Abstract: An apparatus includes a hub, a first disk, a second disk, and a spacer. The hub is supported for relative rotation about a stationary component. The first disk is mounted to the hub with a first dynamic resonance mode associated therewith. The second disk is mounted to the hub with a second dynamic resonance mode associated therewith. The spacer is positioned between the first disk and the second disk, wherein the spacer is operable to cause the first dynamic resonance mode to be different from the second dynamic resonance mode.

Abstract: SMR disk drives are described that adjust track pitch or magnetic write width to compensate for external temperature effects. In one embodiment track pitch is increased when the media temperature increases. The temperature of magnetic media during write operations can be determined from the drives' temperature sensor. In other embodiments track pitch is adjusted based on the magnetic write width (MWW) which is determined from read-back testing of previously written data tracks. In an alternative embodiment, the width of the MWW is adjusted instead of the track pitch. The various factors that affect the MWW that can be used to increase or decrease the MWW, including write current characteristics and when available thermal-assistance parameters.

Abstract: An embodiment of the invention provides an apparatus that includes: a perpendicular magnetic recording medium including a substrate, a soft under layer above the substrate, a seed layer structure above the soft under layer, wherein the seed layer structure contains Ruthenium; and a magnetic recording layer above the seed layer structure.

Abstract: A disk-enclosure base that is configured to inhibit formation of adherent solder-flux residue. The disk-enclosure base includes a casting, a through-hole fabricated in the casting, a solder channel, an E-coat layer, and an E-coat-free zone. The E-coat layer is applied to a first portion of an interior surface of the casting. The E-coat-free zone is adjacent to and surrounds the solder channel. The E-coat-free zone also includes a second portion of the interior surface of the casting lying between the solder channel and the E-coated first portion of the interior surface of the casting. The E-coat-free zone is configured to inhibit formation of adherent solder-flux residue. A disk-enclosure-base/electrical-feedthrough assembly that is configured to inhibit formation of adherent solder-flux residue, and a hard-disk drive (HDD) including the disk-enclosure-base/electrical-feedthrough assembly are also provided.

Abstract: Improved hard disk drives of the invention comprise: a housing comprising an exterior surface; disk drive components enclosed within the housing for facilitating reading and recording of data at a desired location on at least one disk contained within the housing; and at least one continuous polymeric coating encapsulating the exterior surface of the housing. Methods of forming improved hard disk drives comprising a step of encapsulating the exterior surface of the hard disk drive housing with at least one polymeric coating are also disclosed.

Abstract: An apparatus and associated method employing a slider having a leading edge opposing a trailing edge. A fluid bearing surface extends between the leading edge and the trailing edge. The fluid bearing surface contactingly engages a fluid stream operably imparted to the fluid bearing surface by a moving member adjacent thereto. A trailing edge pad extends from the fluid bearing surface adjacent the trailing edge. A capillary lubrication trench (CLT) is disposed entirely between a portion of the trailing edge pad and the trailing edge along a direction that is parallel to a longitudinal axis from the leading edge to the trailing edge.

Abstract: An electronic component container includes an electronic component; a holder including a holder base part and ribs standing on the holder base part to form a container of the electronic component; and a supporting plate including a supporting plate base part and fixed to the holder. Further, the holder further includes latch protrusions protruding from the ribs above the holder base part; the supporting plate includes cutout sections so as to avoid interference with the latch protrusions when the supporting plate base part is first placed on the holder base part at a mounting position; and the supporting plate base part is latched between the latch protrusions and the holder base part.

Abstract: A method for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium including at least a non-magnetic substrate, a soft magnetic underlayer, an orientation control layer that controls an orientation of an immediate upper layer, and a perpendicular magnetic layer in which a magnetization easy axis is mainly perpendicularly oriented with respect to the non-magnetic substrate so as to be laminated one another on the non-magnetic substrate. The perpendicular magnetic layer includes two or more magnetic layers, and each layer is subjected to a crystal growth such that each crystal grain composing each magnetic layer forms a columnar crystal continuous in a thickness direction together with the crystal grains composing the orientation control layer. The orientation control layer, formed of a Co—Cr alloy, is formed by the reactive sputtering using a mixture of a sputtering gas and nitrogen.

Abstract: A processing unit performs a method including controlling a reading-out of data from a first storage medium at a predetermined read-out data rate to produce inputted data, and controlling a compression of the inputted data to produce first compressed data of a first compressed format. The method includes controlling a storage of the first compressed data in a second storage medium at a faster writing data rate than the predetermined read-out data rate, controlling a reading-out of second compressed data of a second compressed format from the second storage medium, and controlling a decompression of the second compressed data to produce decompressed data. The method also includes controlling simultaneously the storage of the first compressed data in the second storage medium, the reading-out of the second compressed data from the second storage medium, and audibly reproducing the decompressed data. The first compressed format is different from the second compressed format.

Abstract: A HDD comprising an internal base plate comprising a porous material and configured for attachment of internal components of the HDD, an external hermetic base plate comprising a non-porous material and configured to hermetically seal the HDD, an external attachment base plate comprising fastening features and an external hermetic cover hermetically sealed to the external hermetic base plate.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are provided for detection of a synchronization mark based on a position of an extreme distance metric. A synchronization mark is detected in a received signal by computing a distance metric between the received signal and an ideal version of the received signal expected when reading the synchronization mark, wherein the distance metric is computed for a plurality of positions within a search window; determining a substantially extreme distance metric within the search window; and detecting the synchronization mark based on a position of the substantially extreme distance metric. The distance metric can comprise a sum of square differences or a Euclidean distance between the received signal and the ideal version of the received signal.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a magnetic recording medium is provided, which include: forming a magnetic layer on the surface of a nonmagnetic substrate; forming a groove in which a nonmagnetic section is formed by etching a portion corresponding to a formation region of the nonmagnetic section in the magnetic layer and a magnetic recording section formed of the magnetic layer; applying a resin having an active energy ray curable functional group to the surface of the magnetic recording section so as to fill the groove; pressing a plate material against the resin so that the smooth surface of the plate material is in contact with the surface of the resin to make the surface of the resin smooth; removing the plate material from the resin; and forming the nonmagnetic section in the groove by etching and removing a portion located above the surface of the magnetic recording section in the resin having a smooth surface.

Abstract: A method of centering a disk of a hard disk drive includes arranging a disk on an upper end portion of a hub on which a plurality of disks are rotatably assembled, and assembling the disk on the hub by vibrating the hub. Accordingly, the disks and/or spacers may be easily assembled on the hub, a time of centering may be relatively much reduced, and a superior centering quality may be obtained.

Abstract: A bearing device includes a shaft having an axis, plural rolling bearings arranged at axially separated positions and rotatably supporting the shaft, a first cylindrical member for supporting the rolling bearings therein and having a first screw on a part of an outer surface thereof, a second cylindrical member having a second screw engaging with the first screw on an inner surface thereof and mounted to the outer surface of the first cylindrical member by engaging the first screw with the second screw, a restricting member provided on the outer surface of the second cylindrical member for preventing relative axial movement of the second cylindrical member with respect to the first cylindrical member when a portion of the second member contacts the restricting member.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a method of manufacturing a magnetic disk includes rotating a magnetic disk, supporting a floating head on the rotating magnetic disk, the floating head having a slider body and an element unit formed on a trailing edge of the slider body, contacting a floating surface of the slider body with the magnetic disk, and protruding a portion of the floating head toward the magnetic disk due to application of power to a heater element within the element unit, wherein the element unit is positioned away from the magnetic disk. In another embodiment, a floating head includes a slider body comprising AlTiC, an element unit positioned on a trailing edge of the slider body, the element unit having an initial recess amount of at least about 4 nm, and a heater element positioned within an alumina protective film of the element unit.

Abstract: Provided is a spin valve element capable of performing multi-value recording, which includes a pair of ferromagnetic layers having different coercivities from each other, and sandwiching an insulating layer or a non-magnetic layer. The ferromagnetic layer having the smaller coercivity has a substantially circular in-plane profile, and a plurality of island-shaped non-magnetic portions IN, IE, IW, and IS are included. In addition, a storage device is manufactured by using such a spin valve element.

Abstract: A disk drive. The disk drive includes a disk configured to store data, a motor configured to rotate the disk, a head-slider and a controller. The head-slider includes a slider configured to fly in proximity to a recording surface of the disk, and an element on the slider. The controller is configured to measure a fly height between the head-slider and the disk at different common-mode voltages of the element to determine an operational common-mode voltage from a measurement result.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for reducing noise in a communication signal is provided. The method includes converting raw channel data from the communication signal to a sequence of transition code symbols, each symbol having a plurality of bits, each bit having a position within the symbol. The method also includes sending the bits of each symbol to a plurality of bins, each bin corresponding to the position of each bit within the symbol. For each bin having a number of transitions greater than a number of non-transitions, the method also includes flipping every bit in the bin and setting a corresponding bit in a flip control word to a first value. The method still further includes binary adding the flip control word to each transition code symbol.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide a perpendicular magnetic recording medium improved for fly ability, high in read signal quality, and capable of suppressing magnetic decay of recorded magnetization to be caused by stray fields. In one embodiment, a perpendicular recording layer is formed over a substrate with a soft magnetic underlayer therebetween, then an amorphous or nano-crystalline layer is formed between the substrate and the soft magnetic underlayer. The soft magnetic underlayer includes first and second amorphous soft magnetic layers, as well as a nonmagnetic layer formed between those first and second amorphous soft magnetic layers. The first and second amorphous soft magnetic layers are given uniaxial anisotropy in the radial direction of the substrate respectively and coupled with each other antiferromagnetically.

Abstract: A disc drive snubber for protection of a disc drive disc from mechanical shock, the snubber positioned to limit the deflection of the disc in the operational mode, the position of the disc snubber determined in response to user reported defects. The snubber, positioned beneath the disc in near proximity to the outer diameter of the disc, extends along about a 60 degree segment of the disc and is made of a FIPG material.

Abstract: Nanoimprinting resin compositions are cured quickly and uniformly, are patterned by transferring evenly without transfer failure, and are suited for UV nanoimprinting methods and thermal nanoimprinting methods. The invention also provides micropatterned films of the compositions and processes for producing such films, magnetic disk media obtained with the films and production processes therefor, and recording/reproducing apparatuses for recording information in the magnetic disk media or for reproducing information from the magnetic disk media. The nanoimprinting resin compositions essentially contain (a) a compound having at least one polymerizable group in the molecule, and (b) organic or inorganic fine particles.

Abstract: In a fluid dynamic pressure bearing device using ionic liquid as lubricant, a shaft member and a sleeve member are not corroded by the ionic liquid and static electricity generated is not accumulated. Aluminum with an oxide film formed on its surface is used as the material of the shaft member 11 and the sleeve member 12 and aluminum exposure portions B1, B2 are provided on the surfaces making contact with the ionic liquid, other than dynamic pressure generating grooves, of the shaft member 11 and the sleeve member 12. Accordingly, the shaft member 11 and the sleeve member 12 are kept substantially in the same electric potential through the ionic liquid.

Abstract: A disk device includes: an enclosure to enclose a cavity; a plurality of disk media rotatably mounted in the enclosure and arranged along a rotation axis; and heads, movably mounted in the enclosure, to read/record data from/onto corresponding disk media; at least a first one of the disk media exhibiting a structural rigidity different than at least a second of the disk media.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a drive apparatus electrically connects a motor and a control circuit board for the motor without causing poor connections. When manufacturing a drive apparatus that rotationally drives a recording medium using a motor, the motor, which is connected in advance to one end of a connection circuit board that connects the motor and a control circuit board for the motor, is attached to a drive apparatus case and then the other end of the connection circuit board is connected to the control circuit board for the motor.

Abstract: A storage device includes a storage unit, a timer unit and a bias current applying unit. The storage unit stores, in advance, a value of a waiting time until application of a bias current to the driving unit to eliminate an external force applied to an actuator after completion of positioning, and a value of a bias current to be applied to the driving unit after the elapse of the waiting time, in association with a track position. The timer unit reads the waiting time from the storage unit and counting an elapse of the waiting time. The bias current applying unit reads the bias current value from the storage unit and applying the bias current to the driving unit after the elapse of the waiting time.