Partial Contact Head-Disk Interface With Thermal Protrusion

A new partial contact head disk interface (HDI) with thermal protrusion is proposed for magnetic recording with densities of 1 Tbit/in² and above. This HDI has the advantage of maintaining light contact between the slider and the disk, so that both the bouncing vibration amplitude and the contact force are small compared with a traditional partial contact HDI. The slider’s dynamic simulations are carried out to analyze the effect of various factors within the HDI on the slider’s dynamic performance, including the friction and adhesion between the slider and the disk, the track profile morphology of the disk and the air bearing design. It is found that the bouncing vibration amplitude can be reduced to the level of the flying height modulation (FHM) of a non-contact air bearing slider without thermal protrusion.