Slider air bearing design and method providing writing of a laser field (WOLF) measurement without substantial fly height affect

1. Field of the Invention A slider air bearing design and method providing "writing of laser field" (WOLF) measurement without substantial fly height affect. A central pad at ion-mill height is formed in the cavity between the side rails and rear pad. The central pad allows correlation of WOLF crown measurement values with crown measurements obtain via optical interferometer. Also, the central pad provides good reflective areas while preventing degradation in fly height performance due to the rear pad geometry constraints required by the WOLF measurement process.