Patent ID: 11894018
Assignee: WESTERN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
Field: Audio-visual technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 0:
1. A heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) head assembly for writing to a magnetic recording layer comprising:
a head having a recording layer facing surface, an along-the-track axis and a cross-track axis substantially orthogonal to the along-the-track axis;
a near-field transducer (NFT) layer on the head on a surface substantially orthogonal to the recording layer facing surface and having an NFT tip substantially at the recording-layer-facing surface with a cross-track width;
a main pole on the head, the main pole having a recording layer facing surface with an output end and a NFT-facing surface substantially orthogonal to and having a height from the recording-layer-facing surface, the NFT-facing surface having a recess containing plasmonic material, the plasmonic material including a plasmonic tip at the main pole output end aligned with the NFT tip in the along-the-track direction and with a cross-track width equal to or less than the cross-track width of the NFT tip; and
an optical waveguide on the head and optically coupled to the NFT layer.