Study of air bearing with grooved disk surface in near-field optical disk drives

To achieve stable flying height of a pickup head in near-field optical disk drives, the influence of disk grooves on the airflow of an air bearing deserves investigation, since at a very low flying height, groove geometry is comparable to the flying height. This paper aims to compare air bearing airflows between near-field optical disks with grooved surface and conventional disks without grooved surface. Computational results show that grooved disks generate smaller pressure than smooth disks since grooves can accommodate air molecules and tune air pressure. Flying higher makes pressure magnitudes closer between grooved disks and smooth disks in negative pressure area on slider bottoms. Further, track pitches and groove depths essentially do not affect pressure at rails.