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A Theoretical Study of Vapor Lubrication for Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording

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Abstract

Heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) is a promising technique to overcome the superparamagnetic limit to further increase the areal recording density of hard disk drives. However, HAMR brings about serious problems to the slider-disk interface, such as lubricant depletion on disk surface caused by laser heating. It is proposed to overcome the lubricant depletion problem by using vapor lubrication. The lubricant film formation process on disk surface in vapor lubrication is studied theoretically based on fundamental adsorption and desorption theories. The controlling parameters of lubricant film thickness and film formation time are identified. It is found that the lubricant film thickness is controlled mainly by lubricant vapor pressure and molecular weight. The film formation time can be shortened by using low molecular weight lubricant and high temperature lubricant vapor.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Data Storage Institute, A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research), DSI Building, 5, Engineering Drive 1, Singapore, 117608, Singapore

    Yansheng Ma

  2. School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore, 639798, Singapore

    Bo Liu

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  1. Yansheng Ma
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  2. Bo Liu
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Correspondence to Yansheng Ma.

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Ma, Y., Liu, B. A Theoretical Study of Vapor Lubrication for Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording. Tribol Lett 32, 215–220 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-008-9383-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-008-9383-5

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