1.  Field of the Invention
Provided are a tape head module, tape drive, and method for moving a tape medium over a tape head having a recessed portion to provide air bearing between a tape medium and a tape bearing surface of the module. 
2.  Description of the Related Art
In magnetic storage systems, data is read from and written onto magnetic recording media utilizing magnetic read and write transducers.  Data is written on the magnetic recording media by moving a magnetic recording transducer to a position over the media where the data is to be stored.  The magnetic recording transducer generates a magnetic field, which encodes the data into the magnetic media.  Data is read from the media by similarly positioning the magnetic read transducer and then sensing the magnetic field of the magnetic media.  Read and write operations may be independently synchronized with the movement of the media to ensure that the data can be read from and written to the desired location on the media. 
An important and continuing goal in the data storage industry is that of increasing the density of data stored on a medium.  For tape storage systems, the goal is to increase track density on the recording tape medium while decreasing the thickness of the magnetic tape medium.  In a tape drive system, magnetic tape is moved over the surface of the tape head at high speed.  This movement tends to cause formation of a film of air between the head and tape.  Usually the tape head is designed to minimize the spacing between the head and the tape.  The spacing between the magnetic head and the magnetic tape is crucial so that the recording gaps of the transducers, which are the source of the magnetic recording flux, are close to the tape to effect efficient signal transfer, and so that the read element is close to the tape to provide effective coupling of the magnetic field from the tape to the read element. 
However, this close spacing of the tape medium and the tape bearing surface results in various tribological issues becoming more pronounced, among them, tape/head stiction and running friction.  Particularly, as the linear density of magnetic tape recording increases, the magnetic spacing must be reduced, requiring smoother heads and tapes.  These may be associated with increased startup friction (stiction), increased running friction, and more instantaneous speed variations (ISVs).  In addition, tape-head wear may limit tape lifetime, and contact-generated debris can adhere to the head, increasing the magnetic spacing. 
There is a need in the art for reducing friction when the tape medium travels across the tape head while ensuring the region of the tape that is subject to read and write operations at the transducer elements comes into contact with the transducer elements to ensure accurate read and write operations to bands of the tape medium.