MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION OF THIN-FILM HEAD READ-WRITE PERFORMANCE

This paper describes read-write simulations of thin film head longitudinal recording performance with thin film disks. Acceptable electrical performance of thin film heads depends on tight control of numerous parameters, and Monte Carlo simulation is used to quantify read-write sensitivity to head variations and to identify the critical parameters. In this study, a population of similar heads is assumed, and ten head parameters are subjected to random variations. The resultant electrical performance is dominated by head-disk spacing, with throat height, gap length, trackwidth, and pole thickness following in order of importance. Reasonable variations in coil resistance, insulation thickness, yoke thickness, magnetic permeability, or inductance show relatively little influence on recording performance. © 1990 IEEE