Heat-assisted magnetic recording device capable of providing negative electrical potential at NFT

A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) disk drive comprising:

• a rotatable magnetic recording disk;
• a gas-bearing slider maintained over the surface of the disk when the disk is rotating;
• a write head on the slider comprising a main pole;
• an optical waveguide on the slider for receipt of laser radiation;
• a near-field transducer (NFT) on the slider for optical coupling with the waveguide;
• and
• interface voltage control circuitry coupled to the NFT, the interface voltage control circuitry being adapted to provide a negative electrical potential at the NFT relative to the disk, wherein the interface voltage control circuitry coupled to the NFT is a second interface voltage control circuitry (IVC2) and further comprising a first interface voltage control circuitry (IVC1) electrically coupled to the body of the slider and adapted to assure substantially zero electrical potential between the slider body and the disk.

A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) disk drive comprising:

• a rotatable magnetic recording disk;
• a gas-bearing slider maintained over the surface of the disk when the disk is rotating;
• a write head on the slider comprising a main pole, a return pole and an electrical coil for generating a write current;
• an optical waveguide on the slider for receipt of laser radiation;
• a near-field transducer (NFT) on the slider for optical coupling with the waveguide;
• a NFT temperature sensor (NTS) on the slider and coupled to the NFT;
• a read head on the slider;
• a first interface voltage control circuitry (IVC1) electrically coupled to one of said coil and read head, the IVC1 being adapted to provide substantially zero electrical potential between the slider and the disk;
• and
• second interface voltage control circuitry (IVC2) coupled to the NTS and adapted to provide a negative electrical potential at the NTS relative to the disk.