High frequency read/write characteristics for laminated Fe-Ta-N heads

A laminated Fe-Ta-N video head for high frequency operation has been investigated at 18.5 m/s head tape speed with high coercivity (>1500 Oe) metal tapes. Compared with the same design laminated Sendust head, the Fe-Ta-N head shows more than 3 dB higher C/N, at least 1.5 dB superior recording capability in the range from 1 MHz up to 50 MHz, and higher reproducing capability in the high frequency range above 20 MHz. The head magnetization observation, using a scanning Kerr effect microscope (SKEM), revealed that the outstanding read/write characteristics result from permeability response for the Fe-Ta-N film in the high frequency region. The laminated Fe-Ta-N heads were found to be the best suited for high data transfer rate recording systems, especially for digital video cassette recorders. >