A new micro contact recording head with a remote centered compliance suspension and a pocket-equipped slider

A new, micro contact recording head was designed, fabricated and evaluated. The developed head contains two newly designed elements: a suspension using a “remote centered compliance (RCC)” mechanism and a slider pad with a “pocket-equipped” surface texture. The suspension made of polyimide was fabricated by ultraviolet laser beam machining; the slider pad made of glass was fabricated by fast atom beam etching. The RCC suspension with 20 μm thick notches attained a nose-up attitude of the head, improving read back signal modulation to ±5%. The pocket-equipped sliding pad with a few 10 nm deep holes reduced the friction coefficient to 0.2. A test bench for head slider operation under a scanning electron microscope using a micro force sensor with a resolution of 0.5 μN is also being developed. When we realize a more durable lubricant film on the sliding pad and a lower normal pressure on to the disk, the micro contact recording head will enhance recording performance by minimizing tribological problems