RESISTIVE TEMPERATURE SENSORS FOR IMPROVED ASPERITY, HEAD-MEDIA SPACING, AND/OR HEAD-MEDIA CONTACT DETECTION

• Main Authors: Wei Zhen, Anaya-Dufresne Manuel Charles, Kunkel Gary Joseph, Karr Brian William
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 22.12.2016
• Subjects: INFORMATION STORAGE; INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORDCARRIER AND TRANSDUCER; MEASURING; MEASURING QUANTITY OF HEAT; MEASURING TEMPERATURE; PHYSICS; TESTING; THERMALLY-SENSITIVE ELEMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR

A sensor supported by a head transducer has a temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and a sensor resistance. The sensor operates at a temperature above ambient and is responsive to changes in sensor-medium spacing. Conductive contacts connected to the sensor have a contact resistance and a cross-sectional area adjacent to the sensor larger than that of the sensor, such that the contact resistance is small relative to the sensor resistance and negligibly contributes to a signal generated by the sensor. A multiplicity of head transducers each support a TCR sensor and a power source can supply bias power to each sensor of each head to maintain each sensor at a fixed temperature above an ambient temperature in the presence of heat transfer changes impacting the sensors. A TCR sensor of a head transducer can include a track-oriented TCR sensor wire for sensing one or both of asperities of the medium.