Lubricant Flow and Accumulation on the Air Bearing Surface of a Hard Disk Drive

During normal operations of a hard disk drive (HDD), a slider flies over the surface of a spinning disk lifted by a thin layer of air. The disk surface is coated by a molecularly-thin layer of lubricant to protect it against corrosion and reduce wear on the read/write head. The flying height of the slider should be as small as possible in order to achieve higher recording densities. In current HDDs the head-to-disk spacing is on the order of 1–3 nm [1]. At this ultra-low spacing lubricant from the disk often transfers to the slider’s air bearing surface (ABS) forming a thin film that imposes a significant degradation on its performance. Problems such as head instabilities, flying stiction, disk lubricant depletion and increase in head-disk spacing occur when lubricant is present on the ABS [2]. To avoid this condition, modern sliders should be able to remove the lubricant from the ABS as fast as possible. Hence, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding of the lubricant flow process and its driving forces.