Optimal Slider-Disk Surface Topography for Head-Disk Interface Stability in Hard Disk Drives

In order to achieve an areal density of 1 Tb/in² and beyond, not only the mechanical spacing between the slider and the disk but also the track misregistration (TMR) and the fly height modulation (FHM) should be reduced below current levels. But at reduced mechanical spacing there will be elevated excitation due to slider-disk contacts resulting in increased slider vibrations and head-disk interface (HDI) failures. Thus, there is a need to study the effect of slider-disk topography on the slider dynamics and stability at a higher level of complexity. In this paper, we do so by dividing the slider-disk surface features into three regimes based on the amplitude and the wavelength range of the features. Further, we have also proposed several ways of achieving an optimal slider-disk topography that can help reduce the slider vibrations and increase the stability of the HDI.