Read Rite Corporation

Other

Manuel Anaya-Dufresne

Pablo G Levi

Wuxing Gan

Jesse Jianxian Dong

Pravin P Prabhu

Ciuter Chang

Mark J Donovan

Christopher A Lee

Bill Sun

Slider for load/unload operation with high stiffness and low unload force

An air bearing surface for use on a magnetic read/write head. The air bearing surface provides a stable flight profile while exhibiting exception load/unload characteristics through the use of a plurality of pads providing high pressure areas as well as a central cavity providing a sub-ambient pressure to counter the high pressure areas. The channel is set a predetermined distance from the leading edge of the air bearing, the predetermined distance being greater than with prior art designs. A channel extends from the leading edge to the cavity to allow airflow into the cavity. The channel and the set back of the cavity both act in conjunction to facilitate unloading of the air bearing by preventing excessive sub ambient pressures.

Air bearing facilitating load/unload of a magnetic read/write head

A slider includes an air bearing surface (ABS) including a plurality of separate coplanar pads, a cavity recessed to a certain depth beneath the level of the ABS, and a plurality of steps in which each step is disposed at a level between that of the ABS and that of the cavity. The plurality of steps include a trailing edge step and a leading edge step, and in some embodiments a first side step and a second side step. The leading edge step is provided at a level deeper than that of the trailing edge step. The first side step and the second side step may be provided at the same or different levels to tailor the flight characteristics of the slider. A process is also disclosed for the fabrication of a slider of the present invention. The process includes at least three cycles of masking, etching, and stripping in order to form at least three successively deeper levels, the deepest level being the cavity. Selective masking of the substrate allows portions of the substrate to be preserved through successive etching operations to become the ABS and the plurality of steps.

Air bearing slider

An air bearing slider for a magnetic head is defined by a leading edge and a trailing edge and has a central longitudinal axis extending from the leading edge to the trailing edge. A pair of side pads, and a center pad between the side pads that is disposed substantially on the center axis, are formed on the air bearing surface of the slider. A first central recess having a T-shaped configuration is etched to a first depth, preferably in the range of 5-30 micro-inches with reference to the air bearing surface. A second major recess portion is etched to a second depth in the range of 60-150 micro-inches. The air bearing surface is configured for high load applications and maintains a flat flying height profile. The configured slider is particularly useful with small size sliders, such as picosliders.

High gram load air bearing geometry for a tripad slider

The present invention is embodied in an air bearing slider. The slider contains a magnetic head for writing and reading data to and from the magnetic medium of a hard disk. The slider is attached to an actuator arm which reciprocates over the disk surface to position the slider over the surface of the disk. When placed in the airflow existing just above the surface of a rotating disk the slider flies above the disk. The slider which has a leading edge, a trailing edge and two sides defined between the leading and trailing edges comprises a pair of leading pads positioned near the leading edge, a channel defined between the leading pads, a side pad positioned adjacent to each of the sides respectively, a center pad positioned near the trailing edge and a cavity disposed between the pads. With the side pads being separate from the leading pads as well as the inclusion of the channel providing a reduction in stiction. Further, the present invention's configuration of elements provides a slider with a nearly constant flying height over the entire disk surface, even during changes in airflow velocity, skew angles and loading. Also, the slider possess high pitch and roll stiffness, which contributes to it ability to maintain a near constant flying height.

Air bearing slider with reduced stiction

An air bearing slider for use in a disk drive includes a leading edge, a trailing edge, and parallel sides defined between said edges. The slider has a plurality of pads that form discrete air bearing surfaces having a uniform height. The pads include two leading pads formed along the leading edge, a center pad defined along the trailing edge and two side pads. A platform surrounds the center pad and another platform is formed between the leading pads. The slider has a side bridge between each side pad and leading pad and a leading bridge between the leading pads. The side bridge has a height that is less than the height of the pads and which is configured to direct air towards the side pads. The directed air in cooperation with the slider geometry regulates lifting pressure under the center and side pads to limit pitch and maintain a constant slider flying height.

Growing community of inventors

Fremont, CA, United States of America

Manuel Anaya-Dufresne