Method for characterizing a read head based on write induced magnetic read center shifts and read sensitivity changes in the read head

摘要

The present invention relates to a method for characterizing a head in a hard drive assembly, in which the head has a write element. The method comprises providing a disk attached to a hard disk drive assembly, the disk having a plurality of tracks each having a track centerline. One of the tracks has a plurality of sectors. One of the sectors has a servo field with an A burst, a B burst and a C burst, where the A burst and the C bursts have a common boundary located at a track centerline and where the B burst has a center that is positioned along the track centerline. Each sector also has a data field. The read element is aligned with the B servo burst, and data is written in a data field of a first sector of one of the tracks. An A burst and a C burst located in a following sector of one of the tracks is read to provide an A burst amplitude value and a C burst amplitude value. A characteristic of the read element based on the A burst amplitude value and the C burst amplitude value is then determined.