NOTICE: Due to a lapse in annual appropriations, most of this website is not being updated. Learn more.
Form submissions will still be accepted but will not receive responses at this time. Sections of this site for programs using non-appropriated funds (such as NVLAP) or those that are excepted from the shutdown (such as CHIPS and NVD) will continue to be updated.
An official website of the United States government
Here’s how you know
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Design and performance of an inductive current probe for integration into the trace suspension assembly
Published
Author(s)
Anthony B. Kos, Thomas J. Silva, Pavel Kabos, Matthew Pufall, Donald C. DeGroot, L Webb, M Even
Abstract
A low-cost, inductive current probe designed for integration into a disk drive trace suspension assembly is described. The main consideration for this design was to use the same materials currently found in trace suspension assemblies, and thus reducing costs, while at the same time providing a drive characterization tool capable of measuring 100 ps head field rise times. The inductive current probe consists of a pair of differential copper conductors fabricated adjacent to the write driver interconnects and magnetically coupled via a Ni-Fe thin film placed on top of these conductors. The differential conductor pair is connected to a high-speed sampling oscilloscope to measure the speed of the write current pulse and thus infer the write head field rise time. Data are shown for high-speed pulses generate with rise times of less than 100 ps.
Kos, A.
, Silva, T.
, Kabos, P.
, Pufall, M.
, DeGroot, D.
, Webb, L.
and Even, M.
(2002),
Design and performance of an inductive current probe for integration into the trace suspension assembly, IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=30798
(Accessed October 9, 2025)