The Gas Bearing Interface of Opposed Recording Heads in a Disk Drive Utilizing Helium and Thin Titanium Foil Disks

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
James White
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hard Disk ◽  
Disk Drive ◽  
Titanium Foil ◽  
Metal Foil ◽  
Mechanical Shock ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
Recording Heads ◽  
Gas Bearing

Increased storage capacity and decreased power consumption are two key motivations in the development of hard disk drive (HDD) storage products. Two ideas that address these areas have recently received attention in the literature. These are (1) the use of helium instead of air as the working gas in the drive and (2) the incorporation of a thin metal foil as the disk substrate, replacing the much thicker aluminum or glass substrate of the hard disk (HD). The work that has been previously reported considered either the use of helium or thin foil substrates, but not both. This paper does consider both. It reports dynamic gas bearing simulation results for the helium filled interface between opposed recording heads and a disk whose substrate is a thin titanium foil. Motivation for the selection of titanium as the foil material is described in the paper. The thickness of the foil is chosen so as to achieve an optimal combination of centrifugal force and bending force that will provide required disk flatness and stability during high-speed rotation. Large-scale dynamic simulation is used to track the response of the recording head slider-foil disk interface due to mechanical shock in the vertical, pitch, and roll directions. Results are described and compared with those of the configuration that includes helium and a HD. Attention is focused on response to off-design conditions that can create head crash with the HD.

Air Bearing Interface Characteristics of Opposed Asymmetric Recording Head Sliders Flying on a 1 in. Titanium Foil Disk

2008 ◽  
Vol 130 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
James White
Keyword(s):  
Data Storage ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Hard Disk ◽  
Titanium Foil ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Storage Device ◽  
Air Bearing ◽  
Mechanical Shock ◽  
Recording Head ◽  
Disk Interface

The current effort was motivated by the increasing appearance of data storage devices in small portable and mobile product formats and the need for these devices to deliver high storage capacity, low power requirements, and increased ruggedness. In order to address these requirements, this work considered the storage device to utilize a 1 in. titanium foil disk and a pair of opposed femtosized zero-load recording head sliders with asymmetrically configured air bearing surfaces. A titanium foil disk, due to its reduced thickness and relatively low mass density, requires less operational energy than a hard disk while providing storage densities and data transfer rates typical of a hard disk. The zero-load sliders were chosen in order to make negligible the air bearing interface normal force acting on the disk surface that can lead to high speed disk instability. The asymmetry of the slider air bearing surfaces, together with the disk dynamic flexibility, greatly improves the ability of the slider-disk interface to absorb substantial mechanical shock and other dynamic effects without the associated contact and impact typically observed with a hard disk. The current project evaluated the characteristics of this slider-disk air bearing interface for both static and unsteady operating conditions. Time dependent studies included a numerical simulation of the dynamic load process and the response to mechanical shock. A comparison with the performance of a hard disk interface was also included.

Air Bearing Slider-Disk Interface for Single-Sided High Speed Recording on a Metal Foil Disk

2007 ◽  
Vol 129 (3) ◽  
pp. 562-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
James White
Keyword(s):  
Data Storage ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Hard Disk ◽  
Disk Drive ◽  
Flying Height ◽  
Metal Foil ◽  
Air Bearing ◽  
Recording Head ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
Air Bearing Slider

There are disk-drive data storage applications best served by single-sided recording configurations. These include situations where (i) storage requirements can be achieved on a single side of a disk and (ii) dimensional constraints on the disk drive prohibit the presence of a recording head and its associated mounting device on each side of the disk. Even if dimensional requirements are not a concern, the most cost-effective and operationally efficient slider-disk air-bearing interface for single-sided recording is one that does not include an air-bearing slider, pressure pad, or other air-bearing structure on the nondata side of the disk. A metal foil disk offers some of the best characteristics of both the hard disk and floppy disk for digital data storage. It offers hard disk recording densities, increased shock resistance, reduced manufacturing cost, and requires less operational energy than a hard disk. However, use of a conventional recording head slider assembly without opposing air-bearing support for single-sided recording on a high-speed metal foil disk presents a fundamental problem because the air-bearing surface of the slider produces a net transverse force to the disk. This force causes the disk to deflect and can result in flying height and stability problems at the slider-disk interface. The current work describes an air-bearing interface for low flying height single-sided recording on a high-speed metal foil disk that minimizes disk deflection and instability without the presence of air-bearing components on opposing sides of the disk. The new interface utilizes a vacuum cavity-type air-bearing with little or no preload. Examples will be presented and discussed for the new interface that illustrate the flying characteristics of a picosized slider on a 1.8in. stainless steel disk with thickness of 25.4μm.

Experimental Study of High-Speed Contact at Head-Disk Interface in a Magnetic Hard Disk

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingwu Bai ◽  
Stephen M. Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Emission ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Hard Disk ◽  
Disk Drive ◽  
Test Method ◽  
Head Disk Interface ◽  
Emission Analysis ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
Emission Signal ◽  
Carbon Overcoats

Tribological performance of the head-disk interface will have significant impact on the performance and durability of the hard disk drive. A high-speed contact test method has been developed for the purpose of evaluating nanometer-thick lubricant film/carbon overcoats materials on hard-disk surfaces. Four different thickness overcoats were used in high speed contact experiments. High speed contact force was calculated based on the calibration of acoustic emission signal by proposed ball dropping tests. Acoustic emission analysis, frequency spectrum analysis, and surface morphology imaging were used to analyze the deformation and fracture at high speed contacted area. The availability of an experimental technique enables effective screening of different material chemistries and lubricant combinations to improve the level of protection for hard disk technology.

Numerical Simulation on Lubricant Recovery After Depletion

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng Yu ◽  
Weidong Zhou ◽  
Shengkai Yu
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Short Range ◽  
Hard Disk ◽  
Corrosion Damage ◽  
Areal Density ◽  
Disk Drive ◽  
Disk Surface ◽  
Lubricant Layer ◽  
Continuous Increase ◽  
Disk Interface

In magnetic recording, the hard disk rotates at a high speed, with the slider flying above it. To protect the disk and slider from corrosion damage, contact scratching, high friction and wear, a thin lubricant layer is coated on the disk surface. With the continuous increase in the hard disk drive (HDD) areal density, the spacing between the head and the media is rapidly approaching the sub-nanometer regime, which demands the thickness of lubricant to be molecularly-thin. At such a nanoscale head-disk interface, the short-range forces and the air shear force may cause significant lubricant migration [1, 2]. The lubricant may pile up, and/or be picked up by the slider [3], which in turn affects the flyability of the slider. Meanwhile, the short-range forces such as Van de Waals forces may cause lubricant instability issues [1].

Superlubricity Relevant in Hard Disk Drive Applications

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shou-Mo Zhang ◽  
Cuong-C. Vu ◽  
Qun-Yang Li ◽  
Norio Tagawa ◽  
Quan-Shui Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Temperature Dependence ◽  
Hard Disk Drive ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Hard Disk ◽  
Disk Drive ◽  
Force Sensor ◽  
Lubricant Layer ◽  
Single Crystalline ◽  
Crystalline Graphite

Reduction of head-media spacing (HMS) keeps crucial during the increase of areal density of hard disk drives (HDD). The design of hard disk drive with a superlubric interface is reported with two schemes for HDI design to realize superlubricity. For the first scheme, the DLC layer is kept on the disk while removing the lubricant layer. The DLC layer on the transducer is replaced by graphene-like layer. The direct contact between head and disk could reduce the HMS to about 2.3 nm. For the second scheme, the DLC layer on disk is further replaced by graphene and the HMS could be reduced to below 1 nm. For the first scheme, the basic proof of concept experiments are conducted using micro-scale graphite island samples. Ultralow COF, with the average of 0.0344 on the interface of single crystalline graphite surface and DLC substrate is demonstrated by AFM. What’s more, the temperature dependence of friction between single crystalline graphite and DLC is measured by micro-force sensor mounted on micro-manipulator. The results show that heating helps to significantly decrease the friction. Desorption of contaminants along the interface is speculated to be the key mechanism for temperature dependence of friction. This work provides the concept of large-scale superlubricity relevant in HDD applications, which could be a promising technology to ultimately reduce HMS for future HDI development.

Optimization of Air Bearing Contours for Shock Performance of a Hard Disk Drive

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric M. Jayson ◽  
Frank E. Talke
Keyword(s):  
Hard Disk Drive ◽  
Hard Disk Drives ◽  
Hard Disk ◽  
Disk Drive ◽  
Element Model ◽  
Time Dependent ◽  
Air Bearing ◽  
Disk Interface ◽  
Shock Response ◽  
Shock Event

Hard disk drives must be designed to withstand shock during operation. Large movements of the slider during shock impulse can cause reading and writing errors, track misregistration, or in extreme cases, damage to the magnetic material and loss of data. The design of the air bearing contour determines the steady state flying conditions of the slider as well as dynamic flying conditions, including shock response. In this paper a finite element model of the hard disk drive mechanical components was developed to determine the time dependent forces and moments applied to the slider during a shock event. The time dependent forces and moments are applied as external loads in a solution of the dynamic Reynolds equation to determine the slider response to a shock event. The genetic algorithm was then used to optimize the air bearing contour for optimum shock response while keeping the steady flying conditions constant. The results show substantial differences in the spacing modulation of the head/disk interface after a shock as a function of the design of the air bearing contour.

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