Optical flying head mounted on four-wire type actuator

Abstract A new actuator structure applicable for the near field recording (NFR) system is studied. In the structure, the optical flying head (OFH) is coupled to a conventional four-wire type actuator generally found in CD and DVD. The major purposes of the design of the actuator structure are the application of active focusing, the elimination of ramp-load mechanism and the tracking performance enhancement in the NFR system. The OFH with a magneto-optical (MO) coil to provide the necessary magnetic field for MO recording, an air bearing slider having a transparent optical section to provide optical path through the slider, and a solid immersion lens (SIL) for the use of near field is integrated with the bobbin and the voice coil assembly of the four-wire type voice coil motor (VCM) actuator through suspension. With a view to the realization of the suggested actuator, the flying characteristics of the designed OFH are evaluated by computer simulation. In addition, the flying stability of the OFH during the focusing and tracking motion of the actuator is experimentally evaluated.