Magnetic recording and reproduction device and control method of the same

A heat-assisted magnetic recording and reproduction device comprising:

• a heat-assisted magnetic recording head comprising a main magnetic pole, a near-field transducer which generates near-field light, a waveguide which propagates light to the near-field transducer, and a laser light source which supplies light to the waveguide;
• a heat-assisted magnetic recording medium comprising a lubricant layer on a recording surface thereof which opposes the heat-assisted magnetic recording head;
• a laser current controller which controls a laser current to be applied to the laser light source;
• a head operation controller which controls operation of the heat-assisted magnetic recording head;
• and
• a smoothing processor which performs a smoothing process on a surface of the lubricant layer by applying the laser current to the laser light source at a second laser current value which is lower than a first laser current value at the time of write, and operating the heat-assisted magnetic recording head while irradiating the near-field light onto the heat-assisted magnetic recording medium.