75-MHz data-transfer rate with a planar aperture mounted upon a near-field optical slider

We fabricated a planar aperture-mounted (PAM) slider by use of a focused ion beam to demonstrate fast data acquisition for near-field optical data storage. The aperture (200 nm x 500 nm) was formed upon the Ti-coated air-bearing surface of the slider and was directly illuminated with a laser (lambda = 532 nm) beam spot by use of an objective lens (N.A., 0.55). The light transmitted through the aperture was modulated by a Ti-coated SiO(2) disk with 200- and 400-nm-wide line-and-space (L&S) patterns engraved by electron-beam lithography. The optical throughput of the taperless aperture was greater than 0.02. By use of the PAM slider, 400- and 200-nm L&S signals were detected at linear velocities of 6 and 3 m/s, respectively, corresponding to a data-transfer rate of 7.5 MHz.