Patent ID: 8743667
Filing Date: 2014-06-03
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
1. A method for writing to a magnetic recording layer in a thermally-assisted recording (TAR) disk drive, the disk drive including a disk having a magnetic recording layer, a laser diode, and an air-bearing slider having an air-bearing surface (ABS) facing the disk, wherein the slider supports a write coil, a write pole coupled to the write coil and having a tip at the ABS, and a near-field transducer (NFT) at the ABS and coupled to the laser diode, the method comprising: prior to writing, applying write current to the write coil to generate a magnetic field from the write pole, the write current causing protrusion of the write pole toward the recording layer; after the write pole has reached its maximum protrusion, applying power to the laser diode to heat the recording layer; and writing to the recording layer using the pre-existing magnetic field from the write pole; and wherein the time for the write pole to reach its maximum protrusion after application of write current to the coil is Δt, and wherein power to the laser diode is applied at a time greater than Δt after application of write current to the coil.