Seagate Technology Incorporated

Jorge Vicente Hanchi

Zine-Eddine Boutaghou

Anthony Pascal Sannino

Timothy William Stoebe

Andreas Argyros Polycarpou

Lance Eugene Stover

Zine Eddine Boutaghou

John Stuart Wright

Dian Song

Andrew D White

Thomas Roy Pitchford

Kaizhong Gao

Peter Raymond Segar

Jason Wayne Riddering

Scott Edward Ryun

Mary Cynthia Hipwell

Joel David Limmer

Xuan Zheng

Michael C Kautzky

Jing Gui

Dallas W Meyer

Daniel Paul Burbank

Brian William Karr

Jianxin Zhu

David James Ellison

Ram Mohan Rao

Lee Clifford Knippenberg

Jing Tony Zhang

Lijun Fu

Example embodiments include an apparatus that has a piezoelectric contact sensor. The piezoelectric contact sensor includes a semiconductor device having a semiconductor material that defines a channel through which current can flow. The piezoelectric contact sensor also includes a piezoelectric element coupled to the semiconductor material. The semiconductor material is configured to modulate the current channel in response to compressive stress waves at the contact sensor. Other example embodiments include an apparatus that has a slider having an air-bearing surface, a write head integral to the slider, and a piezoelectric contact sensor that includes a semiconductor device and a piezoelectric element.

Recording head with piezoelectric contact sensor

Changes in the thermal boundary condition near a close point of an ABS to a media indicate proximity of the ABS with the media. Before contact, heat conduction from the ABS is primarily through convective and/or ballistic heat transfer to air between the ABS and the media. After contact, heat flux primarily flows from the ABS to the media through solid-solid conductive contact. Further, a light source within a HAMR transducer head may create additional thermal variations within the transducer head. These thermal variations create temperature variations within the transducer head. Two resistance temperature sensors on the transducer head at varying distances from the close point and/or light source measure these temperature variations. A temperature difference between the two resistance temperature sensors indicates proximity of the close point to the media and/or light output.

Transducer head temperature monitoring

A head assembly including one or more transducer elements for controlling head-media spacing is disclosed. The assembly includes detection circuitry configured to receive an input detection signal responsive to the spacing between the head and the data storage media and provide an output measure indicative of the head-media spacing. The output signal is utilized by control circuitry to provide a control input to one of a plurality of transducer elements on the head to protrude a localized portion of the head to adjust head-media spacing.

Head assembly with head-media spacing control

A head or slider having a sensor element to detect changes in head-media spacing is disclosed. In illustrated embodiments the sensor element includes a piezoelectric sensor layer or similar layer that provides acoustic emission or vibration responsive to changes in head-media spacing. In illustrated embodiments, the sensor element is located proximate to the close point of the head and slider. In embodiments described in the specification, output from the sensor element is utilized to energize a heating element or microactuator to control pole tip protrusion or actuation of transducer elements responsive to changes in head-media spacing.

Head assembly having a sensing element

A head assembly having a sensor element on the head assembly. Embodiments of the sensor element are configured to detect non-contact induced head-media interface instability, 'onset of contact' or low level interference. The non-contact head-media instability or interference is detected based upon sensor feedback relating to excitation of the air bearing resonance modes of the slider body. In embodiments of the present invention, the sensor head assembly includes a microactuator which is energizable to microactuate the head or transducer elements on the head assembly.

Head assembly having a sensing element to provide feedback for head-media instability

A method of detecting contact between a transducing head-carrying slider and a rotatable disc is performed by applying an electrostatic voltage between the slider and the disc and monitoring current flow across an interface between the slider and the disc. The monitored current flow across the interface between the slider and the disc is analyzed to detect contact between the slider and the disc.

In-situ monitoring of proximity and contact between a slider and a disc in a disc drive

A slider is used for supporting a transducing head proximate a rotating disc. The slider includes a slider body having a disc opposing face bounded by a leading edge, a trailing edge, and first and second side edges. The slider body has a longitudinal axis. An air bearing surface is defined on the disc opposing face and the air bearing surface has a pad proximate the trailing edge. A trench is positioned adjacent to the pad with the trench being recessed from the air bearing surface at a step depth. A channel for flushing lubricant from the disc opposing face is positioned on the pad. The channel is recessed from the air bearing surface at a channel depth.

Self-flushing trench air bearing for improved slider flyability

A slider having contact protection for ultra-low fly heights. The contact protection includes contact pads having an ultra-low height dimension to reduce friction and damage for intermittent contact for ultra-low fly height applications.

Disc head slider with intermittent contact protection feature

A method is disclosed for constructing an ultra-low-flying-height slider for carrying a transducing head in a disc drive system including a rotatable disc. The method comprises removing material from an air bearing surface of the slider to create a channel at a likely location of contact with the rotatable disc and filling the channel with a low-friction, high-wear-resistance material. The channel is filled such that the air bearing surface is configured the same as the air bearing surface configuration prior to removing material.

Method for constructing an ultra-low-flying-height slider

A disc storage system includes a rotating disc and a transducer. The transducer is carried on a slider which is supported by an armature. The armature is used to move the slider radially across the disc surface whereby information may be read from or written to the disc surface of the transducer. The slider includes an air bearing surface which faces the disc surface. As the disc rotates, the air bearing surface causes the slider to &ldquo;fly&rdquo; over the disc surface. Pads are provided on the air bearing surface to improve operational characteristics of the system. For example, the pads may be used to reduce the stiction or improve flying characteristics. Flying instabilities associated with the pads are addressed by a number of characteristics provided to the air bearing surface.

Slider for disc storage system

The present invention includes the realization that air bearing surface (ABS) microtexturing (i.e., the production of well-defined texture patterns on an ABS) affords an effective method to control the size of the apparent area of contact during head-to-disc frictional interaction, and thus provides a method to effectively prevent excessive friction force build-up which can lead to catastrophic tribological failure (head crash) during the glide characterization of super-smooth media for high areal density (for example greater than 20 Gb/in ) head-to-disc interfaces (ADIs).

Micro-textured glide sliders for super-smooth media

A disk drive system includes a base, a disk stack rotatably attached to the base, and an actuator assembly movably attached to the base. A ramp assembly includes a set of ramps for loading and unloading the sliders and transducing elements carried by the sliders to and from the disks in the disk stack. The ramp assembly is attached to the base. An actuator assembly is movably attached to the base of the disk drive. The actuator assembly moves the load springs and attached slider and transducers to various positions on the disk. The slider is a block of material having corners and edges. Sliders have a backside surface and an air-bearing surface. The slider also has at least one recess therein. One or more pads of shock absorbing material are positioned within at least one of the recesses in the slider. The pads are positioned within one or more recesses to prevent the corners or edges of the block of material near the air-bearing surface from contacting the disk. In one embodiment, the pads are positioned within the recesses so that the second material is positioned near the air-bearing surface. The pads include a first shock absorbing material, and a second material harder than the shock absorbing material. The second material can be diamond like carbon. After forming the pad, diamond like carbon is deposited on the pad using photolithography.

Capped polymeric load/unload pads

A disc drive slider includes a slider body and a rail formed on the slider body. The rail includes a bearing surface which faces a surface of a disc. A textured portion is formed on the bearing surface of the rail. Pads are deposited on the textured portions. The pads operate to reduce stiction, dynamic friction, and the likelihood of damage to the slider or the surface of the disc due to contact therebetween.

Disc drive slider having textured pads

A disc head slider includes a leading slider edge, a cavity dam, a subambient pressure cavity, which trails the cavity dam and has a cavity floor, and first and second rails disposed about the subambient pressure cavity. Each rail has leading and trailing bearing surfaces and a recessed surface extending between the leading and trailing bearing surfaces, which is recessed from the bearing surfaces and raised from the cavity floor, across the rail width. Recessed leading channels are positioned near the leading slider edge and have a leading channel end open to fluid flow from the leading slider edge, non-divergent channel side walls, and a trailing channel end closed to the fluid flow. A trailing channel is recessed within each of the trailing bearing surfaces and has a leading channel end open to fluid flow from the respective recessed surface, non-divergent channel side walls, and a trailing channel end closed to the fluid flow.

Growing community of inventors

Minneapolis, MN, United States of America

Jorge Vicente Hanchi