R&D: Infrared Near-Field Transducer for HAMR

IEEE Transactions on Magnetics ( Volume: PP, Issue: 99 ) as published an article written by Anurup Datta , and Xianfan Xu, School of Mechanical Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA.

Abstract: “Heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) is one of the next generation data storage technologies that aims to increase the areal data density to beyond one Tb/in^2. Near- field transducer (NFT), which is a type of plasmonic nanoscale antenna is a key component of the HAMR system. The laser in a HAMR system typically operates in the near infrared wavelength range between 700-900nm. We explore the plasmonic behavior and performance of a number of NFTs at longer wavelength of 1550nm. The different plasmonic modes in the NFTs at different wavelengths are analyzed and the correlation of the NFT performance with variations in the geometrical design is investigated. Thermal performances of NFT are also studied and compared with the thermal performances when NFTs are operated near 800nm. It is found that there is a significant improvement in the figures of merit when using longer wavelengths and this can provide an important strategy to realize higher performance data storage devices.“