Wear and friction studies of contact recording interface with microfabricated heads

Abstract

Friction and wear performance of a contact recording device is studied which consists of a microfabricated head in continuous contact with a super smooth disk. For the first time, the coefficient of friction of a microfabricated head (17×36 μm in cross-section) sliding against a super smooth disk at a load of 40 mg has been measured. The influence of protective overcoats on the disk surface and operating environments on the wear rate of the head and the coefficient of friction of the head-disk interface were studied using an ultra-high vacuum tribotest apparatus. The results show that the wear rate and coefficient of friction of the contact pad sliding against the standard disk with sputtered carbon are higher than those against cathodic arc carbon coated disk. Optical microscopy showed small accumulation of wear debris at the leading edge of the pad sliding against the standard disk, and no debris was observed on the pad surface after sliding against the cathodic arc carbon coated disk. Tests in various gaseous environments showed that such environments have an effect on the wear rate of the head, but little influence on the coefficient of friction for head sliding against both disks.