Experimental Studies of the Head-disk Interface from a Tribological and Controls Point of View for Flying Heights Below 2 Nm PDF Download

Author: Liane M. Matthes
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
Since the introduction of the IBM 305 RAMAC system in 1956, performance and storage capacities of hard disk drives have improved tremendously. To reliably read and write data, the slider must follow the data stored on the magnetic disk closely enough while maintaining a near constant spacing. Currently, the spacing between the recording and the magnetic disk--the flying height--is on the order of 1-2 nm during reading and writing. At such low spacings, intermittent contacts are inevitable, giving rise to wear and degradation of the head-disk interface. Flying heights of 1-2 nm are achieved using thermal flying height control (TFC) technology. TFC recording heads, or TFC sliders, feature thin-film resistive heater elements near the read and write element. Actuating the heater element heats up the nearby material. The material expands due to the heat which causes the slider to (thermally) protrude towards the disk at the location of the read and write element. An increase in heater power increases this protrusion, thus locally reducing the slider flying height. In this dissertation, we focus on experimental investigations of the interface between a TFC slider and a magnetic disk from both a tribological and controls point of view. First, contact and temperature rise between thermal flying height control (TFC) sliders and magnetic disks are studied. Head-disk contact is established by gradually increasing the power input to the resistive heater element of a TFC slider. Laser Doppler vibrometry is employed for studying the dynamics of the vertical gimbal velocity. The gimbal is part of the suspension which the slider is attached to. The temperature rise upon head-disk contact is estimated from the resistance change at the read element via auxiliary calibration measurements. Next, wear of TFC sliders is studied. Head wear was determined by measuring the change in the heater touch-down power before and after wear testing. The touch-down power denotes the power input to the heater of a TFC slider at which the onset of slider-disk contact occurs. After wear testing, selected heads were examined using scanning electron microscopy to identify regions of wear on the write shields. Furthermore, atomic force microscopy images of worn and unworn recording heads were acquired to determine changes in surface roughness. The effect of bonded fraction of the lubricant, relative humidity, and temperature on head wear is investigated. In addition, we study head wear as a function of relative humidity and DC bias voltage applied across the head-disk interface. Wear tests were performed at