a magnetic pole part formed from a main magnetic pole formed on the side surface and an auxiliary magnetic pole facing the main magnetic pole; a thin film-shaped magnetic circuit connected to the magnetic pole part; and a coil wound around the magnetic circuit.

Abstract: A near field optical head includes a slider 20, a main magnetic pole 32 and an auxiliary magnetic pole 30 and is provided with a recording element 21 fixed on a top end surface of the slider. The near field optical head is provided with a light flux transmission element 22. The light flux transmission element 22 is fixed adjacently to the main magnetic pole and formed from a flat surface 40a and a curved surface 40b into the shape of a half column. The light flux transmission element 22 includes a core 40 for transmitting a light flux L introduced from one end to the other end and a cladding 41 for confining therein the core.

Abstract: A near-field optical head has a planar substrate having a first surface, a second surface disposed opposite to the first surface, and an inverted conical or pyramidal hole extending through the first and second surfaces. The inverted conical or pyramidal hole has at least one fine aperture formed at an apex thereof and disposed in the first surface and having at least one curved slant surface. An optical waveguide extends into the inverted conical or pyramidal hole of the planar substrate for propagating light along an optical path. A mirror is disposed in the optical waveguide for bending in the direction of the fine aperture the optical path of the light propagated through the optical waveguide.

Abstract: A near-field optical head includes: a slider which has an opposedly-facing surface which faces a surface of a magnetic recording medium; an optical flux introducing means which introduces the optical flux toward the opposedly-facing surface; a first inclined surface 22 and a second inclined surface 23 which project toward the magnetic recording medium from the opposedly-facing surface in an inclined manner with respect to an optical axis of the introduced optical flux, the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface being arranged adjacent to each other so as to share one side in common; a recording element 13 which is formed on one inclined surface out of both inclined surfaces and includes a main magnetic pole 24 and an auxiliary magnetic pole 26 which are stacked on each other with an insulation film 25 sandwiched therebetween; a metal film 27 which is formed on the other inclined surface out of both inclined surfaces and allows an introduced optical flux to propagate along an interface between

Abstract: [Problem] To provide a head gimbal assembly with a light guide structure and an information recording/reproducing apparatus which make it possible to reduce a cost of manufacture. [Means for Resolution] A head gimbal assembly 12 with a light guide structure that is included in a rotary member borne to be turnable on a pivot shaft disposed outside magnetic recording media which are rotated in a certain direction. The head gimbal assembly includes a support 40 borne by the rotary member, a slider 2 attached to the distal end of the support so that the slider will be opposed to the surface of a magnetic recording medium, an optical waveguide 32 that is coupled to the slider in order to introduce light, with which the magnetic recording medium is heated, into the slider, a light source 20 that routes a light beam to the optical waveguide, and an electric wiring 31 over which power is fed to the light source and slider, and the light source is disposed on the support.

Abstract: There is provided a near field light generating element 22 including a polyhedron core 40 having a reflecting surface 40a configured to reflect a luminous flux L in a direction different from the direction of introduction, a luminous flux condensing unit 40b formed by drawing in such a manner that a cross-sectional area orthogonal to a longitudinal direction extending from the one end side toward the other end side is reduced gradually for propagating the reflected luminous flux toward the other end side while condensing the same; a near field light generating unit 40c further drawn from an end portion of the luminous flux condensing unit to the other end side for generating a near field light R from the condensed luminous flux and emitting the same from the other end side toward an outside; and a clad 41 configured to confine the core in the interior thereof by coming into tight contact with a side surface of the core, in which an end surface 40d has a size not exceeding the wavelength of the light and a sid

Abstract: There is provided a recording head 2 including a slider 20, a recording element 21 fixed to a side surface of the slider 20 on the side of an outflow end and having a main magnetic pole 32 and an auxiliary magnetic pole 30 which generate a recording magnetic field; and a spot light generating element 22 including a core 40 having a reflecting surface 40a configured to reflect a luminous flux L introduced from one end side to the other end side in a direction different from the direction of introduction and a luminous flux condensing unit 40b configured to generate a spot light R by propagating the reflected luminous flux to the other end side while condensing the same, and a clad 41 configured to confine the core in the interior thereof, and fixed adjacently to the recording element in a state in which the other end side is faced toward a magnetic recording medium; and luminous flux introducing means 4 arranged in parallel with the slider and allows the luminous flux to be introduced from the one end side int

Abstract: An information reproducing apparatus has a medium with a linear tracking mark extending in a scanning direction and a linear data mark extending in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. A light control unit irradiates the data mark with a first near-field light polarized in the scanning direction and irradiates the tracking mark with a second near-field light polarized in the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. A detector detects light scattered by the data mark and the tracking mark irradiated with the first near-field light and the second near-field light, respectively. A signal processing unit processes a first output signal from the detector corresponding to the detected light scattered by the data mark and processes a second output signal from the detector corresponding to the detected light scattered by the tracking mark.

Abstract: A head using near field light is formed, which is characterized by including a near field light assisted magnetic recording head characterized by including a pyramid tip 43 configured to generate near field light at the tip end thereof, in which magnetic recording is conducted by assistance of the near field light, a magnetic recording element 13 is formed of a first magnetic pole 16a and a second magnetic pole 16b, the first magnetic pole is formed of a first thin film on a first side surface of the tip, the second magnetic pole is formed of a second thin film on a second side surface facing to the first side surface of the tip, and the first thin film and the second thin film have different film thicknesses.

Abstract: A near field light assisted magnetic recording head 2 includes a conical tip 41 configured to generate a near field light at a distal end thereof, and a magnetic recording element configured to cause a flux reversal in a minute area on a surface of a medium by heating the minute area by the near field light. The magnetic recording element includes a main magnetic pole 32 configured to provide the medium surface with a magnetic field substantially in a vertical direction, a secondary magnetic pole 36 configured to absorb a part of the magnetic field provided from the main magnetic pole 32, and a dielectric film 35 arranged between the main magnetic pole 32 and the secondary magnetic pole 36. The conical tip 41 is provided with a minute gap 15 configured to generate the near sighted field light at the distal end opposing the surface of the medium. The main magnetic pole 32 constitutes at least part of an edge portion surrounding the minute gap 15.

Abstract: There is provided a head gimbal mechanism 2 including a slider 10 placed between a recording medium D and a beam 11 and having a device generating near-field light, gimbal means 12 for fixing the slider to the tip of the beam 11 at a state that it can rotate about two axes which are parallel to the surface of the recording medium and are orthogonal to each other, and a flexible optical waveguide 13 composed of a basic waveguide section 21 placed along the beam and a bent waveguide section 21 that is bent in the Z-direction substantially orthogonal to the surface of the recording medium from the tip of the basic waveguide and connecting to the slider in non-contact with the beam and the gimbal means, the optical waveguide 13 guiding the luminous flux to the slider, wherein the basic waveguide section is placed at a state that at least a predetermined length on the bent waveguide section side relative to the beam is not fixed to the beam.

Abstract: A near field light generation element is manufactured by forming a truncated quadrangular pyramid on a substrate by forming an etching mask having a shape the same as but larger than that of a top face of the truncated quadrangular pyramid, and isotropic etching the substrate using the etching mask. Thereafter, metal films are formed on two opposite side faces of the truncated quadrangular pyramid by injecting a vacuum deposition source from a front of each of the faces and a direction parallel to the substrate.

Abstract: The object of the present invention is to provide an information recording/reproduction device for implementing high-density information recording and reading using mutual interaction of a recording medium with near field light, and particularly to a near field optical head with a high optical efficiency and a manufacturing method thereof. This is achieved by enabling an energy propagation mechanism via a plasmon by forming a layer dispersed with metal particulate at a microscopic opening generating near field light, and therefore increase optical efficiency.

Abstract: A near-field optical probe has a planar substrate formed with a through-hole and a phase shifter layer translucent to light having a wavelength of illumination light used to illuminate the substrate for producing near-field light. The phase shifter layer is effective to cause a shift of phase in the illumination light by 180 degrees and is provided on the substrate so as to cover one opening of the through-hole to form a microscopic aperture for producing near-field light.

Abstract: A near-field optical head has a planar substrate having a first surface, a second surface disposed opposite to the first surface, and an inverted conical or pyramidal hole extending through the first and second surfaces. The conical or pyramidal hole has at least one fine aperture formed at an apex thereof and is disposed on the first surface of the planar substrate. An optical waveguide is disposed on the second surface of the planar substrate for propagating light. A light reflection film is disposed in the optical waveguide for reflecting in the direction of the fine aperture light propagated through the optical waveguide.

Abstract: Truncated quadrangular pyramids 402 to be ABSs 15b, a quadrangular pyramid 401 to be a near field optical element 16, and metal films 303 and 304 formed on the quadrangular pyramid 401 are formed on the under surface of a substrate to be a near field optical head 15, the metal films 303 and 304 are electrically connected to an ohmmeter 405 through a conductive interconnect 18. A flat polishing material 404 arranged so as to face to the under surface of the substrate is used to polish the truncated quadrangular pyramid 402, the quadrangular pyramid 401, and the metal films 303 and 304 so that a top face 301e of the near field optical element 16 is in a predetermined size and the top face 301e and the ABSs 15b are in the same plane. At this time, the electrical resistance of the metal films 303 and 304 is changed by being polished, and the ohmmeter 405 detects the end point in the polishing step.