Thin film tape recording heads with high moment FeAlN poles

In this paper we present results on the fabrication and testing of thin film tape recording heads using high moment FeAlN pole materials (4 pi M(s) = 20 kGauss). These heads are of the type used in quarter inch cartridge (QIC) tape drives, with a record gap dimension of 1.9 mu m and a written track-width of 33 mu m. The pole thicknesses ranged from 4 to 4.5 mu m with a 14 turn coil. The FeAlN pole material delivers sufficient field to the media surface to saturate 1.5 mu m thick Ba-Ferrite media (H-c = 1500 Oe). In comparisons to a head of identical design with CoZrTa poles, the FeAlN poles were able to deliver more flux to the media because of a higher head saturation onset current.