Disk drive adjusting fly height actuator to compensate for laser induced head protrusion in heat assisted magnetic recording

A method of operating a disk drive, the disk drive comprising a head actuated over a disk comprising a plurality of data tracks defined by servo sectors, wherein each data track comprises a plurality of data sectors, and the head comprises a laser operable to heat the disk while writing data to the disk and a fly height actuator (FHA) operable to adjust a fly height of the head over the disk, the method comprising:

• receiving a write command to write data to a target data track;
• positioning the head over the target data track;
• when the head approaches a target data sector of the target data track, increasing a power applied to the FHA to decrease the fly height of the head;
• and
• when the head reaches the target data sector, increasing a power applied to the laser to heat the disk, and decreasing substantially monotonically the power applied to the FHA while writing data to the target data sector.