Abstract: A tripad air bearing slider useful in a disk drive is designed with two outer pads that extend from two or more tapered sections at the leading edge of the slider towards the trailing edge. The pads are configured and angled so that a desired lift force is obtained that acts in opposition to a force provided by a spring loaded flexure or load beam. The angles that define the shape of the three pads are formed by simple mechanical cutting, using a diamond cutting wheel, for example, or alternatively by ion milling or reactive ion etching.

Abstract: A thin film tape head assembly is formed by depositing a multiplicity of thin film transducers on a ceramic wafer or substrate. The wafer is divided into head bars, each of which has one or more thin film transducers on its face. End sections and a cover bar are joined to the head bar to form a head bar subassembly. A flexible cable or electrical pins are provided between the end sections to enable electrical connection between the head circuit and external circuitry. By joining a number of head bar subassemblies, a multigap thin film tape head assembly is produced to serve as a read/write device.