Terry B. Mitchell

Effects of current and frequency on write, read, and erase widths for thin-film inductive and magnetoresistive heads

The dependence of write, read, and erase widths on current and frequency for thin-film inductive (TFI) and inductive-write/magnetoresistive-read (MR) heads was studied. Currents of up to 150 mA and frequencies of up to 40 kFCI were used to write tracks. The widths were measured from ferrofluid patterns and electrical track scans. For both heads, the write width decreases but the side-erase width increase with increasing frequency. The relationship of these results to head-field contours, established from scanning magnetooptic imaging measurements, is discussed. >