Slider and HGA designs for both smooth load/unload operation and high shock resistance

Abstract

Summary form only given. Load/unload performance and shock resistance performance are two critical issues for air bearing surface (ABS) designs of sliders used in small form factor (2.5'' and below) disk drives. A good ABS design must be free from slider-disk impact in load/unload process and also be able to maintain read/write capability of the head when the disk drive is under a certain level of shock. The traditional ABS design for load/unload operation is to have the suction force center of the slider significantly behind the geometric center of the slider. However, it may result in significant slider/disk separation and read/write errors when the shock or vibration occurs. This paper studies how to optimize the ABS design for both load/unload operation and anti-shock performance. The effects of the suction force center on both the unload performance and the shock resistance performance of sliders are investigated based on a 9D model. Three types of slider design with different positions of suction force center are simulated. The effects of limiters, i.e. hook limiter and front limiter, are also studied.