US Patent 7397621 Servo pattern characterization on magnetic disks

In one embodiment, a surface analyzer system comprises a radiation targeting assembly to target radiation onto a surface, a reflected radiation collecting assembly that collects radiation reflected from the surface, and a signal processing module. The signal processing module generates an image of magnetic characteristics of the magnetic disk, wherein the image comprises a plurality of servo sector arcs, locates a sample of points on a plurality of the servo sector arcs, fits a circle to the sample of points on each of the plurality of servo sector arcs, and determines at least one pivot-to-gap measurement from the radius of the circles.