Flying stiction, a high static friction force resulting from a magnetic head seeking/flying over a disk surface, has posed a new challenge in magnetic-disk tribology for low flying heights (˜30 nm or less), as demanded by high recording densities. Two types of magnetic heads were used in this study. A more than 10-fold increase in flying stiction force was observed for the carbon coated heads after a 24 hours of seeking/flying over the disk surface. Using Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy and a scanning micro-ellipsometer, we found that the lubricant pickup during seeking/flying operation was responsible for the observed 10-fold increase of the flying stiction force. A nearly exponential dependence of flying stiction force on lubricant amount picked up on the air bearing surface (ABS) of the magnetic heads was found. For 24 hours of seeking/flying time, the lubricant accumulated on the ABS surfaces can be up to 1.5 nm, comparable to the lubricant thickness on the disk surfaces. The lubricant amount was found quite uniformly distributed over the ABS surface of the head. Wear on the carbon overcoat of the magnetic heads was also measured, and was equivalent to approximately 1 nm carbon loss for a 24-hour seeking/flying period. The wear rate of the carbon overcoat was very fast for short periods of seeking time (˜2 hours) and slowed down to near-zero as lubricant built up on the ABS surface, indicating that the lubricant on the head protected carbon wear. The wear of carbon overcoat strongly suggests that intermittent physical contacts between the disk surface and head ABS occurred during seeking/flying operations.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
January 1999
Research Papers
Flying Stiction, Lubricant Pick-Up and Carbon-Overcoat Wear of Magnetic Heads
Chao Gao,
Chao Gao
Akashic Memories Corporation, 305 W. Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134
Search for other works by this author on:
Peihua Dai,
Peihua Dai
Akashic Memories Corporation, 305 W. Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134
Search for other works by this author on:
Vinh Vu
Vinh Vu
Akashic Memories Corporation, 305 W. Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134
Search for other works by this author on:
Chao Gao
Akashic Memories Corporation, 305 W. Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134
Peihua Dai
Akashic Memories Corporation, 305 W. Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134
Vinh Vu
Akashic Memories Corporation, 305 W. Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134
J. Tribol. Jan 1999, 121(1): 97-101 (5 pages)
Published Online: January 1, 1999
Article history
Received:
January 15, 1998
Revised:
April 20, 1998
Online:
January 24, 2008
Citation
Gao, C., Dai, P., and Vu, V. (January 1, 1999). "Flying Stiction, Lubricant Pick-Up and Carbon-Overcoat Wear of Magnetic Heads." ASME. J. Tribol. January 1999; 121(1): 97–101. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2833817
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Static Characteristics of Hybrid Water-Lubricated Herringbone Groove Journal Bearing
J. Tribol (April 2025)
Related Articles
Slider Overcoats for Enhanced Interface Durability in Magnetic Recording Applications
J. Tribol (January,1995)
Analysis of Contact Deformation and Stiction Between Textured Disk and Textured Slider
J. Tribol (April,2001)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Surface Analysis and Tools
Tribology of Mechanical Systems: A Guide to Present and Future Technologies
Numerical Simulation of the Air Bearing Film in the Head-Disk Interface of Hard Disk Drives by Using Meshless Locall Petrov-Galerkin Method
International Conference on Mechanical and Electrical Technology 2009 (ICMET 2009)
Tribological Behavior of Carbon Based Materials
Advances in Multidisciplinary Engineering