• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.28 no.8 s.227
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• pp.976-983
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• 2004

In high-density hard disk drives, the slider should be made to fly close to the magnetic recording disk to generate better signal resolution and at an increasingly high velocity to achieve better data rate. The slider disk interaction in CSS (contact-start-stop) mode is an important source of particle generation. Contamination particles in the hard disk drive can cause serious problems including slider crash and thermal asperities. We investigated the number and the sizes of particles generated in the hard disk drive, operating at increasing disk rotational speeds, in the CSS mode. CNC (condensation nucleus counter) and PSS (particle size selector) were used for this investigation. In addition, we examined the particle components by using SEM (scanning electron microscopes), AES (auger electron spectroscopy), and TOF-SIMS (time of flight-secondary ions mass spectrometry). The increasing disk rotational speed directly affected the particle generation by slider disk interaction. The number of particles that were generated increased with the disk rotational speed. The particle generation rate increased rapidly at motor speeds above 8000 rpm. This increase may be due to the increased slider disk interaction. Particle sizes ranged from 14 to 200 nm. The particles generated by slider disk interaction came from the lubricant on the disk, coating layer of the disk, and also slider surface.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1056-1061
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• 2000

Particles existing in a hard disk drive are known as a major source of TA(thermal asperity). Researchers have investigated how particles induce the TA phenomena, but have not verified yet the reason why and how particles are generated in a HDD. The objective of this study is to investigate why and how particles are generated, and in what condition, the largest number of particles is generated. The number of particles generated in a HDD was measured over the landing zone after various rest times of slider and during various motions and positions of slider. It is found that the large number of particles was generated when the HDD was turned on after a long rest time of slider and that a few of particles were continuously generated when the slider flied over the disk surface. It is thought that the number of particles generated in a HDD was related to the rest time of slider because the rest time of slider increased stiction, and that there were intermittent contacts between the slider and the disk surface when the slider flied over the disk surface.

• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.139-143
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• 2007

In recent years new recording media and materials for head-disk interface (HDI) have been developed in order to increase the recording density of storage devices and decrease the cost of production. It is well known that HDI in hard disk drive (HDD) needs high durability and stability. The tribological characteristic of commercialized HDI systems is an important indicator of the HDD reliability. In this study, experimental investigation on the wear coefficient of commercialized hard disk slider pads was performed. The slider was placed on top of a hard disk and allowed to slide for a set distance. The wear of the pads was measured after the sliding tests. The result showed that the micro-bumps in commercialized HDD have extremely low wear coefficient of $10^{-11}$. The results of this work may be used for further development of the HDI technology for HDD.

• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.23-28
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• 2005

This paper investigates the effects of disk thickness and Pemto slider on PES(position error signal) for high TPI(track per inch) drives above 150kTPI at early stage of their development. In order to reduce the disk flutter which becomes a dominant contributor to the TMR, the thicker disks with both 63 and 69mi1 have been used. Also, PES of a Pemto slider with thinner thickness than Pico slider has been estimated to decrease the conversion factor of disk motion in axial direction to head off-track motion. A frequency-domain PES estimation and prediction tool has been developed via measurement of disk flutter and HSA(head stack assembly) forced vibration. It has been validated by the measured PES in drive level. Based on the model and measurement of disk flutter, PES of a drive with the thicker disk and Pemto slider is predicted and their impact is investigated.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.312-320
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• 2001

In magnetic hard disk drives, higher areal recording density requires reduction of head-disk spacing. To overcome the increase of stiction associated with reduction of head-disk spacing, a padder slider, which adds pads to slider's air bearing surface, can be one of the practical solution for sub 20 nm flying height, and even for near contact recording. This study investigated the tribological characteristics of a padder slider. A padder slider took off slowly but showed less friction force than a normal slider. The hot/dry CSS test and drag test indicated that pad wear of a padder slider was negligible. The tribological performance of disk is an important factor to be considered. In particular, less carbon overcoat layer of the disk will result in higher stiction and wear in slider/disk interface. In conclusion, a padder slider shows encouraging tribological performances for practical use in HDD.

• KSTLE International Journal
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.52-56
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• 2004

The hard disk drive performance depends strongly on air bearing characterisitcs of the head slider. The objective of the slider design is to provide accurate positioning of the magnetic read/write element at the very small height above the disk. Application of the numerical methods is required due to complexity of the air bearing surface of the slider. The Boundary-Fitted Coordinate System Divergence Formulation method can be used for calculation of pressure distribution in the case of steep film thickness gradients. In the present work, the interpolating functions used in the expression for the Couette flow are modified in order to improve the solution characteristics in the extremely high compressibility number region. The advantages of the modified method are demonstrated on example of the flat skewed slider. Finally, the modi.ed method is applied to analysis of the static characteristics of the femto-slider. The analysis results indicate the effect of the silder's air bearing surface crown on the flying height and the pitching angle in steady state position.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers Conference
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• 1999.11a
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• pp.303-309
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• 1999

Optimum tribological performance of the head/disk system is critical in maintaining reliable data processing in a hard disk drive. Particularly, as the flying height of the slider continues to decrease with increasing recording density, frictional interaction between the slider and the disk need to be better understood. In this work the effect of reduced ambient pressure on the tribological behavior of the head/disk interface is presented. It is found that surface damage of the components can be accelerated by reducing the ambient pressure. This method may be utilized to assess slider/disk compatibility of newly developed systems in short time.

• 정보저장시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.177-178
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• 2005

The load/unload behavior of the hard disk drive slider is studied in terms of the air bearing static characteristics. The numerical continuation methods are applied to calculate suspension force - equilibrium position curve. The critical preloads of the femto size slider are analyzed. The hi-stability conditions are depicted on the skew angle - preload diagram. The perturbation method is used to check the stability of the solution branches.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.160.2-160.2
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• 2005

• Transactions of the Society of Information Storage Systems
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.81-85
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• 2007

Reliability of a hard disk drive depends on the head disk interface (HDI) characteristics. Particularly, the disk media and the head can be damaged due to contact between the two components during operation. The contact may occur due to particles being introduced into the disk/slider interface or due to direct contact between the slider and the disk. Such contacts may be induced by external vibration or abnormal operation of the HDI. In this work the characteristics of scratches generated on the disk surface were investigated. The scratches were generated by impacting the hard disk. The type of scratches was analyzed with respect to their shape and dimensions.