Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.v.

International Business Machines Corporation

Eric Christian O'Brien

Paul Marion Green

Bob Clyde Robinson

Randall George Simmons

Wing Chun Shum

Robert Waltman

Hong S Seing

Francis Chee-Shuen Lee

Garth Wade Helf

Salvador Navarro

Tony Mello

Alan P Giorgi

Michael Lee McGhee

Elmer Tyree York

Qin Pan

Ullai Vasant Nayak

Anthony L Smith

Joseph D Perrault

Jose H Garcia

A method is presented for controlling process delay times between a) thin film deposition and lubricant application, and b) lubricant application and abrasive polishing. Applicants have discovered that for certain lubricants, a minimum delay time after the overcoat has been deposited before the lubricant is applied increases the number of disks passing the glide test after abrasive polishing. In addition, applicants have discovered that for certain lubricants, the abrasive polishing should take place within a maximum time window following the application of the lubricant. A computerized work-in-progress tracking system is preferably used to implement the method of the invention.

Control of process timing during manufacturing of magnetic thin film disks

A lead routing module for interconnecting two devices in a suspension assembly. The suspension assembly including at least a suspension, a slider/head assembly, and a lead routing module. The suspension assembly may also include a microactuator. The lead routing module routes electrical signals between at least two devices in the suspension assembly such that the termination leads and/or pads of each device may be conveniently located. The suspension assembly may be used in a disk drive system, or alternatively, in a disk test system used for testing disks.

Interconnect module for use in a suspension assembly

A method for detecting manufacturing marks on sputtered disks includes rotating the disk three hundred and sixty degrees. As the disk rotates, a sensor is used to detect a quantity of manufacturing marks formed on the outer edge of the disk. If there are less than four manufacturing marks on the edge of the disk, a signal is sent to a warning device to indicate that the disk is defective. The lack of a manufacturing mark is an indication that a gripper used to hold the disk within the sputtering chamber during the sputtering process is bent or otherwise misaligned. As such, a signal is also sent to the warning device to indicate that the grippers within the sputtering chamber must be inspected.

System and method for detecting manufacturing marks on sputtered disks

A system for use in a memory disk test system is disclosed. The system comprises a fixture for holding a disk head and a moveable slide coupled to the fixture. The system includes a non-magnetic motor system engageably coupled to the slide for moving the test fixture. A system and method in accordance with the present invention offers an SDT system which utilizes piezoelectric motors resulting in higher throughput in producing memory disks. The system and method further achieves high performance, is lower cost in implementation, and is more compact than conventional SDT systems. The system and method, by removing time delay, offers the advantage of cycle time reduction over conventional SDT systems.

Non-magnetic system for a memory disk test system

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Milpitas, CA, United States of America

Eric Christian O'Brien