MEMS-based active-head sliders for flying height control in hard disk drives

This paper describes a novel design and fabrication of an active-head slider for flying-height control in hard disk drives. An air bearing slider with a piezoelectric cantilever which allows the head-disk spacing to be adjusted actively is presented. Static and dynamic analyses of the slider were carried out to optimize the air bearing surface profiles. The slider was then fabricated monolithically by silicon micromachining and tested the performance. The active motion of the cantilever is successfully confirmed while the slider is flying stably above a spinning disk.