Investigation of Nanoscale Heat Transfer and Flying Characteristics in Thermal Flying Height Control Sliders Considering Near-Field Radiation

Abstract

Nanoscale heat transfer at the head/disk interface is investigated for thermal flying height control sliders in hard disk drives. Near-field radiation effects due to evanescent photo tunneling are considered in addition to thermal conduction. It is found that the maximum value of the heat flux due to near-field thermal radiation is comparable to that from heat conduction. Near-field thermal radiation is shown to cause a decrease in the thermal protrusion, resulting in a larger flying height than predicted for the case that near-field radiation is neglected. Results from this study are useful for the design of high-performance disk drives.