Abstract
We utilize thermal fly-height control (TFC) technology to perform in situ measurements of carbon overcoat wear at the angstrom level at the read–write area of magnetic recording heads. We also study the durability of the molecularly thin lubricated disk surface. Experimental findings reveal a linear relationship between the quantified carbon wear depth on the flying head versus the head–disk contact level produced by the TFC power. It is demonstrated that this method can serve as a measurement and probing technique of wear resistance for different types of lubricants. Lubricants possessing more polar hydroxyl end-groups and less mobility tend to show a superior surface stability under head–disk contacts, but raise concerns on head carbon overcoat wear.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Computer Mechanics Laboratory at University of California at Berkeley and HGST, a WD company. The authors would like to thank Kevin Hunter, Karl Flechsig, Joel Forrest, Xiaozhou Ding, Garvin Stone, Thomas Shatz, Marilee Schultz, Dan Kercher, and Chris Bergevin for their support and help during this research project.
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Chen, YK., Murthy, A.N., Pit, R. et al. Angstrom Scale Wear of the Air-Bearing Sliders in Hard Disk Drives. Tribol Lett 54, 273–278 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-014-0307-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11249-014-0307-2