Challenges of the head-disk interface for near contact and contact recording

Author

Wang, Run-Han ; Nayak, Vasant ; Payne, Robert ; Tang, Wade ; Dorius, Lee ; Baumgart, P. ; Spool, Alan ; Lee, Francis

Author_Institution

Res. Div., IBM Corp., San Jose, CA, USA

Volume

35

Issue

5

fYear

1999

fDate

9/1/1999 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2466

Lastpage

2468

Abstract

As the magnetic recording areal density approaches 10 Gb/in², the mechanical spacing between the head and the disk is expected to reduce rapidly below 20 nm. This lends to an increase of head-disk interaction which may induce an unacceptable level of interfacial wear. In this study experimental air bearing sliders were designed and fabricated to fly in close proximity or substantial contact with the disk. The durability of the interface decreased with decreasing mechanical clearance. The amount of head and disk wear was determined. The metrology and some of the challenges in maintaining a functional interface are presented

Keywords

digital magnetic recording; hard discs; magnetic heads; mechanical contact; wear; 20 nm; air bearing sliders; contact recording; disk wear; durability; head wear; head-disk interface; interfacial wear; mechanical clearance; mechanical spacing; metrology; near contact recording; Acoustic emission; Acoustic measurements; Disk recording; Drives; Lubricants; Magnetic heads; Magnetic recording; Metrology; Optical interferometry; Tribology;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.800860

Filename

800860