Magnetic head having highly thermally conductive insulator materials containing cobalt-oxide

• Main Authors: HSIAO WENIEN DAVID, CYRILLE MARIE-CLAIRE, ZOLLA HOWARD GORDON, JU YONGHO SUNGTAEK, LEE WEN-YAUNG, MAAT STEFAN
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 11.01.2005
• Edition: 7
• Subjects: INFORMATION STORAGE; INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORDCARRIER AND TRANSDUCER; PHYSICS

A magnetic head has highly thermally conductive insulator materials containing cobalt-oxide so that heat can more effectively dissipate from the magnetic head. In one illustrative example, the magnetic head has first and second gap layers and a read sensor disposed between the first and the second gap layers. The first and the second gap layers are advantageously made of cobalt-oxide (CoOx) (e.g. CoO or Co2O3), which may exhibit a thermal conductivity of between 5-8 watts/meter-Kelvin or greater. In another illustrative example, a magnetic head is made of a substrate; first and second shield layers; an undercoat layer formed between the substrate and the first shield layer; first and second gap layers formed between the first and the second shield layers; and a read sensor formed between the first and the second gap layers. The undercoat layer is also made of CoOx. The improved dissipation of heat from the magnetic head improves the read sensor performance and reduces the likelihood of other problems, such as head-to-disk interface problems.