Abstract: An information handling system, such as a disk drive, including a base, a disk stack rotatably attached to the base, and an actuator assembly movably attached to the base. The actuator assembly also includes a load spring and a slider attached to said load spring. The slider and load spring are attached to form a gimballing connection between the slider and the load spring. The slider includes an air-bearing surface which has a contact area. The slider also includes a transducer. The transducer is typically located near said contact area. The contact area includes a roughened surface portion and a smooth surface portion. The smooth surface portion is adjacent the transducer. The roughened surface portion is rougher than the smooth surface portion. The roughened surface portion is also rougher than the other surfaces associated with the air-bearing surface of the slider. The roughened surface portion of the contact area is formed by one of several techniques.

Abstract: For high-resolution and low bit-error-rate MAMMOS readout a magnetic head is proposed, which head includes a flat magnetic coil (1) having a coil layer structure (3a, 3b) comprising an electrically conductive winding (5a, 5b) and includes a permanent-magnet layer structure (7) which extends parallel to the coil layer structure and has an in-plane magnetic axis (m).

Abstract: A compact recording and reproducing apparatus includes a floating-type head movable in a fan shape in parallel with the surface of a disk recording medium in order to make faster access to the tracks and to record information at a higher density. A slider and a head are secured to the tip of a swing arm capable of fan-shaped swing movement, and a solid immersion lens is used for the head, so that the light beam can be passed along the arm from the fulcrum at the rotating pivot of the swing arm member.

Abstract: A slider portion is provided with protrusion portions having a spherical surface, contacting a recording medium. A center of a magnetic pole is arranged on the line C1 connecting the vertices of the protrusion portions. Line C1 is more or less aligned with the gliding direction of the protrusion portions. Thereby, positional variations between the magnetic pole and the surface of the recording medium can be minimized even when the head slider is tilted with respect to the surface of the recording medium. Thus, a gliding converter support structure is provided whose conversion efficiency does not decrease when it is tilted with respect to the surface of the recording medium, which is easy to manufacture, has little gliding resistance, and does not easily accumulate dust.

Abstract: A magneto-optical recording head comprises a magnetic coil formed on a lower surface of a transparent substrate opposed to a magneto-optical disk. A heat sink layer is provided at the outside of the magnetic coil on the lower surface. An objective lens is supported on an upper surface of the transparent substrate. The heat, which is generated by the magnetic coil, is released via the heat sink layer to the space between the magneto-optical disk and the substrate. The release of the heat is facilitated by the air stream which is generated by the rotation of the magneto-optical disk. The heat can be effectively released from the magnetic coil without inhibiting optical characteristics of the objective lens.

Abstract: A disc drive actuation system for precisely positioning a read/write head over a selected track of a rotatable disc. The actuation system comprises a flexure, a slider, and a read/write head firmly attached to the slider. A first drive unit is used to pivot the flexure to position the read/write head approximately over a selected track. A microactuator is mounted to the flexure and the slider is mounted to the microactuator. The microactuator comprises an inner inactive region, a first outer inactive region, a second outer inactive region, a first piezoelectric section mounted between the first outer inactive region and the inner inactive region, and a second piezoelectric section mounted between the second outer inactive region and the inner inactive region. The inner inactive region is firmly attached to either the flexure or the slider and both of the outer inactive regions are firmly attached to the other of the flexure or the slider.

Abstract: A contamination preventing device of an optical head for near field recording includes a slider being supported by a suspension in a deck and having a collective hole vertically penetrated though which a light source is transmitted; a collective lens being installed at a lower portion of the collective hole of the slider, collecting light generated from the light source and forming a spot at an upper surface of a recording medium; and a lens contaminant removing means removing a foreign substance clung to the collective lens. When the surface of the collective lens mounted at the slider is exposed to contaminant substances while performing interaction with the surface of the recording medium in the near field optical recording or reproducing, the lens surface can be easily cleansed to remove the contaminant of the surface of the lens immediately.

Abstract: A near field optical recording device for recording or reproducing information by making a near field light incident on a recording medium, in which an air induction channel is formed extended from an outside to a collective lens at a head slider where the collective lens is mounted facing near the surface of the recording medium. In an optical recording and reproducing, the temperature rise in the collective lens being close to the surface of the recording medium due to the heat energy generated by the light made incident on the surface of the recording medium can be restrained.

Abstract: An optical recording head is provided which includes a slider body having a leading edge. A void is formed in the slider body to receive a sphere of optically transparent material. The sphere is inserted into the void such that a portion of the sphere protrudes from the slider body. The protruding portion is lapped to be coplanar with a surface of the slider body to form a near-field lens. A mesa may be formed onto the lapped portion and may include a coil. The slider body, mesa, near-field lens, and coil may be formed in one batch process.

Abstract: A near field optical recording/reproducing head and a near field optical recording/reproducing apparatus using the head that are adaptive for writing an information onto a recording medium and reading out an information written on the recording medium by irradiating a near field light onto the recording medium and converting a near field light reflected the recording medium. In the near field optical recording/reproducing head, a first tip is floated by a minute height from the recording medium to focus an incident light onto the recording medium in a shape of near field light, and a second tip is floated by a minute height from the recording medium to convert a near field light reflected from the recording medium into an electrical signal. A mounting member supports the first and second tips with inclination and symmetrically. First and second minute displacement drivers move the first and second tips within a minute displacement in two-axis direction perpendicular to each other, respectively.

Abstract: A disc drive slider includes a slider body and a rail formed on the slider body. The rail includes a bearing surface which faces a surface of a disc. A textured portion is formed on the bearing surface of the rail. Pads are deposited on the textured portions. The pads operate to reduce stiction, dynamic friction, and the likelihood of damage to the slider or the surface of the disc due to contact therebetween.

Abstract: An optical pickup apparatus for recording and/or reading a signal to and from a signal recording layer of an optical disk by applying a light beam to the signal recording layer is provided to prevent a collision between the optical disk and an objective lens, and prevent and reduce damage of the signal recording layer of the optical disk. The optical pickup apparatus is provided with the objective lens for applying a light beam to the signal recording layer, a lens holder supporting the objective lens, and a coating layer formed on the disk side end face of the lens holder. The coating layer is formed of a material softer than the optical disk and having favorable slidability, and projected over the objective lens toward the optical disk.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a transducer that comprises a body and a tip extending from the body. The tip includes an exposed portion that has a consistent cross-sectional area. The present invention also relates to a method of translating data to or from a medium. The method comprises the steps of maneuvering a transducer that has an exposed tip with a consistent cross-sectional area to a particular location relative to the medium, and engaging the medium using the tip on the transducer. The transducer and method of the present invention reduce the effects of transducer wear. The optimum performance of the transducer is maintained because the consistent cross-sectional area of the tip ensures that the surface area on the end of the tip is preserved over the life of the transducer.

Abstract: A simple method of manufacturing a magnetic head having a head face and including a planar magnetic coil (7) which extends parallel to the head face. According to the method, the magnetic coil is formed at a first side of a first substrate (1). Thereafter, the first substrate provided with the magnetic coil is adhered with its first side to a side of a second substrate, whereafter material of the first substrate is removed from a second side of the first substrate (9), the second side being turned away from the first side, in order to form the head face, in such a manner that the magnetic coil is situated near to the head face.

Abstract: An air-bearing slider for an optical disk drive for recording/reproducing information onto/from an optical disk while floating and moving at a predetermined height from the rotatably installed optical disk due to a dynamic air pressure is disclosed. The air-bearing slider includes a slider main body having an objective lens installation hole formed through the slider main body so that an objective lens can be installed, and an opening formed through the slider main body at one side portion of the objective lens installation hole, so that air flow flowing under the slider main body can flow out through the opening via the objective lens installation hole when the slider is floating as a result of dynamic air pressure.

Abstract: An optical disk drive having a cleaning mechanism to clean the optical head by contact with a selected surface or in close proximity of a surface of the storage medium.

Abstract: A magnetic head suitable for use in a magneto-optical apparatus. The magnetic head has a flat electromagnetic coil (1) with a central opening (3). The coil has parallel coil layers (5a, 5b), each of the coil layers having a turn (5A, 5B) arranged around the central opening. At least one of the coil layers has turns of which the turns closer to the central opening have smaller widths (w) than the turns further away from the central opening. At least one of the coil layers has an outermost turn (5B0) situated closer to the central opening than the outermost turn (5A0) of one of the other coil layers. The defined coil structure has a limited capacitance while the power dissipation is also limited.

Abstract: The purpose of the invention is to fabricate a near field optical head capable of recording and reading high density information at high speed with excellent mass production. In the invention, stoppers having almost the same height as that of a tip of conical or pyramidal shape are disposed around the tip, a part of a pressing body covering the tip and the stoppers is displaced by an external force, a part of the pressing body having displaced is allowed to come into contact with an opaque film near the point of the tip and thereby an aperture is formed. According to a fabricating method of the invention, multiple apertures can be formed in the block. Thus, the near field optical head is excellent in mass production and the formed aperture has a structure of high optical efficiency and high resolution. Therefore, the near field optical head capable of performing recording/reading in high density and at high speed can be fabricated in excellent mass production.

Abstract: An optical reading and writing system including a base; an optical disk rotatably mounted on the base; an optical pickup including an objective lens, focusing a light beam to form a light spot on a recording surface of the optical disk; an actuator arm mounted on the base such that the actuator arm can pivot in the radial direction of the optical disk by a voice coil motor; a load beam supported by the actuator arm, and capable of moving slightly up and down and in the radial direction of the optical disk by an external force; a flexure attached to the load beam, supporting a slider to enable the slider to contact the recording surface; and a driving unit mounted on free ends of the actuator arm and the load beam, providing a driving force in the radial direction to the free end of the load beam.

Abstract: An optical data storage system including an optical disc with a data surface. A transducing mechanism includes an objective lens. A slider is positioned adjacent the data surface of the optical disc. An adjustable lens mount couples the objective lens to the slider. The lens mount is adjusted to focus light through the objective lens onto the data surface and the adjustable mount is fixed in this position.

Abstract: A slider that carries a transducer in a storage device having a moving storage medium, includes a leading end, a trailing end, and a top area extending from the leading end to the trailing end. The top area is designed to face substantially away from the storage medium, while a bottom area of the slider, extending from the leading end to the trailing end, is designed to substantially face toward the storage medium. The bottom area is joined to the trailing end by a curved surface having a substantially constant radius of curvature from the trailing end to a point at least 0.025 millimeters away from the trailing end.

Abstract: A slider for the optical head easy to manufacture and having a high degree of freedom is to be provided as a slider for the optical head for recording and/or reproducing a recording medium using the proximity optical field. On a slider member 3, adapted for running on the recording medium in a state of being floated over or contacted with the recording medium, a catadioptric lens 7 is bonded to constitute a slider for the optical head 1. The slider member 3 and the catadioptric lens 7 are connected and optically unified to each other so that the numerical aperture NA of an optical system made up of the slider member 3 and the catadioptric lens 7 is not less than unity. Also, the plane of the focal point of the light incident for the side of the catadioptric lens 7 is designed to be on a recording medium facing surface of the slider member 3.

Abstract: A small, high-precision, and cheap flying recording head having high mass-productivity, high recording density, and high transfer rate, a disk drive, and a method of manufacturing the flying recording head are disclosed. The flying recording head is manufactured by forming a semiconductor laser oscillation region by growing a semiconductor crystal on a rear end surface of a substrate made of a single crystal such as sapphire, and forming a air bearing surface in an output surface of the semiconductor laser and the substrate.

Abstract: A flying optical recording/playback head for near-field optical recording/playback, which is capable of keeping the flying height of an optical lens to be constant and obtaining a stable playback signal, is provided.

Abstract: An optical disk drive having a cleaning mechanism to clean the optical head by contact with a selected surface or in close proximity of a surface of the storage medium.

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: It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved slider moving device and an improved information recording and reproducing apparatus equipped with the improved slider moving device. The improved slider moving device is so formed that a slider mounting an information reading or recording means can be moved to a predetermined position in a direction approaching an information recording medium, and can also be moved to a predetermined position in a radial direction of the information recording medium, characterized in that a first material formed on the slider's one surface facing the information recording medium is the same as or close to, in the electrification precedence, a second material formed on the information recording medium's one surface facing the slider.

Abstract: An optical servo magnetic head in which the rigidity in a slider is maintained, and a servo error due to dust particles is suppressed. In a separate type magnetic head (1) generally composed of a slider (2) and a back yoke (3), the slider (2) is provided with magnetic cores (11 and 12) for standard recording density and high recording density, respectively, in order to cover, with a single unit of magnetic head, a plurality of recording media having respective recording densities different from each other. A laser beam is used to guide the magnetic head to a prescribed track position, and passage-holes (5 and 6) for permitting the laser beam to pass through are formed through the slider (2) and the back yoke (3), respectively, by molding or machining.

Abstract: Preceding to the reading out of the recording information of the optical disk by the pick-up, the height of the foreign material existing at the light converging position on the information reading surface is detected by the detector, and when the height of the foreign material is higher than the floating height h of the SIL, the magnetic field is generated by applying the control current corresponding to the height of the foreign material to the coil as the magnetic field generator at the timing before the foreign material is moved to the information reading position of the pick-up by the rotation of the optical disk. Then, when the magnetic field is provided to the magnetic substance fixedly holding the SIL which is floating, the movement operation to separate the SIL to the higher position than the height of the foreign material from the information reading surface together with the magnetic substance, is conducted.

Abstract: A gimbal spring for supporting a slider relative to a disc surface. The gimbal spring includes opposed flexure arms extending from a base of the gimbal spring. The flexure arms are designed to support the slider coupled to the gimbal spring via a mounting tab to pitch and roll relative to the disc surface. The flexure arms are formed of elongated members extending from the base to define a fixed end and an extended end. The flexure arms include an intermediate portion between the fixed end and the extended end having a reduced mass, which is less than the fixed end and extended end. The reduced mass enhances the operation characteristics of the gimbal spring.

Abstract: A user-removable optical data storage system is provided. A rotatable first-surface medium is enveloped in a cartridge. The cartridge provides relatively large data capacity such as about 0.25 Gbytes or more despite a relatively small size such as about 35 mm×35 mm×3 mm. Preferably the cartridge substantially seals the data surfaces of the medium when the cartridge is withdrawn from a drive and at least a portion of one surface is automatically exposed to the objective of an optics arm when said cartridge is inserted in the drive. Tracking involves rotating an optic arm about an axis parallel to the disk rotation axis. Focus can involve pivoting the arm about an axis parallel to the disk surface.

Abstract: A disc head slider (250,320) includes a slider body having a leading slider edge (40), a trailing slider edge (42) and a center line (48) extending from the leading slider edge (40) to the trailing slider edge (42). The slider body carries a recording head (56) along the center line (48). First and second longitudinal side rails (60,62) are positioned on the slider body and terminate prior to the trailing slider edge (42). A third longitudinal rail (63) is positioned between the first and second longitudinal side rails (60,62) and terminates prior to the head (56). A first raised side pad (252) is positioned between the first longitudinal side rail (60) and the trailing edge (42) and rearward of the head (56), relative to the leading slider edge (40). A second raised side pad (254) is positioned between the second longitudinal side rail (62) and the trailing edge (42) and rearward of the head (56), relative to the leading slider edge (40).

Abstract: A slider which utilizes a set of four pads arranged in a generally rectangular form. The two pads on the leading edge of the slider each include an angled face on their leading edge to facilitate the lift-off of the slider. Behind each leading edge pad is a trailing pad of substantially the same width and separated from the leading pad by a cross-cut channel. The pressure relief provided by the open cross-slot that separates the front and rear pads of each rail of the slider significantly reduces the sensitivity of air bearing pressure to the shape of the disc surface, leading to a very small fly height modulation even when moving over a disc with substantial runout. The rails are separated by a cross-cut. This cross-cut design substantially diminishes the effect of pressure variations which occur owing to the peaks and valleys which exist on discs, especially plastic discs as the slider flies over the surface of the disc.

Abstract: An optical disc data storage system includes an optical disc having a data surface. An actuator arm having a distal end is selectively radially positionable adjacent the data surface. A transducing element is carried on a slider which is coupled to the distal end of the actuator arm. The slider includes an air bearing surface and the transducing element includes an optical mesa adjacent the air bearing surface. The optical mesa is spaced apart from the data surface whereby contact between the data surface and the mesa structure is prevented.

Abstract: A slider is used in an optical or magneto-optical head having an optical assembly mounted on the slider body, for directing a read-write laser beam onto and from a data storage disk. The optical assembly includes an optical fiber a mirror a quarter wavelength plate, and a lens. The optical fiber guides the laser beam along an optical path defined by the optical assembly and the slider body. The laser beam emanating from the optical fiber impinges upon the mirror and is reflected thereby onto and through the quarter wavelength plate. The laser beam continues its travel along the optical path through the lens and a magnetic coil assembly onto the disk. The slider includes a channel pattern formed on its upper surface for positioning the optical components on the slider body. The channel pattern includes a plurality of channels that define an optical path, and a plurality of cavities formed along these channels for receiving various components such as optical, magnetic and electrical components.

Abstract: A flying head mechanism includes a flying head, a suspension and an actuator which applies a load force through the suspension. The load force applied by the actuator is adjustable while the head is in operation. The actuator may actively control load force as part of a feedback loop which maintains the flying head at a constant flying height. One embodiment disclosed includes a voice coil actuator. In embodiments using an optical flying head, a conventional focus sensor may provide a signal indicative of flying height, since the focus signal inherently indicates flying height error.