Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Evaporation and Transfer of the Lubricant on a Hard Disk in Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording

Coarse-grained models were developed to study the evaporation and transfer of the perfluoropolyether lubricant from the disk surface under laser heating. Both moving and stationary disks were simulated with a heat flux applied to a central region under a pad. A novel concept of a reconditioning region was proposed to convert the periodic boundary conditions to more realistic conditions with the fresh material fed at the inlet. The results indicate significant influence of the disk velocity, heat flux and gap distance on the evaporation and transfer of the lubricant. With increasing heat flux, more lubricant molecules tend to reach the slider surface.