Seagate Assigned Fourteen Patents

HAMR head near-field transducer with plasmonic disk
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11790944) developed by Cheng, Yuhang, Edina, MN, Lee, Tae-Woo, Seigler, Michael A, Eden Prairie, MN, and Wu, Yang, Minneapolis, MN, for a “heat-assisted magnetic recording head near-field transducer with a plasmonic disk.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A heat-assisted magnetic recording head includes a near-field transducer (NFT). The NFT includes a near-field emitter configured to heat a surface of a magnetic disk, and a plasmonic disk. The plasmonic disk is coupled to the near-field emitter and includes rhodium or iridium.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-06-16 (17/807260).

Idle power saving for actuator device
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11790947) developed by Pang, Tze Ming, Ding, MingZhong, Lau, ChanFan, Tan, Chi Sern, and HaiBo, Ye, Shugart, Singapore, for an “idle power saving for actuator device.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Systems and methods are disclosed for an actuator device or actuator control device to implement a low power savings mode. For example, a device can comprise an actuator arm including a first actuator and a second actuator, the second actuator configured to refine a movement of the actuator arm to a more precise position than use of merely the first actuator. A device can also comprise a control system configured to determine when the device is in an idle state and, when the device is in the idle state, disable the second actuator and perform a positional seek operation with the second actuator disabled. Power savings can occur from disabling the second actuator, which may also include disabling associated circuitry, such that it does not consume power or consumes a nominal (e.g., negligible or insignificant) amount of power during the associated seek operation.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-05-03 (17/735380).

HAMR head near-field transducer with heat sink
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11769527) developed by Seigler, Michael A, and Lee, Tae-Woo, Eden Prairie, MN, for a “heat-assisted magnetic recording head near-field transducer with a heat sink.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A heat-assisted magnetic recording head includes a near-field transducer (NFT). The NFT includes a near-field emitter configured to heat a surface of a magnetic disk, and a heat sink. The heat sink includes at least one of rhodium, copper, tungsten, tantalum, iridium, platinum, ruthenium, nickel, or iron.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-06-16 (17/807252).

Spin torque assisted magnetic recording media
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11769526) developed by Fan, Yichun, Eden Prairie, MN, Guzman, Javier Ignacio, Ghoreyshi, Ali, Minneapolis, MN, Hsu, Wei-Heng, and Huang, Pin-Wei, Fremont, CA, for a “spin torque assisted magnetic recording media.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “Magnetic recording media with a thermal spin injection layer that induces a spin injection in a magnetic recording layer in response to a thermal gradient in the thermal spin injection layer. The thermal spin injection layer may comprise an antiferromagnetic, a ferromagnetic, or a ferrimagnetic material that demonstrates a Spin Seebeck effect. In turn, when heating the magnetic recording media (e.g., with a near field transducer of a HAMR drive), the thermal gradient may be established in the thermal spin injection layer. A resulting spin torque field may assist in switching a magnetic domain in the magnetic recording layer by providing an assistive field to at least initiate switching of the magnetic domain. In turn, more reliable or efficient operation of a storage drive comprising the magnetic recording media may be realized.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-08-16 (17/820188).

Magnetic stack including non-magnetic seed layer for HDD media
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11763845) developed by Zavaliche, Florin, San Ramon, CA, Chang, Kai Chieh, Pleasanton, CA, Huang, Pin-Wei, Fremont, CA, Ju, Ganping, Pleasanton, CA, and Thiele, Jan-Ulrich, Sunnyvale, CA, for a “magnetic stack including non-magnetic seed layer for hard disk drive media.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A magnetic stack includes a substrate and a soft magnetic underlayer deposited on a top surface of the substrate. A heat sink layer is disposed on top of the soft magnetic underlayer, and an interlayer is deposited on top of the heat sink layer. A non-magnetic seed layer is deposited on top of the interlayer. A magnetic recording structure which includes more than one magnetic recording layer is deposited on the top surface of the non-magnetic seed layer.”

The patent application was filed on 2021-12-17 (17/554341).

HAMR head, and related methods
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11763847) developed by Ellison, David James, Minneapolis, MN, Kiely, James D., Edina, MN, Zuckerman, Neil, Eden Prairie, MN, Rejda, Edwin F., Bloomington, MN, and Stephan, Joseph Michael, Eden Prairie, MN, for “heat-assisted magnetic recording head, and related methods.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “The present disclosure relates to a recording head that includes a write pole extending to a media-facing surface of the recording head, a near-field transducer extending to a media-facing surface of the recording head, a trailing return pole positioned between the write pole and the trailing edge, and a recessed portion that is recessed relative to the media-facing surface by a distance when no power is applied to the recording head. The trailing return pole is located in the recessed portion. The present disclosure also includes relates methods of making and detecting contact between a recording head and recording medium.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-07-06 (17/858277).

Data storage drive with vertically translatable actuator arm
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11727957) developed by Ma, YiChao, Liu, Xiong, Myint, Than Zaw, Kiat Lim, Choon, Singapore, Singapore, for a “data storage drive with a vertically translatable actuator arm.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A data storage device includes a stack of discs mounted on a spindle and a pivot block rotatably mounted around a shaft. The data storage device also includes an arm having first and second ends, with the first end supporting a head and the second end movably attached to the pivot block. The data storage device further includes an ultrasonic piezoelectric actuator that moves the arm along the pivot block to enable the head to interact with data storage surfaces of the discs.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-06-10 (17/837185).

HAMR head with near-field transducer having multilayer near-field emitter
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11710506) developed by Peng, Chubing, Lee, Tae-Woo, Eden Prairie, MN, and Wan, Li, Prior Lake, MN, for a “heat-assisted magnetic recording head with a near-field transducer having a multilayer near-field emitter.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A heat-assisted magnetic recording head includes a near-field transducer including a plasmonic disk and a multilayer near-field emitter. The multilayer near-field emitter is configured to produce a hot spot on a proximal magnetic disk. The multilayer near-field emitter is disposed in a down-track direction relative to and coupled to the plasmonic disk.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-03-28 (17/656674).

HAMR head with multilayer plasmonic disk
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11710502) developed by Lee, Tae-Woo, and Leventry, Derek, Eden Prairie, MN, for a “heat-assisted magnetic recording head with a multilayer plasmonic disk.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A heat-assisted magnetic recording head includes a waveguide and a near-field transducer. The near-field transducer includes a plasmonic disk disposed proximal to the waveguide. The plasmonic disk includes a first plasmonic layer, a second plasmonic layer, and a middle layer. The first plasmonic layer is coupled to the waveguide. The second plasmonic layer is disposed distal to the waveguide relative to the first plasmonic layer. The middle layer is disposed between the first plasmonic layer and the second plasmonic layer.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-03-01 (17/653016).

HAMR head with middle disk
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11710504) developed by Lee, Tae-Woo, Eden Prairie, MN, and Qiu, Jiaoming, Maple Grove, MN, for a “heat-assisted magnetic recording head with a middle disk.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A heat-assisted magnetic recording head includes a near-field emitter and a middle disk. The near-field emitter includes a peg and an anchor disk. The peg is configured to produce a hot spot on a proximal magnetic disk. The peg is disposed proximal to a media-facing surface of the heat-assisted magnetic recording head. The anchor disk is disposed behind the peg relative to the media-facing surface. The middle disk has a melting temperature of at least 1500 degrees Celsius. The middle disk is disposed in a down-track direction relative to the near-field emitter and is coupled to the anchor disk.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-03-16 (17/655119).

HAMR having mechanically robust subwavelength mirror with plasmonic liner
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11664051) developed by Zhou, Nan, Chanhassen, MN, Seigler, Michael Allen, Zhao, YongJun, Yin, Huaqing, Eden Prairie, MN, Kautzky, Michael C., Normandale, MN, and Wan, Li, Prior Lake, MN, for a “heat-assisted recording head having mechanically robust subwavelength mirror with plasmonic liner.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A recording head has a near-field transducer proximate a media-facing surface of the recording head. A waveguide overlaps and delivers light to the near-field transducer. Two subwavelength focusing mirrors are at an end of the waveguide proximate the media-facing surface. The subwavelength mirrors are on opposite crosstrack sides of the near-field transducer and separated from each other by a crosstrack gap. The subwavelength focusing mirrors each include a core having a first edge exposed at the media-facing surface. The core formed of a core material that is resistant to mechanical wear and corrosion, such as a dielectric or robust metal. A liner covers a second edge of the core facing the near-field transducer. The liner includes a plasmonic metal that is different than the core material, such as Au or Al.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-03-28 (17/706257).

HAMR head with heat sink having liner
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11657844) developed by Lee, Tae-Woo, Eden Prairie, MN, and Qiu, Jiaoming, Maple Grove, MN, for a “heat-assisted magnetic recording head with a heat sink having a liner.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A heat-assisted magnetic recording head includes a near-field transducer and a heat sink. The near-field transducer includes a middle disk and a near-field emitter. The near-field emitter includes a peg and an anchor disk. The peg is configured to produce a hot spot on a proximal magnetic disk. The peg is disposed proximal to a media-facing surface of the heat-assisted magnetic recording head. The anchor disk is disposed behind the peg relative to the media-facing surface. The heat sink includes a core and a liner. The core includes a primary metal, and the liner includes a primary metal. The liner is coupled to the core and is disposed along an outer surface of the core. The middle disk is disposed between and coupled to the liner and the anchor disk. The primary metal of the liner comprises at least one of iridium, rhodium, tantalum, tungsten, or ruthenium.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-03-15 (17/654878).

HAMR head with heat sink and diffusion barrier
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11646058) developed by Blaber, Martin Giles, Minneapolis, MN, Siegler, Michael Allen, Eden Prairie, MN, Wessel, James G, Savage, MN, Cheng, YuHang, Edina, MN, and Franzen, Scott M, Lakeville, MN, for a “heat-assisted magnetic recording head with a heat sink and a diffusion barrier.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A heat-assisted magnetic recording head includes a near-field transducer, a heat sink, a diffuser, and a diffusion barrier. The near-field transducer is configured to produce a hot spot on a proximate magnetic disk. The heat sink is configured to draw heat away from the near-field transducer. The heat sink is disposed in a down-track direction relative to and coupled to the near-field transducer. The diffuser is configured to draw heat away from the heat sink. The diffuser is disposed in a down-track direction relative to the heat sink. The diffusion barrier includes a metal. The diffusion barrier is disposed between and coupled to the heat sink and the diffuser.”

The patent application was filed on 2022-03-30 (17/657167).

Three-state single-pass recording in HAMR device with dual recording layers
Seagate Technology LLC, Fremont, CA, has been assigned a patent (11626136) developed by Chang, Thomas Young, Menlo Park, CA, Steiner, Philip L., Los Altos, CA, and Liu, Zengyuan, Eden Prairie, MN, for a “three-state single-pass recording in HAMR device with dual recording layers.“

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: “A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) device is configured to write regions of neutral polarity on a magnetic media during a same pass of the recording head in which other regions are written of positive polarity and negative polarity. The various disclosed write techniques may facilitate creation of “zero state” (substantially net zero polarity) transition zones between each pair of data bits of opposite polarity and/or may facilitate the encoding of three different logical states (e.g., 1, 0, and −1) on the media.”

The patent application was filed on 2021-12-29 (17/565188).