Seagate Technology Incorporated

Prativadi B Narayan

Amarjit S Brar

Anthony C Dierich

A process for forming a bearing surface on an aluminum alloy article including the steps peening the surface, anodizing the surface, and washing the anodized surface with a boehmite inhibiting agent.

Process for forming a bearing surface for aluminum alloy

A magnesium alloy structural member for supporting at least one actuator arm in a hard disk drive and a method for making a shaped magnesium part having a fluorocarbon coating is disclosed. The coating is applied by exposing the member to a reactive gas in the presence of a glow discharge plasma to prevent corrosion. The glow discharge is generated by providing a vacuum environment at a pressure of between 250 and 300 millitorr in a reaction chamber and applying power to a pair of electrodes contained within the reaction chamber. Power is supplied at between about 100 and about 200 watts at about 13.6 megahertz, forming a low temperature glow discharge plasma. A reactive gas comprising a fluorinated alkane is introduced to the reaction chamber, and a pressure of between about 100 and about 300 millitorr is maintained. The structural member is exposed to the reactive gas and the plasma for an amount of time sufficient to form a thin and uniform polymeric fluorocarbon coating on the surface of the part. After the coating is formed, the chamber is purged with a hydrocarbon gas to consume any fluorine free radicals.

Fluorocarbon coated magnesium alloy carriage and method of coating a

A process for treating the surface of a die-cast article including the steps of chemically cleaning the surface, cleaning the surface with an argon plasma, depositing an ion vapor generated metallic coating, mechanically treating the deposited coating, and chromate converting the mechanically treated coating. Preferably, the die-cast metal article consists essentially of an aluminum or magnesium alloy while the metallic coating is aluminum. The mechanical treatment may be carried out by bead blasting, tumbling or barreling and may be followed by walnut shell polishing.

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Eden Prairie, MN, United States of America

Prativadi B Narayan