Integrated near-field optical head for hybrid recording

As the recording density of longitudinal magnetic storage increases at a 100% annual growth rate, it will soon approach the superparamagnetic limit where the thermal energy at room temperature starts to induce thermal instability to the grains in the small recorded marks. Thermal magnetic recording schemes, such as those used in magneto-optical recording, help alleviate the problems with the superparamagnetic limit. Recently, a hybrid recording system was proposed where data were recorded thermal magnetically on a magneto-optical disk and read back with a GMR head. In this paper, we propose an integrated planar head that combines an optical fiber lens, a solid immersion lens, a sub wavelength aperture, a micro coil, an air bearing surface, and a GMR head for such a hybrid recording system. Preliminary fabrication and calculation are discussed.