Heat-assisted magnetic recording head having near-field transducer with sunken plasmonic plate

A recording head comprising:

• a nanorod configured to generate a hotspot on a recording media, the nanorod including a top surface and a bottom surface;
• a heat sink configured to dissipate heat from the nanorod;
• a first diffusion barrier plate configured to resist diffusion of materials between the heat sink and the nanorod, the first diffusion barrier plate disposed between the heat sink and the nanorod, the first diffusion barrier plate coupled to the top surface of the nanorod;
• a write pole;
• and
• a second diffusion barrier plate configured to resist diffusion of materials between the write pole and the nanorod, the second diffusion barrier plate disposed between the write pole and the heat sink.

A data storage device comprising:

• a recording head comprising:
• a nanorod configured to heat a hotspot on a recording media, the nanorod including a top surface and a bottom surface;
• a plasmonic plate configured to concentrate an electric field to excite the nanorod;
• a first diffusion barrier plate configured to resist diffusion of materials between the plasmonic plate and the nanorod, the first diffusion barrier plate disposed between the nanorod and the plasmonic plate, the first diffusion barrier plate coupled to the bottom surface of the nanorod;
• a first heat sink configured to dissipate heat from the nanorod;
• a second diffusion barrier plate configured to resist diffusion of materials between the first heat sink and the nanorod, the second diffusion barrier plate disposed between the first heat sink and the nanorod, the second diffusion barrier plate coupled to the top surface of the nanorod;
• and
• a second heat sink disposed between to the first diffusion barrier plate and the second diffusion barrier plate.