Title :
A damage quantification method for air-bearing-surface overcoats on magnetic head sliders
Author :
Momose, S. ; Sato, A. ; Oshima, N. ; Kawahara, H. ; Baba, K. ; Tsukamoto, Y. ; Sakairi, T. ; Aoyagi, T.
Author_Institution :
NEC Corp., Kawasaki, Japan
fDate :
9/1/1996 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A damage quantification method air-bearing-surface (ABS) overcoats which consist of a Si underlayer and a carbon toplayer was developed. This method is applicable to head sliders composed of Al2O 3-TiC. In this method, a 70% HNO3 treatment is initially applied, to distinguish the ABS´s exposed Al2O3-TiC area. A 3.5% HF treatment followed by a second 70% HNO3 treatment are then applied to reveal the region in which the carbon overcoat is worn out but the Si underlayer remains. In addition to the amount of damage, the method also reveals the modes by which ABS overcoats are damaged. Flaking at the carbon/silicon interface was found to be the dominant damage mode when the ABS overcoat had relatively low adhesive strength
Keywords :
adhesion; alumina; hard discs; magnetic heads; magnetic recording; surface treatment; titanium compounds; wear resistant coatings; wear testing; ABS overcoat damage modes; Al2O3-TiC; C toplayer; C-Si; HF; HF treatment; HNO3; HNO3 treatment; Si underlayer; adhesive strength; air-bearing-surface overcoats; damage quantification method; exposed Al2O3-TiC area; interface flaking; magnetic head sliders; rigid disk data storage; wear durability; Adhesive strength; Brightness; Cascading style sheets; Disk recording; Hafnium; Magnetic heads; Magnetic recording; National electric code; Silicon; Testing;
Journal_Title :
Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on
