Studies of failure mechanisms for head-disc interface using in situ instrumentation

Abstract

The failure mechanism for a head-disc interface has been studied using in situ multi-instrumentation. Combined with ex situ atomic force microscopy observations, the sequence of events for the failure of a head-disc interface is proposed as depletion of the lubricant on laser bumps, uniform wear of the carbon coating on laser bumps, failure of the carbon coating on laser bumps and abrasive wear of the underlying substrate.