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Time dependent simulation of active flying height control of TFC sliders

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Abstract

A time-dependent numerical simulation procedure is implemented to simulate the flying height response of a typical thermal flying height control (TFC) slider as a function of the power input to the heater element. The Reynolds equation is used in conjunction with a TFC slider finite element model to determine the change in the thermal protrusion and flying height of the slider. The power input signal to the heater element is optimized using convex optimization to minimize flying height variations of the slider. The optimization procedure is applied to a typical experimentally measured flying height profile. The numerical simulation results are in excellent qualitative agreement with experimental measurements.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Magnetic Recording Research, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, #0401, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA

    Pablo Antonio Salas, Uwe Boettcher & Frank E. Talke

Authors
  1. Pablo Antonio Salas
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  2. Uwe Boettcher
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  3. Frank E. Talke
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Correspondence to Pablo Antonio Salas.

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Salas, P.A., Boettcher, U. & Talke, F.E. Time dependent simulation of active flying height control of TFC sliders. Microsyst Technol 18, 1661–1667 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-012-1607-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00542-012-1607-9

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