Side reading response of ferrite inductive heads

The side reading behavior of three ferrite head designs has been measured and modeled. Measured off-track response curves were compared with simulated results obtained by two modeling approaches. Analytic results for the van Herk semi-infinite, gapped wedge head were superimposed to represent heads with complex track definition profiles. The analytic approach was complemented with numeric computation of the head sensitivity function obtained by the finite element method (FEM) using a reduced scalar potential.