Solid immersion mirror with fill material between inner and outer sidewalls
AssigneeSeagate Technology LLC
InventorsNeil Zuckerman, Chris Rea, Scott E. Olson, Zoran Jandric
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus includes a solid immersion mirror with opposing, reflective, inner sidewalls having inner surfaces facing a focal region and outer surfaces opposite the inner surfaces. The solid immersion mirror also include opposing outer sidewalls spaced apart from and facing the outer surfaces of the inner sidewalls, and a fill material between the inner sidewalls and outer sidewalls. The apparatus also includes a near-field transducer located in the focal region proximate a media-facing surface.
Claims17
An apparatus comprising:
- a solid immersion mirror comprising:
- opposing, reflective, inner sidewalls having inner surfaces facing a focal region and outer surfaces opposite the inner surfaces;
- opposing outer sidewalls spaced apart from and facing the outer surfaces of the inner sidewalls;
- and
- a fill material between the inner sidewalls and outer sidewalls, the fill material extending to a media-facing surface;
- and
- a near-field transducer located in the focal region proximate the media-facing surface, wherein the fill material protrudes during heating to form a landing pad that protects the near-field transducer from contact with a recording medium.
An apparatus comprising:
- a solid immersion mirror comprising:
- opposing, reflective, inner sidewalls having inner surfaces facing a focal region and outer surfaces opposite the inner surfaces;
- opposing reflective outer sidewalls spaced apart from and facing the outer surfaces of the inner sidewalls;
- and
- a fill material between the inner sidewalls and outer sidewalls;
- and
- a near-field transducer located in the focal region proximate a media-facing surface.
An apparatus comprising:
- a slider comprising:
- an optical coupling path that receives energy from the laser diode;
- a solid immersion mirror comprising a fill material between inner sidewalls and outer sidewalls, the inner sidewalls reflecting the energy from the optical coupling path to a focal point;
- and
- a near-field transducer located in a focal region of the solid immersion mirror that directs the energy to a recording medium, wherein the fill material is selected to reduce at least one of a temperature of the near-field transducer and a thermal protrusion of the near-field transducer from a media-facing surface of the slider.
A method comprising:
- providing a solid immersion mirror comprising:
- opposing, reflective, inner sidewalls having inner surfaces facing a focal region and outer surfaces opposite the inner surfaces;
- opposing outer sidewalls spaced apart from and facing the outer surfaces of the inner sidewalls;
- and
- a fill material between the inner sidewalls and outer sidewalls;
- and
- directing energy to the solid immersion mirror, which directs the energy to a magnetic recording medium via a near-field transducer located in the focal region, the fill material reducing protrusion of the near-field transducer resulting from the near-field transducer being heated by the energy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.