Signal Readout Using Small Near-Field Optical Head with Horizontal Light Introduction Through Optical Fiber

Abstract

We have developed a small near-field optical head for high-recording-density data storage applications, to overcome the disadvantage of conventional near-field optical heads, such as large light introduction, low optical throughput, and difficulty in controlling the aperture-medium distance. The optical head structure has miniaturized light introduction using an optical fiber placed horizontally. To decrease the optical loss, an integrated microlens focuses on the aperture tip that has a shortened cut-off region. The fabricated optical head (3.2×3.6×0.9 mm3) with a φ200 nm aperture of the same height as the sliders shows a clear readout signal of a 200-nm-wide line and space pattern at a speed of 5.2 MHz. We show that the optical head has the ability to read 4 times the recording density by simulations of the finite difference time domain (FDTD).