Effect of particulate concentration, materials and size on the friction and wear of a negative-pressure picoslider flying on a laser-textured disk

Abstract

The effect of particulate contamination on friction and wear between a negative-pressure picoslider and a laser-textured disk has been studied. Particles of different concentration, materials and size were injected at the head-disk interface consisting of disks with various textures and slider types at different speeds. Durability increases and coefficient of friction decreases as the disk speed is increased in a contaminated environment. Frictional characteristics and durability in the data zone were better than those in the laser-textured zone. It was also found that durability of head-disk interface (HDI) decreased as the particle concentration increased. Hard particles and large particles made the HDI failure early and resulted in an extensive damage to the slider and disk surfaces. The interface durability with the picoslider was better than that with the nanoslider at any condition in a contaminated environment. Based on the test results, the mechanisms are proposed to explain the reasons why durability with the picoslider is superior to that with the nanoslider and the mechanism of the HDI failure with the picoslider is also presented. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.