Rotated read head design for high-density heat-assisted shingled magnetic recording

In heat-assisted shingled magnetic recording, recorded tracks are erased on one side. The transitions are no longer symmetric relative to the track center, especially when the transitions are highly curved as a result of the temperature profile generated by the near-field transducer. To optimally utilize these asymmetrically curved transitions, the read head is rotated to match the curvature. For a single rotated head, a more than 10% improvement in user density is achieved compared to that of a single non-rotated head. We found that the optimal rotation angle generally follows the transition shape. With an array of two rotated heads, a track pitch of 15nm, and a minimum bit length of 6.0nm, the user areal density reaches 6.2 Tb/in(2), more than 30% above previous projections for recording on granular media.

Automated summary

In heat-assisted shingled magnetic recording, rotating the read head to match the curvature of asymmetrically curved transitions can significantly improve user density. With optimized rotation angle, the user areal density reaches 6.2 Tb/in(2), exceeding previous projections by more than 30%.