Improved intensity interferometry method for measuring head-disk spacing down to contact

Author

Liu, Xinqun ; Clegg, Warwick ; Liu, Bo ; Chong, Chongtow

Author_Institution

Centre for Res. in Inf. Storage Technol., Plymouth Univ., UK

Volume

36

Issue

5

fYear

2000

fDate

9/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

2674

Lastpage

2676

Abstract

In this paper, we give a detailed analysis of the working principle, application limits, and potential problems of the intensity interferometry flying height testing, one of the most popularly-used flying height testing techniques. Then, phase-shift methods are proposed to improve the sensitivity of this technique when the head-disk spacing is below 10 nm or near contact. This is based on fabricating the glass testing disk to have a specified thickness, or having it coated with a specified thickness thin carbon film. Theoretical analysis, numerical evaluation, and experimental considerations are presented

Keywords

height measurement; light interferometry; magnetic disc storage; magnetic heads; carbon thin film; flying height testing; glass disk; head-disk spacing measurement; intensity interferometry; magnetic recording; mechanical contact; phase shift method; Disk recording; Glass; Magnetic analysis; Magnetic heads; Magnetic recording; Magnetic separation; Optical beams; Optical interferometry; Phase shifting interferometry; Testing;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Magnetics, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9464

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/20.908555

Filename

908555