Smaller cross track thermal spot size and larger down track thermal gradient are desired for
increasing the density of heat assisted magnetic recording. Both parameters are affected significantly
by the thermal energy accumulation and diffusion in the recording media. Pulsed laser heating is one
of the ways to reduce the thermal diffusion. In this paper, we describe the benefits from the pulsed
laser heating such as the dependences of the cross track thermal width, down track thermal gradient,
the required laser pulse/average powers, and the transducer temperature rise on the laser pulse width
at different media thermal properties. The results indicate that as the pulse width decreases, the
thermal width decreases, the thermal gradient increases, the required pulse power increases and the
average power decreases. For shorter pulse heating, the effects of the medium thermal properties on
the thermal performances become weaker. This can greatly relax the required thermal properties of
the media. The results also show that the pulsed laser heating can effectively reduce the transducer
temperature rise and allow the transducer to reach its “dynamically” stable temperature more
quickly.
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Copyright (2014) American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in J. Appl. Phys. 115, 17B701 (2014) and may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4853115.