Patent ID: 7839597

Claim:
An information access device comprising: a recording medium in which information is recorded; a head comprising a heater and configured to float from the recording medium, and to read information recorded in the recording medium in order to obtain an analog signal, a floating amount of the head being controlled by thermal expansion of heat of the heater; a read channel including: a gain variable amplifier configured to amplify the analog signal by exponentially multiplying the analog signal by a gain control value; a gain controller configured to control the gain control value such that the analog signal output from the gain variable amplifier becomes equal to an analog signal of a predetermined amplitude; and an A/D converter configured to convert the analog signal output from the gain variable amplifier into a digital signal; a power supply configured to supply power to the heater; a floating amount controller configured to control a floating amount of the head to a target floating amount by controlling power supplied from the power supply to the heater; and a difference value storage configured to store a difference value between a gain control value when the head comes into contact with the recording medium and a gain control value when the head floats with respect to the recording medium by a target floating amount, wherein the floating amount controller is configured to control the power supplied to the heater in order to cause the head to temporarily contact the recording medium, to obtain a first gain control value adjusted by the gain controller at the time of contact, and to obtain from the first gain control value and the difference value a second gain control value by which the gain controller controls when the head floats from the recording medium by the target floating amount, and the floating amount controller is configured to control the power supplied to the heater such that the second gain control value is supplied to the gain variable amplifier by the gain controller.