Inverse tapered waveguide for use in a heat assisted magnetic recording head

FIG. 1 depicts a plan view of a portion of a conventional heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) transducer 10 . The conventional HAMR transducer 10 includes a pole (not shown), coil(s) (not shown), and other components used in writing to a media (not shown). The conventional HAMR transducer 10 is coupled to a laser (not shown) for providing light energy to the HAMR transducer 10 . In addition, the HAMR transducer includes a conventional waveguide 20 for directing light from the laser to a near field transducer (NFT) near the ABS.

The conventional waveguide 20 includes an entrance 22 , a tapered region 24 , and an exit 26 near the ABS. The tapered region 24 goes from a wider entrance 22 to a smaller cross-section. Thus, the exit 26 near the ABS is smaller in cross-section than the entrance 22 . Note that the waveguide 20 in FIG. 1 is shown as tapering in the cross-track direction (left-right in FIG. 1 ). In some cases, the waveguide 20 may taper in the down track direction (out of the plane of the page in FIG. 1 ). The tapered region 24 confines the energy in the laser mode provided by the laser (not shown in FIG. 1 ) to a smaller waveguide mode.

FIG. 2 depicts the laser mode 30 and the conventional waveguide mode 28 for the conventional transducer 10 . The entrance 22 for the waveguide 20 is also depicted in FIG. 2 . Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the laser mode 30 corresponds to the laser spot at the entrance 22 of the waveguide 20 . The waveguide mode 28 indicates the region for which energy is coupled into the waveguide 20 . The entrance 22 is smaller than the mode 28 coupled into the waveguide 20 . In the HAMR transducer 10 depicted in FIGS. 1-2 , the laser energy/mode 30 is within the waveguide mode 28 . Stated differently, the laser mode 30 is within the region 28 for which energy is coupled into the waveguide 12 . Thus, the waveguide 20 provides energy to the ABS that may be used by the HAMR transducer 10 in writing to the media (not shown).

Although the conventional waveguide 20 functions, the location of the laser mode 30 may shift during fabrication of the HAMR transducer 10 . For example, the laser may be aligned with the waveguide entrance 22 and then bonded. However, during the bonding process, the location of the laser may change. Thus, misalignments may occur between the laser mode 30 and the waveguide mode 28 . As a result, the waveguide 20 may couple in less energy from the laser. Thus, performance of the conventional waveguide 20 may be adversely affected. In some cases, the misalignment is severe enough that the waveguide 20 does not couple in enough energy to meet the minimum standards of operation for the HAMR transducer 10 . As a result, yield for fabrication of the conventional HAMR transducer 10 may be adversely affected.

Accordingly, what is needed is an improved method for fabricating a HAMR transducer.

A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) transducer is coupled with a laser for providing energy and has an air-bearing surface (ABS) configured to reside in proximity to a media during use. The HAMR transducer includes a write pole, at least one coil, and an inverse tapered waveguide optically coupled with the laser. The write pole is configured to write to a region of the media. The coil(s) energize the write pole. The inverse tapered waveguide includes an entrance distal from the ABS, a bottom proximate to the ABS, a first side and a second side opposite to the first side. The first side and the second side diverging such that at least a portion of the inverse tapered waveguide between the bottom and the top is wider than the entrance.

FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting a plan view of a conventional waveguide in a conventional magnetic transducer.

FIG. 2 depicts the laser mode and the conventional waveguide mode.

FIG. 3 is depicts an exemplary embodiment of a heat assisted magnetic recording disk drive.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a portion of an inverse tapered waveguide.

FIGS. 5A and 5B depict the laser mode, an exemplary embodiment of the inverse tapered waveguide mode and the entrance of the tapered waveguide.

FIG. 6 depicts an exemplary embodiment of intensity versus distance perpendicular to the direction of travel in the waveguide.

FIG. 7 depicts another exemplary embodiment of an inverse tapered waveguide.

FIG. 8 depicts another exemplary embodiment of an inverse tapered waveguide.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart depicting an exemplary embodiment of a method for fabricating an interferometric tapered waveguide for a magnetic recording transducer.

FIG. 3 depicts a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a portion of a heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) disk drive 100 . For clarity, FIG. 3 is not to scale. For simplicity not all portions of the HAMR disk drive 100 are shown. In addition, although the HAMR disk drive 100 is depicted in the context of particular components other and/or different components may be used. For simplicity, only single components 102 , 110 , 120 , 130 and 140 are shown. However, multiples of each components 102 , 110 , 120 , 130 and/or 140 and their sub-components, might be used.

The HAMR disk drive 100 includes media 102 , a slider 110 , an HAMR transducer 120 and a laser assembly 130 . Additional and/or different components may be included in the HAMR disk drive 100 . The slider 110 , and thus the laser assembly 130 and HAMR transducer 120 are generally attached to a suspension (not shown). The HAMR transducer 120 is fabricated on the slider 110 and includes an air-bearing surface (ABS) proximate to the media 102 during use.

In general, the HAMR transducer 120 includes a write transducer and a read transducer. However, for clarity, only the write portion of the HAMR transducer 120 is shown. The HAMR transducer 120 includes a waveguide 140 , write pole 124 , coil(s) 126 and near-field transducer (NFT) 128 . In other embodiments, different and/or additional components may be used in the HAMR transducer 120 . The waveguide 140 guides light to the NFT 128 , which resides near the ABS. The NFT 128 utilizes local resonances in surface plasmons to focus the light to magnetic recording media 102 . At resonance, the NFT 128 couples the optical energy of the surface plasmons efficiently into the recording medium layer of the media 102 with a confined optical spot which is much smaller than the optical diffraction limit.

The laser assembly 130 includes a submount 132 and a laser 134 . The submount 132 is a substrate to which the laser 134 may be affixed for improved mechanical stability, ease of manufacturing and better robustness. The laser 134 may be a chip such as a laser diode. Thus, the laser 134 typically includes at least a resonance cavity, a gain reflector on one end of the cavity, a partial reflector on the other end of the cavity and a gain medium. For simplicity, these components of the laser 134 are not shown in FIG. 3 .

The waveguide 140 is an inverse tapered waveguide. FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a portion of the waveguide 140 . For clarity, FIG. 4 is not to scale. For simplicity not all portions of the inverse tapered waveguide 140 are shown. In addition, although the inverse tapered waveguide 140 is depicted in the context of particular components other and/or different components may be used. In addition to the inverse tapered waveguide 140 , the laser mode 135 and waveguide mode output 148 are depicted.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 , the inverse tapered waveguide 140 is optically coupled with the laser 134 . The inverse tapered waveguide 140 includes an entrance 142 and a bottom 147 . The entrance 142 is optically coupled with the laser 142 and distal from the ABS. The bottom 147 of the inverse tapered waveguide 140 is at the ABS. In the embodiment shown, the inverse tapered waveguide 130 , has a straight section 144 and a taper 146 between the entrance 142 and the bottom, or exit 147 . Although not shown in FIG. 4 , the inverse tapered waveguide 140 may include curved sections. Further, the inverse tapered waveguide 140 may also be an interferometric (inverse) tapered waveguide having multiple arms. The straight section 144 near the entrance 142 has a constant width and a length, I 1 . In some embodiments, this length is not more than fifteen micrometers. In still other embodiments, the straight section has a length of not more than ten micrometers. In some embodiments, the straight section 144 may be omitted. In such embodiments, the taper 146 starts at the entrance 142 .

The taper 146 is an inverse taper. Stated differently, the sides of the waveguide 140 diverge in the direction of travel of light through the waveguide: from the entrance 142 toward the bottom 147 of the waveguide. Thus, as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4 , the bottom 147 is wider than the entrance 142 . In some embodiments, the entrance 142 of the inverse tapered waveguide has a width of at least seventy nanometers and not more than one hundred sixty nanometers. In some such embodiments, the width of the entrance 142 is at least one hundred nanometers and not more than one hundred forty nanometers. The wider portion of the waveguide 140 , after the taper 146 may be determined using the NFT size. In some embodiments, this width may be over five hundred nanometers. For example, the width may be up on the order of five hundred fifty nanometers. However, in other embodiments, the width is greater than one hundred forty nanometers, but less than five hundred nanometers. The taper 146 is, therefore, an inverse taper.

The sides of the waveguide 140 are shown as forming an inverse taper in the cross-track direction. The sides of the inverse tapered waveguide 130 may diverge only in the cross-track direction, only in the down track direction, or in both the cross-track and down track directions. Further, the sides of the waveguide 140 are shown as being symmetric in FIGS. 3 and 4 . Thus, opposite sides of the waveguide 140 diverge in a like manner. However, in other embodiments, opposing sides of the waveguide 140 may be asymmetric and diverge in different manners.

The laser mode 135 shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to the intensity of the energy provided from the laser 132 to the entrance 142 of the waveguide 140 . Some portion of this energy is coupled into the waveguide 140 and confined to the waveguide mode 148 output by the waveguide 140 .

FIGS. 5A and 5B further indicate the coupling of laser energy into the waveguide 140 . FIG. 5A depicts the laser mode and an exemplary embodiment of the inverse tapered waveguide mode at the entrance 142 of the waveguide 140 . FIG. 5B depicts the physical extent of layers of the waveguide 140 . Referring to FIGS. 3, 4, 5A and 5B , the laser mode 135 is within the waveguide mode 141 . The waveguide mode 141 corresponds to the region over which energy will be coupled into the waveguide 140 . For comparison, the conventional waveguide mode 28 is shown in FIG. 5A for comparison. The eccentricity of the ellipse 28 is much higher than for the waveguide mode 141 . The waveguide modes 28 and 141 indicate that the waveguide 140 is significantly less susceptible to laser misalignments, particularly in the down track direction. Note in FIG. 5B the entrance 142 for the core of the waveguide 140 is shown. Also depicted are cladding 143 and surrounding insulator 125 , which may include aluminum oxide. The core of waveguide 140 is typically formed of tantalum oxide. The cladding 143 may be silicon dioxide or another material. As discussed above, the width of the entrance may be one hundred sixty nanometers or less. The cladding 143 may be desired to be at least 1.4 μm and not more than 4 μm thick. In some such embodiments, the cladding 143 is desired to be at least 2.5 μm thick. In some embodiments, the cladding 143 is desired to be to 2.6-3.4 μm thick.

Using the inverse taper waveguide 140 , the HAMR disk drive 100 may be improved. More specifically, the tolerance of the HAMR disk drive 100 to laser misalignments may be enhanced. As indicated in FIG. 4 , although the entrance 142 of the waveguide 140 is small, the laser mode 135 may still be coupled into the waveguide. Because of the size of the entrance, the waveguide mode 141 for light coupled into the waveguide is broader in the down track direction. In other words, the waveguide mode 141 is more symmetric in the cross track and down track directions. As a result, the optical coupling between the laser 132 and the waveguide 140 is less sensitive to misalignments, particularly in the down track direction. This can be seen by the comparison of the laser mode 135 with the waveguide mode 141 and the conventional waveguide mode 28 of the conventional waveguide 20 . Although the total energy coupled into the waveguide 140 for perfect alignment between the laser 132 and the waveguide 140 is reduced, in some embodiments, more HAMR disk drives 100 meet the minimum requirements for laser power coupled into the waveguide 140 . Thus, tolerance to laser misalignments may be enhanced. In addition, the yield for the method of fabricating the HAMR disk drive 100 may be improved. Moreover, because of the size of the entrance 142 , the waveguide mode 148 output by the waveguide 140 is more likely to be confined near the center of the waveguide, as is shown in FIG. 4 . This centering of the waveguide mode 148 may also be desirable.

The improvement in the laser misalignment tolerance and yield may also be explained using FIG. 6 . FIG. 6 is a graph 150 depicting an exemplary embodiment of intensity versus down track distance for energy coupled into a waveguide. The graph 150 includes curves 152 and 154 corresponding to the conventional tapered waveguide 20 and the inverse tapered waveguide 140 , respectively. Although curves 152 and 154 are shown, they are for explanatory purposes only and not intended to depict data or simulation results for a particular waveguide. Because the curve 152 corresponds to the conventional waveguide, the curve 152 is shown as a dashed line. Both curves 152 and 154 have peaks at perfect alignment, corresponding to a down track distance of zero. However, the curve 154 is significantly broader and does not contain as deep minima near the global maximum as does the curve 152 . Thus, although the waveguide 140 may couple in somewhat less energy from the laser 132 at perfect alignment, the waveguide 140 may couple in a greater intensity when the laser 132 is misaligned (at nonzero down track distance). Thus, the waveguide 140 may have improved tolerance to misalignments. The HAMR disk drive 100 may thus have improved fabrication yield.

FIG. 7 depicts another exemplary embodiment of an inverse tapered waveguide 190 in a HAMR transducer 180 . For clarity, FIG. 7 is not to scale. The HAMR transducer 180 and waveguide 190 correspond to the HAMR transducer 120 and waveguide 140 , respectively. The HAMR transducer 180 and waveguide 190 thus may be used in the HAMR disk drive 100 . For simplicity, not all portions of the waveguide 190 or HAMR transducer 180 are shown. The waveguide 190 includes an entrance 192 and a bottom 198 that is near the NFT 182 for the HAMR transducer 180 . The waveguide 190 also includes an inverse taper 194 and a curved region 196 . As can be seen in FIG. 7 , the taper 194 is an inverse taper. Thus, the width in the cross track direction (left to right in FIG. 7 ) for the entrance 192 is less than that of the bottom 198 . In some embodiments, the taper 194 only increases the width of the waveguide 190 in the cross track direction. In other embodiments, the taper 194 increases the width of the waveguide 190 in the down track direction (out of the plane of the page in FIG. 7 ). In still other embodiments, the taper 192 may increase the width of the waveguide 190 in both the down track and cross track directions. Further, the taper 194 is depicted as symmetric. In other embodiments, the taper 194 may not be symmetric.

In some embodiments, the dimensions of the waveguide 190 may be analogous to those discussed above. For example, the entrance 192 may have a width of at least seventy nanometers and not more than one hundred sixty nanometers. In some such embodiments the width of the entrance 192 is at least one hundred nanometers and not more than one hundred forty nanometers. The width of the bottom 198 of the waveguide 190 may be determined based on the NFT 182 . In some embodiments, the width of the bottom 198 is not more than five hundred nanometers, but greater than the width of the entrance 192 . In other embodiments, the width of the bottom 198 may be greater than five hundred nanometers.

The waveguide 190 may share the benefits of the waveguide 140 . In particular, use of the inverse taper 194 improves the tolerance of the waveguide 190 to laser misalignments. Thus, the yield for fabricating the waveguide 190 and, therefore, the HAMR transducer 180 , may be improved. Further, the ability of the waveguide 190 to rapidly confine the waveguide mode to the center of the waveguide 190 may be enhanced.

FIG. 8 depicts another exemplary embodiment of an inverse tapered waveguide 190 ′ in a HAMR transducer 180 ′. For clarity, FIG. 8 is not to scale. The HAMR transducer 180 ′ and waveguide 190 ′ correspond to the HAMR transducer 120 / 180 and waveguide 140 / 190 , respectively. The HAMR transducer 180 ′ and waveguide 190 ′ thus may be used in the HAMR disk drive 100 . For simplicity, not all portions of the waveguide 190 ′ or HAMR transducer 180 ′ are shown. The waveguide 190 ′ is an interferometric tapered waveguide (ITWG). The waveguide 190 ′ thus has multiple arms. In the embodiment shown, the waveguide 192 ′ has two arms 191 and 193 . Also shown is a multimode interferometric (MMI) device 197 that splits the arms 191 and 192 . In other embodiments, another mechanism for forming the arms 191 and 192 , such as a Y-splitter, may be used. The arms 191 and 192 have curved regions 196 ′.

The ITWG 190 ′ also includes an entrance 192 ′ and a bottom 198 ′ that is near the NFT 182 ′ for the HAMR transducer 180 ′. The waveguide 190 ′ also includes an inverse taper 194 ′. Thus, the width in the cross track direction (left to right in FIG. 8 ) for the entrance 192 ′ is less than that of the bottom 198 ′. In some embodiments, the taper 194 ′ only increases the width of the waveguide 190 ′ in the cross track direction. In other embodiments, the taper 194 ′ increases the width of the waveguide 190 ′ in the down track direction (out of the plane of the page in FIG. 8 ). In still other embodiments, the taper 192 ′ may increase the width of the waveguide 190 ′ in both the down track and cross track directions. Further, the taper 194 ′ is depicted as symmetric. In other embodiments, the taper 194 ′ may not be symmetric.

In some embodiments, the dimensions of the waveguide 190 ′ may be analogous to those discussed above. For example, the entrance 192 ′ may have a width of at least seventy nanometers and not more than one hundred sixty nanometers. In some such embodiments the width of the entrance 192 ′ is at least one hundred nanometers and not more than one hundred forty nanometers. The width of the bottom 198 of the waveguide 190 ′ may be determined based on the NFT 182 . In some embodiments, the width of the bottom 198 ′ is not more than five hundred nanometers, but greater than the width of the entrance 192 ′. In other embodiments, the width of the bottom 198 ′ may be greater than five hundred nanometers.

The waveguide 190 ′ shares the benefits of the waveguides 140 and 190 . In particular, use of the inverse taper 194 ′ improves the tolerance of the waveguide 190 ′ to laser misalignments. Thus, the yield for fabricating the waveguide 190 ′ and, therefore, the HAMR transducer 180 ′, may be improved. Further, the ability of the waveguide 190 ′ to rapidly confine the waveguide mode to the center of the waveguide 190 ′ may be enhanced. In addition, the benefits of using an ITWG may also be attained.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart depicting an exemplary embodiment of a method 200 for fabricating waveguides in heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) transducers. In particular, the method 200 may be used in fabricating an inverse tapered. For simplicity, some steps may be omitted, performed in another order, interleaved with other steps and/or combined. The magnetic recording transducer being fabricated may be part of a merged head that also includes a read head (not shown) and resides on a slider (not shown) in a disk drive. The method 200 is described in the context of forming a single transducer 120 in a disk drive 100 . However, the method 200 may be used to fabricate multiple transducers at substantially the same time. Further, the method 200 may be used in fabricating other transducer including but not limited to the transducers 180 and/or 180 ′. The method 200 and system are also described in the context of particular layers. However, in some embodiments, such layers may include multiple sub-layers. The method 200 also may commence after formation of other portions of the magnetic recording transducer.

A write pole configured to write to a region of the media 102 is provided, via step 202 . Step 202 typically include multiple substeps that form the pole 124 . One or more write coils 126 are provided, via step 204 .

An inverse tapered waveguide 140 optically coupled with the laser 132 is provided, via step 206 . Step 206 typically includes depositing cladding and core layers for the waveguide 140 and defining the waveguide 140 using photolithography. Step 206 may also be used to provide the waveguide 190 and/or 190 ′. An NFT 128 is also provided, via step 208 . Step 208 may include depositing an Au layer, providing mask(s) that cover a portion of the Au, and removing an exposed portion of the Au. Thus, the NFT 128 may be formed. Fabrication of the HAMR transducer 120 may then be completed, via step 210 .

Using the method 200 , the waveguide 140 , 190 and/or 190 ′ may be formed. Because of the use of the inverse taper and small entrances 142 / 192 / 192 ′ the waveguides 140 / 190 / 190 ′ have greater tolerance for misalignments. Further, the ability of the waveguide 140 / 190 / 190 ′ to rapidly confine the waveguide mode to the center of the waveguide 140 ′ 190 / 190 ′ may be enhanced. Consequently, performance of the HAMR transducer 120 / 180 / 180 ′ may be enhanced and the yield for the method 200 improved.