JP5780630B2 - Recording head and information recording / reproducing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a recording head that records various information on a magnetic recording medium using near-field light, and an information recording / reproducing apparatus including the recording head.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, magnetic recording media such as hard disks (hereinafter referred to as disks) in computer equipment have been demanded to have higher density in response to the need to record and reproduce larger amounts of high-density information. For this reason, in order to minimize the influence of adjacent magnetic domains and thermal fluctuation, a disk having a strong coercive force has begun to be adopted. For this reason, it is becoming difficult to record information on the disc.

Therefore, in order to solve the above problems, the magnetic domain is locally heated by using spot light or near-field light that collects light to temporarily reduce the coercive force, and during that time writing to the disk is performed. An information recording / reproducing apparatus using a hybrid magnetic recording method is provided.
In particular, when near-field light is used, it is possible to handle optical information in a region that is less than or equal to the wavelength of light, which is a limit in conventional optical systems. Therefore, it is possible to achieve a higher recording bit density than that of a conventional optical information recording / reproducing apparatus.

Various types of recording heads based on the hybrid magnetic recording system are provided. One of them is a head that performs heating using near-field light (see Patent Document 1).
The recording head described in Patent Document 1 is arranged in a waveguide for propagating light applied to a slider and in the vicinity of the end of the waveguide, and generates near-field light from the propagated light. A near-field light generating element.
The near-field light generating element is a flat thin film body formed by patterning a metal material such as gold, and the first functional part and the first functional part are aligned with the front end face of the waveguide. And 2 functional parts. The first functional part is a part that excites surface plasmons by receiving light propagated through the waveguide. The second function part is a part that guides the excited surface plasmon to the tip surface, and generates the energy of the surface plasmon converted to near-field light and localized on the tip surface. This makes it possible to locally heat the disk using near-field light.

US Pat. No. 7,720,079

  However, in the recording head described in Patent Document 1, the near-field light generating element is formed in a flat thin film shape, and the plane direction is guided so as to be parallel to the optical axis direction of the propagated light. It is formed in the waveguide. Therefore, since only a part of the light propagating through the waveguide is incident on the side surface of the first functional part contributes to the excitation of the surface plasmon, it is difficult to generate the surface plasmon efficiently. It is.

Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the thickness of the near-field light generating element so that more light can be easily incident on the side surface of the first functional unit and to efficiently generate surface plasmons. However, in this case, since the film thickness of the second function part is also increased, the area of the tip surface of the second function part is increased, which hinders the localization of the near-field light. It was a thing. For this reason, it is difficult to locally heat the disc, and high density recording becomes difficult.
It is also conceivable that only the first functional part is formed in a film thickness instead of increasing the entire film thickness of the near-field light generating element. However, in this case, since it is necessary to change the film thicknesses of the first functional unit and the second functional unit, the manufacturing process becomes complicated, and it is difficult to manufacture easily.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the object thereof is to generate near-field light efficiently and locally to perform recording with high density and high reliability, It is an object to provide a recording head that can be easily manufactured and an information recording / reproducing apparatus including the recording head.

The present invention provides the following means in order to solve the above problems.
(1) A recording head according to the present invention includes a slider disposed opposite to a surface of a magnetic recording medium rotating in a fixed direction with an outflow end face facing downstream in the rotation direction of the magnetic recording medium, A propagation part disposed on the outflow end face side and propagating an incident light beam toward an end face side facing the surface of the magnetic recording medium; and disposed on the outflow end face side of the slider, the main magnetic pole and the auxiliary magnetic pole And a recording element that generates a recording magnetic field between both magnetic poles, and a thin-film near-field light generator that generates a near-field light from the light beam that is embedded in the propagation part and propagates through the propagation part And the near-field light generating element generates a surface plasmon on the surface on the incident side and on the surface opposite to the surface on the incident side by incidence of the light flux, and Surface plasmo And a near-field light generating portion that generates near-field light from the exit end surface, and the plasmon generating portion and the near-field light generating portion are integrally formed of the same material The plasmon generator is inclined with respect to the optical axis of the light beam propagating through the propagation unit, and the plasmon generator and the near-field light generator are the near-field light generating element. When viewed from the outflow end face side of the slider, the lateral width extending in a direction parallel to the surface of the magnetic recording medium is constant in the direction along the optical axis of the light flux, and the plasmon The width of the generating portion is wider than the width of the near-field light generating portion .

According to the recording head of the present invention, the light beam incident in the propagation portion can be reliably propagated toward the end surface facing the surface of the magnetic recording medium, and the near-field light embedded in the propagation portion. It can be efficiently incident on the plasmon generating portion of the generating element. Then, the plasmon generator excites the surface plasmon by the incident light beam. When the surface plasmon is excited, the near-field light generator propagates the surface plasmon toward the exit end face, and converts the energy of the surface plasmon into near-field light and localizes it from the exit end face to the outside. Generate in state.
Therefore, various information can be written on the magnetic recording medium by cooperating the near-field light localized on the emission end face and the recording magnetic field generated by the recording element.

In particular, the plasmon generating part of the near-field light generating element is inclined with respect to the optical axis of the light beam propagating through the propagation part, unlike the conventional one. Therefore, a large area interacting with the light beam can be ensured, and the propagated light beam can be efficiently incident on the plasmon generator, thereby improving the surface plasmon generation efficiency. Therefore, near-field light can be generated efficiently and locally on the exit end face of the near-field light generating section, and high-density recording can be performed.
In addition, since the light beam propagating as described above can be efficiently incident on the plasmon generator, leakage light that does not contribute to the generation of near-field light can be reduced accordingly. Therefore, erroneous recording due to this leakage light can be suppressed, and the writing reliability can be improved.

Furthermore, the near-field light generating element is embedded in the propagation part, and the periphery is covered by this propagation part. Therefore, the surface plasmon is efficiently excited not only on the incident surface where the light beam is incident on the plasmon generator, but also on the entire outer surface including the surface opposite to the incident surface. In addition, since the outer surfaces of the plasmon generator are all in contact with the same propagation part, the surface plasmon can be propagated to the near-field light generator under the same conditions, and loss can be easily suppressed. Also in these points, it is easy to generate near-field light efficiently.
Furthermore, since both the plasmon generator and the near-field light generator are the same medium made of the same material, a step, an interface, or the like is unlikely to occur at the connection portion between them. Therefore, it is possible to propagate from the plasmon generator to the near-field light generator while suppressing the loss of surface plasmons, and it is easy to efficiently generate near-field light in this respect.

Furthermore, it is not necessary to change the film thickness of the plasmon generator and the near-field light generator, and the plasmon generator having the same film thickness as the near-field light generator may be inclined with respect to the optical axis. A near-field light generating element having a plasmon generating part and a near-field light generating part is manufactured by simply forming a slope by removing a part of the part by etching or the like and patterning it on the thin film. Is possible.
Therefore, the propagation part and the near-field light generating element are simultaneously placed on the outflow end face side of the slider in the flow of the conventional manufacturing process while using a semiconductor manufacturing technique such as a normal photolithography technique without using a special technique. Can be built. Therefore, it can be manufactured easily, accurately and efficiently, leading to cost reduction and mass production.

In addition , a larger area interacting with the light beam can be secured, and a large amount of light beam can be incident on the plasmon generator. Therefore, the surface plasmon can be generated more efficiently while further reducing the leakage light. In addition, since the lateral width of the near-field light generating part can be made as narrow as possible, the emission end face can be made smaller. Therefore, further localization of near-field light can be achieved.
In this way, it is possible to improve the generation efficiency of surface plasmons and further localize near-field light at the same time, effectively using the incident energy of the luminous flux to effectively perform high-density recording. It can be carried out.

( 2 ) In the recording head according to the present invention, the plasmon generating section may traverse the propagation section so as to block the propagation section in the middle while maintaining the inclined state.

  In this case, since the plasmon generator crosses the inside of the propagation part and blocks the propagation part on the way, the plasmon generation part completely intersects the optical path of the light beam. Therefore, all the propagated light beams can be incident on the plasmon generator. Accordingly, it is possible to generate high-intensity near-field light while minimizing leakage light, to achieve higher density recording, and to further improve writing reliability.

( 3 ) In the recording head according to the present invention, the near-field light generating unit may be inclined with respect to the optical axis of the light beam propagating through the propagation unit.

  In this case, the position of the emission end face that generates the near-field light can be changed, so that the degree of design freedom can be improved. In particular, it is possible to generate near-field light as close as possible to the magnetic field spot of the recording magnetic field, so even if the incident energy of the light beam is weak, the magnetic field of the target recording track is reliable. If you can record high.

( 4 ) An information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention is movable in a direction parallel to the surface of the recording head according to the present invention and the magnetic recording medium, and is parallel to the surface of the magnetic recording medium and orthogonal to each other. A suspension that supports the recording head while being rotatable about two axes, a light source that causes the light beam to enter the propagation portion, a pivot shaft that is disposed outside the magnetic recording medium, And a carriage having an arm portion configured to rotate around and supporting the suspension.

  According to the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, since the recording head is provided, it is possible to provide a high-quality apparatus with high writing reliability and high density recording.

According to the recording head of the present invention, it is possible to manufacture a near-field light generating element easily and at low cost with high accuracy, and also generate near-field light efficiently and locally to achieve high reliability and high reliability. High density recording can be performed.
Further, according to the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to provide a high-quality apparatus with high writing reliability and corresponding to high density recording.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of an information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention. It is a perspective view of the head gimbal assembly shown in FIG. It is a top view of the gimbal shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing along the AA line shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view around the recording head shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view further enlarging the outflow end face side of the recording head shown in FIG. 5. It is the top view which looked at the near field light generating element shown in Drawing 6 from the outflow end face side of a slider. It is the top view which looked at the near-field light generating element shown in FIG. 6 from the disk side. It is a top view of the terminal board shown in FIG. It is process drawing which shows the flow at the time of manufacturing the recording head shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a process diagram illustrating a flow subsequent to the process illustrated in FIG. 10. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a modification of the recording head, and is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 6. It is the top view which looked at the near-field light generating element shown in FIG. 12 from the outflow end surface side of the slider. It is the top view which looked at the near-field light generating element shown in FIG. 12 from the disk side. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another modification of the recording head, and is a cross-sectional view corresponding to FIG. 6. It is the top view which looked at the near-field light generating element shown in FIG. 15 from the outflow end surface side of the slider. It is the top view which looked at the near-field light generating element shown in FIG. 15 from the disk side. It is a figure which shows the modification of a near-field light generating element.

  Embodiments of an information recording / reproducing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that the information recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment is an apparatus for writing on a disk (magnetic recording medium) having a perpendicular recording layer by a perpendicular recording method.

(Information recording / reproducing device)
As shown in FIG. 1, the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a carriage 11 and a laser light source 20 that supplies a light beam L (see FIG. 6) via a photoelectric composite wiring 33 from the proximal end side of the carriage 11. A head gimbal assembly (HGA) 12 supported on the front end side of the carriage 11, an actuator 6 that scans and moves the head gimbal assembly 12 in the XY directions parallel to the disk surface D1 (the surface of the disk D), and a disk A spindle motor 7 that rotates D in a predetermined direction, a control unit 5 that supplies a current modulated according to information to the recording head 2 of the head gimbal assembly 12, and these components are housed inside. And a housing 9.

The housing 9 has a box-like shape having a top opening made of a metal material such as aluminum, and has a rectangular bottom portion 9a as viewed from above, and a peripheral wall erected in the vertical direction with respect to the bottom portion 9a at the periphery of the bottom portion 9a. (Not shown). And the recessed part which accommodates each component mentioned above is formed in the inner side enclosed by the surrounding wall.
In FIG. 1, the peripheral wall surrounding the housing 9 is omitted for easy understanding.

  A lid (not shown) is detachably fixed to the housing 9 so as to close the upper opening of the housing 9. The spindle motor 7 is attached to substantially the center of the bottom portion 9a, and the disc D is detachably fixed by fitting a center hole into the spindle motor 7.

The actuator 6 described above is attached to one corner of the bottom 9a outside the disk D. A carriage 11 that can rotate in a horizontal plane (XY direction) about a pivot shaft 10 is attached to the actuator 6.
The carriage 11 includes an arm portion 14 extending from the base end portion toward the tip portion (in the direction of the disk D), and a base portion 15 that supports the arm portion 14 in a cantilever manner via the base end portion. However, they are integrally formed by machining or the like.
The base portion 15 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and is supported so as to be rotatable around the pivot shaft 10. That is, the base portion 15 is connected to the actuator 6 via the pivot shaft 10, and the pivot shaft 10 is the rotation center of the carriage 11.

The arm portion 14 extends in parallel to the surface direction (XY direction) of the upper surface of the base portion 15 on the side surface 15b opposite to the side surface 15a to which the actuator 6 is attached in the base portion 15 (side surface on the opposite side of the corner portion). 3 pieces extending along the height direction (Z direction) of the base portion 15.
Specifically, the arm portion 14 is formed in a tapered shape that tapers from the proximal end portion toward the distal end portion, and is arranged so that the disk D is sandwiched between the arm portions 14. That is, the arm portion 14 and the disk D are configured to be alternately arranged, and the arm portion 14 can be moved in a direction (XY direction) parallel to the disk surface D1 by driving the actuator 6.
The carriage 11 and the head gimbal assembly 12 can be retracted from the disk D by driving the actuator 6 when the rotation of the disk D is stopped.

The head gimbal assembly 12 guides a light beam L from the laser light source 20 to the recording head 2 to be described later to generate near-field light S (see FIG. 6), and uses the near-field light S to send various information to the disk D. It is to be recorded and reproduced.
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the head gimbal assembly 12 of this embodiment has a function of floating the recording head 2 from the disk D. The recording head 2 and the metal material are thin plate-like. The suspension 3 is movable in the XY directions parallel to the disk surface D1, and the recording head 2 is rotatable about two axes (X axis, Y axis) that are parallel to the disk surface D1 and orthogonal to each other. That is, gimbal means 16 is provided for fixing to the lower surface of the suspension 3 so as to be twisted about the two axes.

The recording head 2 is supported between a disc D and the suspension 3 with a gimbal 17 (described later) sandwiched between the lower surface of the suspension 3.
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the recording head 2 is disposed so as to face the disk D in a state where it floats a predetermined distance from the disk surface D1, and has a slider 60 having a flying surface 2a facing the disk surface D1, and a slider. 60, the light propagation element 40, the recording element 41, and the reproducing element 42 are provided on the outflow end face (tip face) 60a side.

The slider 60 is disposed to face the disk D so that the outflow end surface 60a is positioned on the downstream side in the rotation direction of the disk D when the disk D is viewed from the slider 60. Further, the surface facing the outflow end surface 60a functions as an inflow end surface located upstream in the rotation direction of the disk D. Therefore, when the disk D rotates, the air generated by the rotating disk D flows along the air bearing surface 2a from the inflow end face side and then flows so as to escape from the outflow end face 60a side.
The recording head 2 floats on the disk D with the outflow end surface 60a side of the slider 60 closest to the disk surface D1. Therefore, by arranging the above components on the outflow end surface 60a side of the slider 60, these components can be brought as close to the disk surface D1 as possible, and the coercive force of the disk D can be efficiently reduced to the disk D. Is easy to write.

  By the way, in this embodiment, the light propagation element 40 is fixed to the outflow end surface 60a of the slider 60, and the recording element 41 and the reproduction element 42 are arranged in a state where the light propagation element 40 is incorporated in a clad 51 described later. It is installed. Specifically, the recording element 41 and the reproducing element 42 are incorporated in the clad 51 so as to be positioned between the outflow end surface 60a of the slider 60 and a propagation portion 50 described later of the light propagation element 40. At this time, the reproducing element 42 is fixed to the outflow end surface 60 a of the slider 60, and the recording element 41 is fixed so as to be arranged adjacent to the reproducing element 42.

  The slider 60 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape from a light transmissive material such as quartz glass, a ceramic such as AlTiC (altic), or the like. The slider 60 is supported so as to hang from the tip of the suspension 3 (see FIG. 3) via the gimbal 17 (see FIG. 3) with the air bearing surface 2a facing the disk D side.

  The reproducing element 42 is a magnetoresistive film whose electric resistance is converted according to the magnitude of the magnetic field leaking from the disk D. A bias current is supplied to the reproducing element 42 from the control unit 5 (see FIG. 1) via an electric wiring 31 described later. As a result, the control unit 5 can detect a change in the magnetic field leaking from the disk D as a change in voltage, and can reproduce a signal from the change in voltage.

  The recording element 41 is connected to the auxiliary magnetic pole 45 located on the outflow end surface 60 a side of the slider 60 and the auxiliary magnetic pole 45 via the magnetic circuit 46, and a recording magnetic field perpendicular to the disk D is transmitted between the auxiliary magnetic pole 45. A main magnetic pole 47 to be generated and a coil 48 wound around the magnetic circuit 46 in a spiral shape around the magnetic circuit 46 are provided.

Both the magnetic poles 45 and 47 and the magnetic circuit 46 are formed of a high saturation magnetic flux density (Bs) material (for example, CoNiFe alloy, CoFe alloy, etc.) having a high magnetic flux density. Further, the coil 48 is arranged so that there is a gap between adjacent coil wires, between the magnetic circuit 46 and between the magnetic poles 45 and 47 so as not to be short-circuited. Molded. That is, the magnetic poles 45 and 47, the magnetic circuit 46 and the coil 48 are supported by the insulating layer 49. The coil 48 is supplied with a current modulated in accordance with information from the controller 5.
The main magnetic pole 47 and the auxiliary magnetic pole 45 are designed so that the end surfaces facing the disk D are flush with the flying surface of the slider 60.

The light propagation element 40 includes a propagation part 50 for propagating a light beam L incident from an optical waveguide 32 (described later) toward the end face facing the disk surface D1, and a clad 51 for confining the propagation part 50 inside. This is a substantially plate-like element that is fixed to the outflow end surface 60a of the slider 60 as described above.
The propagation part 50 extends along the outflow end surface 60 a of the slider 60, and is adjacent to the vicinity of the main magnetic pole 47 in a state where one end side faces the slider 60 and the other end side faces the disk D. An end surface 50 a on the other end side of the propagation unit 50 is flush with the flying surface 2 a of the slider 60. A near-field light generating element 70 that generates near-field light S from the light beam L propagated by the propagation unit 50 is embedded inside the propagation unit 50 on the other end side.

  Note that the propagation unit 50 of the present embodiment is made of a material having a refractive index higher than that of the clad 51 and is a core that guides the light beam L under total reflection conditions due to a difference in refractive index from the clad 51. The clad 51 is in close contact with the propagation part 50, which is the core, to confine the propagation part 50 inside.

Further, to describe an example of a combination of materials used as the cladding 51 and the core, for example, a combination in which the core is formed of quartz (SiO ₂ ) and the cladding 51 is formed of quartz doped with fluorine can be considered. In this case, when the wavelength of the light beam L is 400 nm, the refractive index of the core is 1.47, and the refractive index of the cladding 51 is less than 1.47, which is a preferable combination. A combination in which the core is formed of quartz doped with germanium and the clad 51 is formed of quartz (SiO ₂ ) is also conceivable. In this case, when the wavelength of the light beam L is 400 nm, the refractive index of the core is larger than 1.47 and the refractive index of the clad 51 is 1.47, which is also a preferable combination.

In particular, as the refractive index difference between the core and the clad 51 increases, the force confining the light beam L in the core increases, so that the tantalum oxide (Ta ₂ O ₅ : the refractive index is 2.16 when the wavelength is 550 nm). It is more preferable that the refractive index difference between the two is increased by using quartz or the like for the cladding 51. In addition, when the luminous flux L in the infrared region is used, it is also effective to form the core with silicon (Si: refractive index is about 4) which is a material transparent to infrared light.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the near-field light generating element 70 is an element that generates near-field light S from a light beam L propagated by the propagation unit 50, and is a thin film made of a conductive material such as gold. Has been.
The near-field light generating element 70 includes a plasmon generator 71 that generates surface plasmon by the incidence of the light beam L, and an emission end face 72a that is flush with the end face 50a of the propagation section 50. And a near-field light generating unit 72 that propagates toward the 72a and generates the near-field light S from the emission end face 72a.

The plasmon generator 71 is inclined with respect to the optical axis M (see FIG. 6) of the light beam L propagating through the propagation unit 50. On the other hand, the near-field light generating part 72 extends parallel to the optical axis M, and the surface exposed to the end face 50a of the propagation part 50 is the emission end face 72a as described above.
The plasmon generator 71 and the near-field light generator 72 are integrally formed of the same material (the conductive material).

  Incidentally, as shown in FIG. 7, in this embodiment, when the near-field light generating element 70 is viewed from the outflow end surface 60a side of the slider 60, the lateral width W1 of the plasmon generating portion 71 (direction parallel to the disk surface D1). ) Is wider than the lateral width W2 of the near-field light generating portion 72. In the illustrated example, the lateral width W2 of the near-field light generating unit 72 is substantially the same as the thickness, and the lateral width W1 of the plasmon generating unit 71 is approximately 6 to 8 times larger than that.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the lower surface of the slider 60 is the floating surface 2a facing the disk surface D1 as described above, and the pressure for rising from the viscosity of the air flow generated by the rotating disk D It is a surface that generates the air and is called ABS (Air Bearing Surface). Specifically, the slider 60 is designed to float in an optimum state by adjusting the positive pressure for separating the slider 60 from the disk surface D1 and the negative pressure for attracting the slider 60 to the disk surface D1. Has been.
The slider 60 receives a force that rises from the disk surface D1 by the flying surface 2a, and also receives a force that is pressed against the disk D by the suspension 3. The slider 60 floats from the disk surface D1 due to the balance of both forces.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the suspension 3 includes a base plate 22 formed in a substantially square shape in a top view, and a load beam having a substantially triangular shape in a plan view connected to the distal end side of the base plate 22 via a hinge plate 23. 24.

The base plate 22 is made of a thin metal material such as stainless steel, and an opening 22a penetrating in the thickness direction is formed on the base end side. And the base plate 22 is being fixed to the front-end | tip of the arm part 14 through this opening 22a.
On the lower surface of the base plate 22, the sheet-like hinge plate 23 made of a metal material such as stainless steel is disposed. The hinge plate 23 is a flat plate material formed over the entire lower surface of the base plate 22, and the tip portion thereof is an extension portion 23 a extending from the tip of the base plate 22 along the longitudinal direction of the base plate 22. Is formed. Two extending portions 23 a extend from both end portions in the width direction of the hinge plate 23, and the load beam 24 is connected to the tip portion.

The load beam 24 is formed of a thin metal material such as stainless steel like the base plate 22, and the base end thereof is connected to the hinge plate 23 with a gap between the base plate 22 and the tip end of the base plate 22. .
As a result, the suspension 3 bends about between the base plate 22 and the load beam 24 and is easily bent in the Z direction perpendicular to the disk surface D1.

A flexure 25 is provided on the suspension 3.
The flexure 25 is a sheet-shaped member made of a metal material such as stainless steel, and is configured to be able to bend and deform in the thickness direction by being formed into a sheet shape. The flexure 25 is fixed to the distal end side of the load beam 24, and has a gimbal 17 whose outer shape is formed in a substantially pentagonal shape when viewed from above and a width narrower than the gimbal 17. And a support 18 extending along the axis.

The gimbal 17 is formed so as to slightly warp in the thickness direction from the vicinity of the middle to the tip toward the disk surface D1. Then, the warped end is fixed to the load beam 24 from the base end to substantially the middle so that the front end does not come into contact with the load beam 24. Further, a cutout portion 26 is formed on the front end side of the floating gimbal 17 so that the periphery thereof is wound in a U shape. The portion surrounded by the cutout portion 26 is cantilevered by a connecting portion 17a. A pad portion 17b supported in a shape is formed.
That is, the pad portion 17b is formed to project from the distal end side to the proximal end side of the gimbal 17 by the connecting portion 17a, and is provided with a notch 26 around the periphery.

  Thus, the pad portion 17 b is easily bent in the thickness direction of the gimbal 17, and the angle is adjusted so that only the pad portion 17 b is parallel to the lower surface of the suspension 3. The above-described recording head 2 is placed and fixed on the pad portion 17b. That is, the recording head 2 is hung from the load beam 24 via the pad portion 17b.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pad portion 17 b and a protruding portion 19 that protrudes toward the approximate center of the recording head 2 are formed at the tip of the load beam 24. The tip of the projection 19 is rounded. The protrusion 19 comes into point contact with the surface (upper surface) of the pad portion 17b when the recording head 2 floats to the load beam 24 side by the wind pressure received from the disk D.
That is, the protrusion 19 supports the recording head 2 via the pad portion 17b of the gimbal 17 and applies a load to the recording head 2 toward the disk surface D1 (in the Z direction). A contact point (support point) between the protrusion 19 and the pad portion 17 b is a load point of the recording head 2 by the protrusion 19.
The protrusions 19 and the gimbal 17 having the pad portions 17b constitute the gimbal means 16.

  The support 18 shown in FIG. 2 is in the form of a sheet integrally formed with the gimbal 17 and extends on the suspension 3 toward the arm portion 14. That is, the support 18 is configured to follow the deformation of the suspension 3 when the suspension 3 is deformed. Further, the support 18 is drawn from the arm portion 14 to the side surface until reaching the base portion 15 of the carriage 11.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the terminal board 30 is disposed on the side surface 15 c of the base portion 15 of the carriage 11. The terminal board 30 serves as a relay point when the control unit 5 provided in the housing 9 and the recording head 2 are electrically connected, and various control circuits (not shown) are formed on the surface thereof. Has been.
The control unit 5 and the terminal board 30 are electrically connected by a flexible flat cable 4, while the terminal board 30 and the recording head 2 are connected by an electric wiring 31. Three sets of the electrical wirings 31 are provided corresponding to the recording heads 2 provided on each carriage 11, and signals output from the control unit 5 via the flat cable 4 are recorded via the electrical wirings 31. Output to the head 2.

  On the terminal substrate 30, the laser light source 20 that supplies the light beam L toward the light propagation element 40 of the recording head 2 is disposed. The laser light source 20 receives a signal output from the control unit 5 via the flat cable 4 and emits a light beam L based on this signal, and corresponds to the recording head 2 provided in each arm unit 14. Then, three are arranged along the height direction (Z direction) of the base 15. An optical waveguide 32 that guides the emitted light beam L to the recording head 2 is connected to the emission side of each laser light source 20.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the optical waveguide 32 and the electric wiring 31 are integrally formed between the laser light source 20 and the recording head 2 from the base end side to the tip end. The wiring 33 is configured.
The photoelectric composite wiring 33 is routed on the arm portion 14 from the surface of the terminal substrate 30 through the side surface of the arm portion 14. Specifically, the photoelectric composite wiring 33 is arranged on the support 18 of the flexure 25 on the arm portion 14 and the suspension 3, and reaches the tip of the suspension 3 with the support 18 sandwiched therebetween. Has been routed.

The photoelectric composite wiring 33 branches into an electrical wiring 31 and an optical waveguide 32 at the tip of the suspension 3, that is, at an intermediate position of the gimbal 17.
Specifically, the optical waveguide 32 extends along the longitudinal direction of the gimbal 17 from a branch point on the distal end side of the photoelectric composite wiring 33, and flows into the recording head 2 across the notch portion 26 of the gimbal 17. Connected directly to the end. The optical waveguide 32 is separated from the lower surface of the gimbal 17 at the branch point of the photoelectric composite wiring 33, and bridges between the pad portion 17 b and the gimbal 17 as it goes from the branch point toward the inflow end side of the recording head 2. It extends in a slightly floating state.
That is, on the lower surface of the gimbal 17, the optical waveguide 32 extends substantially linearly (the radius of curvature is approximately infinite), and the inflow end side of the recording head 2 from the center in the width direction (X direction) of the recording head 2. Has been routed to.

  On the other hand, at the branch point, the electric wiring 31 is bent toward the outer peripheral portion of the gimbal 17 and is routed from the outer peripheral portion of the gimbal 17, that is, from the outside of the notch portion 26. The electric wiring 31 routed from the outside of the notch 26 passes through the connecting portion 17a and is connected to the outflow end surface 60a side of the recording head 2. That is, the electric wiring 31 is directly connected from the outside of the recording head 2 to the reproducing element 42 and the recording element 41 provided on the outflow end surface 60 a side of the slider 60.

The constituent material of the optical waveguide 32 can be the same material as that of the core (propagation part 50) and the clad 51 of the light propagation element 40 described above, but in this embodiment, the resin material as shown below. Are preferably used.
For example, a combination in which the core 32a is formed with a thickness of 3 to 10 μm using PMMA (methyl methacrylate resin) and the clad 32b is formed with a thickness of several tens of μm using a fluorine-containing polymer is conceivable. Further, both the core 32a and the clad 32b are made of epoxy resin (for example, core refractive index 1.522 to 1.523, clad refractive index 1.518 to 1.519), or made of fluorinated polyimide. Is also possible. In this case, it is preferable to increase the difference in refractive index between the two by adjusting the blending of the resin materials constituting the core 32a and the clad 32b. For example, in the case of fluorinated polyimide, the refractive index can be controlled by adjusting the fluorine content or by irradiating energy such as radiated light. Thus, by using a resin material as the constituent material of the optical waveguide 32, the photoelectric composite wiring 33 can be manufactured by a semiconductor process.

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 6, the front end surface of the optical waveguide 32 is a mirror surface 35 cut obliquely, and the direction of the light beam L introduced by the laser light source 20 changes by approximately 90 degrees. Is reflected. As a result, the light beam L reflected by the mirror surface 35 can be introduced into the propagation part 50 constituting the light propagation element 40 of the recording head 2. The mirror surface 35 may be configured such that a reflecting plate made of aluminum or the like is formed in an area including at least the core 32a by vapor deposition or the like.

(Information recording and playback method)
Next, a procedure for recording and reproducing various types of information on the disc D by the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described.

  First, the spindle motor 7 is driven to rotate the disk D in a predetermined direction. Next, the actuator 6 is operated to rotate the carriage 11 about the pivot shaft 10 as a rotation center, and the head gimbal assembly 12 is scanned in the XY directions via the carriage 11. As a result, the recording head 2 can be positioned at a desired position on the disk D as shown in FIG.

At this time, the recording head 2 is supported by the suspension 3 and pressed against the disk D side with a predetermined force. At the same time, the recording head 2 receives the force of flying by using the flying surface 2a under the influence of the wind pressure generated by the rotating disk D. Due to the balance of both forces, the recording head 2 floats away from the disk D.
Moreover, since the recording head 2 receives the wind pressure and is pushed toward the suspension 3, the pad portion 17 b of the gimbal 17 that fixes the recording head 2 and the protrusion 19 formed on the suspension 3 are in point contact. The floating force is transmitted to the suspension 3 through the protrusions 19 and acts to bend the suspension 3 in the Z direction perpendicular to the disk surface D1. Thereby, the recording head 2 floats as described above.

Here, when recording information, the control unit 5 operates the laser light source 20 and supplies a current modulated according to the information to the coil 48 to operate the recording element 41.
When the laser light source 20 is activated, the light beam L is incident on the optical waveguide 32. Then, the light beam L travels in the core 32a of the optical waveguide 32 toward the front end side, and is then reflected by the mirror surface 35 and introduced into the propagation portion 50 of the light propagation element 40 as shown in FIG. The The light beam L introduced into the propagation part 50 reliably propagates through the propagation part 50 while being repeatedly reflected from, for example, the interface with the clad 51 toward the end face 50a located on the disk D side.

  A part of the light beam L propagating through the propagation unit 50 enters the plasmon generation unit 71 of the near-field light generation element 70. Then, the surface plasmon is excited by the light beam L incident on the plasmon generator 71. When the surface plasmon is excited, the near-field light generating unit 72 propagates the surface plasmon toward the emission end face 72a, and converts the energy of the surface plasmon into the near-field light S to be transmitted from the emission end face 72a to the outside. Generated in a localized state. As a result, the disk D is locally heated by the near-field light S, and the coercive force temporarily decreases.

  On the other hand, when a current is supplied to the coil 48 by the control unit 5, a current magnetic field is generated in the magnetic circuit 46 by the principle of an electromagnet, so that the disk D is interposed between the main magnetic pole 47 and the auxiliary magnetic pole 45. A perpendicular recording magnetic field can be generated.

  As a result, information is obtained by a hybrid magnetic recording method in which the near-field light S generated in a localized state on the emission end face 72a of the near-field light generating unit 72 and the recording magnetic field generated by the recording element 41 cooperate. Can be recorded. In addition, since the recording is performed by the vertical recording method, it is difficult to be affected by the thermal fluctuation phenomenon and the like, and stable recording can be performed. Therefore, writing reliability can be improved.

Next, when reproducing the information recorded on the disk D, the reproducing element 42 receives a magnetic field leaking from the disk D, and the electric resistance changes according to the magnitude. Therefore, the voltage of the reproducing element 42 changes. Thereby, the control unit 5 can detect a change in the magnetic field leaking from the disk D as a change in voltage. And the control part 5 can reproduce | regenerate information by reproducing | regenerating a signal from the change of this voltage.
As described above, various kinds of information can be recorded on and reproduced from the disk D using the recording head 2.

In particular, according to the recording head 2 of the present embodiment, the plasmon generating part 71 of the near-field light generating element 70 differs from the conventional one with respect to the optical axis M of the light beam L propagating in the propagation part 50. Inclined. Therefore, a large area interacting with the light beam L can be secured, and the propagated light beam L can be efficiently incident on the plasmon generator 71 to improve the generation efficiency of the surface plasmon.
Therefore, the near-field light S can be efficiently and locally generated on the emission end face 72a of the near-field light generating unit 72, and high-density recording can be performed.

  Moreover, since the light beam L propagated as described above can be efficiently incident on the plasmon generator 71, the amount of the light beam L that does not enter the plasmon generator 71 can be suppressed. For this reason, the leakage light that does not contribute to the generation of the near-field light S can be reduced, so that erroneous recording due to the leakage light can be suppressed and the writing reliability can be improved.

Further, the near-field light generating element 70 is embedded in the propagation part 50, and the periphery is covered by the propagation part 50. Therefore, the surface plasmon is easily excited efficiently not only on the incident surface on which the light beam L is incident in the plasmon generator 71 but also on the entire outer surface including the surface opposite to the incident surface. In addition, since the outer surfaces of the plasmon generator 71 are all surfaces that are in contact with the same propagation part 50, the surface plasmons can be propagated to the near-field light generator 72 under the same conditions, and loss can be easily suppressed. Also in these points, the near-field light S is easily generated efficiently.
Further, since both the plasmon generator 71 and the near-field light generator 72 are the same medium made of the same material, a step, an interface, or the like is unlikely to occur at the connection portion between them. Therefore, it is possible to propagate from the plasmon generator 71 to the near-field light generator 72 while suppressing the loss of surface plasmons, and it is easy to generate the near-field light S efficiently also in this respect.

In addition, in the present embodiment, since the lateral width W1 of the plasmon generator 71 is much larger than the lateral width W2 of the near-field light generator 72, it is possible to secure a larger area for interaction with the light beam L, and to L can be incident on the plasmon generator 71. Therefore, the above effects can be remarkably achieved. On the other hand, since the lateral width W2 of the near-field light generator 72 can be made as narrow as possible, it is easy to make the emission end face 72a as small as possible (see FIG. 8). Therefore, the near field light S can be further localized, and high density recording can be easily achieved.
That is, according to the near-field light generating element 70 according to the present embodiment, the point that the surface plasmon can be generated efficiently and the point that the near-field light S can be generated with the smallest possible spot are achieved simultaneously. Can do.

Further, it is not necessary to change the film thicknesses of the plasmon generator 71 and the near-field light generator 72, and if the plasmon generator 71 having the same film thickness as the near-field light generator 72 is inclined with respect to the optical axis M, For example, the plasmon generator 71 and the near-field light generator 72 are provided simply by removing a part of the propagation part 50 by etching or the like to form a slope and patterning it into a thin film on the slope. The near-field light generating element 70 can be manufactured.
Therefore, the propagation part 50 and the near-field light generating element 70 are connected to the outflow end face of the slider 60 in the flow of the conventional manufacturing process using a semiconductor manufacturing technique such as a normal photolithography technique without using a special technique. It can be made simultaneously on the 60a side. Therefore, it can be easily manufactured with high accuracy and efficiency, leading to cost reduction and mass production.

Here, the manufacture of the light propagation element 40 and the near-field light generation element 70 will be described in brief.
First, as shown in FIG. 10A, the reproducing element 42 and the recording element 41 are formed on the outflow end surface 60a of the slider substrate 80 to be the slider 60 later by using a semiconductor technique, and the cladding of the light propagating element 40 is used. The layer 81 and the core layer 82 to be the propagation part 50 later are laminated in this order. Next, as shown in FIG. 10B, the core layer 82 is processed using semiconductor technology to form a bulging portion 83 having an inclined surface 83a, and the other core layer 82 portions are removed. To do.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10C, a near-field light generating element 70 is formed by coating a conductive material such as gold so as to cover the bulging portion 83. A portion of the bulging portion 83 that is coated on the inclined surface 83 a becomes the plasmon generating portion 71, and a portion that is coated on the other portion becomes the near-field light generating portion 72.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10D, the core layer 82 is laminated again so as to cover the near-field light generating element 70 and the exposed cladding layer 81. Next, as shown in FIG. 11A, a portion of the re-stacked core layer 82 that swells along the bulging portion 83 is polished to form the entire core layer 82 flat. Next, as shown in FIG. 11B, the clad layer 81 is again laminated so as to cover the core layer 82. Finally, as shown in FIG. 11B, the recording head 2 in which the near-field light generating element 70 is disposed inside the propagation part 50 can be manufactured by polishing these laminated bodies to the dotted line portion. it can.

  In particular, the light composed of the propagation part 50 and the clad 51 can be obtained by a simple method in which one step of the manufacturing process of the near-field light generating element 70 is added in the course of manufacturing each component in order from the outflow end surface 60a side of the slider 60. Since the propagation element 40 and the near-field light generating element 70 including the plasmon generator 71 and the near-field light generator 72 can be formed at the same time, manufacturing is easy.

  Since the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes the recording head 2 described above, the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 has high writing reliability and can be a high-quality apparatus compatible with high-density recording. Further, as described above, since the surface plasmon can be efficiently generated by using the plasmon generator 71 inclined with respect to the optical axis M, the laser power required for the laser light source 20 can be reduced and consumed. Electric power can be reduced.

  The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the air floating type information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 in which the slider 60 is levitated has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this case. The slider 60 may be in contact. That is, the recording head 2 of the present invention may be a contact slider type head. Even in this case, the same effects can be achieved.

In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the head gimbal assembly 12 is provided only on one side of the arm unit 14 has been described. However, both surfaces of the arm unit 14 inserted between the disks D face each disk D. In this way, a configuration in which the head gimbal assembly 12 is provided is also possible.
In this case, information can be recorded / reproduced on the disk surface D1 facing each recording head 2 by each recording head 2 of the head gimbal assembly 12 provided on both sides of the arm portion 14. That is, since information on two disks D can be recorded and reproduced by one arm unit 14, the recording capacity of the information recording / reproducing apparatus 1 can be increased and the apparatus can be downsized.

  In the above embodiment, the laser light source 20 for introducing the light beam L into the light propagation element 40 is arranged on the terminal board 30 attached to the base portion 15 of the carriage 11. However, the present invention is limited to this position. is not. For example, it may be disposed on the upper surface of the slider 60 and integrally mounted on the recording head 2. This is more preferable because the optical waveguide 32 does not need to be routed from the carriage 11 and the movement of the slider 60 at the time of flying is not easily inhibited by the optical waveguide 32.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the propagation part 50 was formed in straight shape, it is not limited to this shape. For example, you may form so that it may become a taper shape gradually toward the end surface 50a side. In any case, it is sufficient that the light beam L can be propagated.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 12-14, you may form the plasmon generating part 71 so that the propagation part 50 may be obstruct | occluded on the way. In other words, the plasmon generator 71 may be extended so as to cross the inside of the propagation part 50 while maintaining the inclined state with respect to the optical axis M, and the propagation part may be closed in the middle.

  In this case, since the plasmon generator 71 blocks the propagation part 50 on the way, the plasmon generator 71 completely intersects the optical path of the propagated light beam L. Therefore, all of the propagated light beam L can be incident on the plasmon generator 71. Accordingly, it is possible to generate the high-intensity near-field light S while minimizing the leakage light, to achieve higher density recording, and to further improve the writing reliability.

In the above embodiment, not only the plasmon generator 71 but also the near-field light generator 72 may be formed so as to be inclined with respect to the optical axis M of the light beam L.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 15 to 17, a part of the near-field light generator 72 may be inclined so as to approach the outflow end surface 60 a side of the slider 60.
Thus, by tilting at least part of the near-field light generator 72 with respect to the optical axis M, it is possible to change the position of the emission end face 72a that generates the near-field light S. The degree of freedom can be improved.
In particular, in the illustrated example, since the emission end face 72a of the near-field light generator 72 is as close as possible to the main magnetic pole 47, the near-field light S can be generated at a position as close as possible to the magnetic field spot of the recording magnetic field. Even when the incident energy of the light beam L is weak, it is possible to perform recording with high reliability on the magnetic domain of the target recording track.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, it is preferable to form the near-field light generating element 70 so that it may become a rounded external shape, without producing a corner | angular part as much as possible. In this way, the excited surface plasmon can be guided to the emission end face 72a of the near-field light generating unit 72 and converted into the near-field light S without losing the excited surface plasmon.

D ... Disk (magnetic recording medium)
D1 ... disk surface (surface of magnetic recording medium)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS L ... Light beam M ... Optical axis S ... Near field light 1 ... Information recording / reproducing apparatus 2 ... Recording head 3 ... Suspension 10 ... Pivot shaft 11 ... Carriage 14 ... Arm part 20 ... Laser light source (light source)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 41 ... Recording element 45 ... Auxiliary magnetic pole 47 ... Main magnetic pole 50 ... Propagation part 60 ... Slider 60a ... Outflow end surface of slider 70 ... Near field light generation element 71 ... Plasmon generation part 72 ... Near field light generation part 72a ... Near field light generation Exit end face

Claims (4)

A slider disposed opposite to the surface of the magnetic recording medium rotating in a certain direction with the outflow end face facing downstream in the rotation direction of the magnetic recording medium;
A propagation section disposed on the outflow end face side of the slider and propagating an incident light beam toward an end face facing the surface of the magnetic recording medium;
A recording element disposed on the outflow end face side of the slider, having a main magnetic pole and an auxiliary magnetic pole, and generating a recording magnetic field between the magnetic poles;
A thin-film near-field light generating element that is embedded inside the propagation part and generates near-field light from the light flux propagated by the propagation part,
The near-field light generating element is
A plasmon generator that generates surface plasmons on the surface on the incident side and the surface opposite to the surface on the incident side by the incidence of the luminous flux;
A near-field light generating unit that propagates the surface plasmon toward the exit end face and generates the near-field light from the exit end face, and
The plasmon generator and the near-field light generator are integrally formed of the same material,
The plasmon generating part is inclined with respect to the optical axis of the light beam propagating through the propagation part ,
The plasmon generator and the near-field light generator have a lateral width extending in a direction parallel to the surface of the magnetic recording medium when the near-field light generator is viewed from the outflow end face side of the slider. It is formed to be constant in the direction along the optical axis of the luminous flux,
The recording head according to claim 1, wherein a width of the plasmon generator is wider than a width of the near-field light generator . The recording head according to claim 1 ,
The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the plasmon generating part traverses the propagation part so as to close the propagation part on the way while maintaining the inclined state. The recording head according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The recording head according to claim 1, wherein the near-field light generating unit is inclined with respect to an optical axis of the light beam propagating through the propagation unit. The recording head according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ,
A suspension that is movable in a direction parallel to the surface of the magnetic recording medium, and that supports the recording head in a state of being rotatable about two axes parallel to the surface of the magnetic recording medium and orthogonal to each other;
A light source that causes the light beam to enter the propagation portion;
A pivot shaft disposed outside the magnetic recording medium;
An information recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: a carriage formed to be rotatable around the pivot shaft and having an arm portion for supporting the suspension.

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