Positioning Performance Comparison Between Collocated Slider-Driven PZT Actuators and Conventional Suspension-Driven Actuators

The recording density of hard disk drives is achieving the physical limit due to the recording magnet size limitations. Therefore, the bit density BPI (Bits per inch) is saturated. The residual aim is to increase track density TPI (tracks per inch), because reducing mechanical track misregistration has a possibility of increasing TPI. The Dual Stage Actuator using a PZT microactuator which enables better positioning accuracy, is widely used in 3.5 inch high density drives. The latest PZT actuator called a “Milli” actuator drives the whole suspension. However, the mass of the suspension is around several milli-grams, thus the reaction force of PZT driving sometimes causes excitation to attached arm resonance at 8–9 kHz. In addition, the fundamental resonance frequency of a milli-actuator is around 20–25 kHz, the sway frequency of whole suspension.