Abstract: The present invention provides a non-actuatable, self-limiting wear contact pad slider and method for making the same. A protruding element surrounding the transducer is fabricated using a third etch step so that the protruding element has a height that is greater than or equal to the designed fly height of the aerodynamic lift surface minus the disk roughness.

Abstract: The present invention provides a non-actuatable, self-limiting wear contact pad slider and method for making the same. A protruding element surrounding the transducer is fabricated using a third etch step so that the protruding element has a height that is greater than or equal to the designed fly height of the aerodynamic lift surface minus the disk roughness.

Abstract: The present invention provides a non-actuatable, self-limiting wear contact pad slider and method for making the same. A protruding element surrounding the transducer is fabricated using a third etch step so that the protruding element has a height that is greater than or equal to the designed fly height of the aerodynamic lift surface minus the disk roughness.

Abstract: A diverging rail edge geometry for an air bearing slider. The air bearing slider provides reduced sensitivity to skew and roll static attitude without contributing to significant increases in cost and complexity. A support structure is formed with an air bearing surface having at least one air bearing rail, pad or other structure disposes thereon. The air bearing pad or rail is formed having at least one edge diverging from the side edges of the support structure. The edges of the rails may also be curved.

Abstract: A method is provided for making crater shaped bumps on a magnetic disk. The crater shaped bumps have a diameter in the range of 10 to 25 .mu.m and a peripheral ridge with a height h.sub.r above a nominal surface of the calibration disk in the range of 75 to 120 nm. Close tolerance crater shaped bumps with this configuration can be made by impinging two or more pulses of laser energy on the same location of the disk. By increasing the number of pulses the height of the peripheral ridge progressively increases. By employing multiple pulses, the height of the peripheral ridge is increased while the diameter of the crater shaped bump stays substantially constant. Further, by employing multiple pulses diameters and heights of crater shaped bumps can be produced with close tolerances within a diameter range of 5 to 20 .mu.m and a height range of 2 to 120 nm.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method and apparatus for sensing the vibrational response of a slider of predetermined dimensions during contact with one or more surface asperities on a recording surface, separating the response into its individual bending mode frequency component responses, determining one or more bending mode frequency responses which display monotonic behavior with increasing asperity interference, and designing a mode selection sensor optimized to detect the monotonic bending mode frequency identified. The mode enhanced sensor is designed by first analyzing the stress distribution of the slider corresponding to the monotonic bending mode frequency, identifying regions of the slider which experience substantially positive or substantially negative stress, and partitioning the upper conductive layer of a piezoelectric sensor to form a partitions corresponding to each of the identified regions. The sensor may be further enhanced by tailoring the partitions to exclude undesirable stress contributions.

Abstract: A method is provided for making crater shaped bumps on a calibration disk which can be used for calibrating a PZT slider, the PZT slider in turn being used for detecting predetermined asperities on a production run magnetic disk. The crater shaped bumps emulate predetermined asperities of production run magnetic disks and especially asperities which are undesirable and would cause the production run disk to be discarded after testing by the PZT slider. Crater shaped bumps which emulate undesirable asperities on current production runs of magnetic disks have a diameter in the range of 10 to 25 .mu.m and a peripheral ridge with a height h.sub.r above a nominal surface of the calibration disk in the range of 75 to 120 nm. Close tolerance crater shaped bumps with this configuration can be made by impinging two or more pulses of laser energy on the same location of a calibration disk. By increasing the number of pulses the height of the peripheral ridge progressively increases.

Abstract: A data recording disk drive includes acceleration rate sensing for controlling or modifying one or more disk drive operations in response to external shock or vibration. An acceleration rate sensor is mounted on the disk drive housing and provides direct detection of acceleration rate of the disk drive when subjected to external shock or vibration. The sensor includes two spaced-apart piezoelectric transducers that operate in current mode. The transducers are connected to an interface circuit that generates two voltage signals that are directly proportional to the angular and linear acceleration rates, respectively, when the disk drive is subjected to an external force. The disk drive microcontroller uses the voltage signals to inhibit writing of data or modify the servo control signal to maintain the heads on track during track seeking or following.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for sensing the vibrational response of a slider of predetermined dimensions during contact with one or more surface asperities on a recording surface, separating the response into its individual bending mode frequency component responses, determining one or more bending mode frequency responses which display monotonic behavior with increasing asperity interference, and designing a mode selection sensor optimized to detect the monotonic bending mode frequency identified. The mode enhanced sensor is designed by first analyzing the stress distribution of the slider corresponding to the monotonic bending mode frequency, identifying regions of the slider which experience substantially positive or substantially negative stress, and partitioning the upper conductive layer of a piezoelectric sensor to form a partitions corresponding to each of the identified regions. The sensor may be further enhanced by tailoring the partitions to exclude undesirable stress contributions.

Abstract: An enhanced piezoelectric sensor for detecting a predetermined bending mode frequency in the vibrational response of a slider with dimensions smaller than the conventional 100% slider during contact with one or more surface asperities on a recording surface. A method for making the enhanced sensor is also disclosed. The sensor comprises a substantiality rectangular slab of piezoelectric material having a charge response which corresponds to in-plane stress under free boundary conditions. Enhancement is achieved by partitioning an upper conductive layer along the lines of symmetry of the slider's stress distribution, which is related to the piezoelectric material's generated charge. In the preferred embodiment, the conductive layer is partitioned into two electrically isolated regions symmetric about the sensor's lateral axis. The design facilitates the isolation of a high frequency bending component which has been found to be monotonic with increasing surface asperity interference.

Abstract: Slider disk stiction is reduced in a disk-based storage device by providing one or more step projections on the air bearing surface of a slider. The rear part of the step projections which rest on the disk surface projections are forward of the slider pivot point. When the slider rests on a disk surface, the step projections elevate the leading edge of the slider, which imposes a static pitch angle on the slider, reducing the slider/disk contact area. Provision is also made for contouring the slider air bearing surface adjacent to the slider leading edge, using a taper or the step projection leading face, to compress the airflow and provide a stable slider air bearing during disk file operation.

Abstract: A data recording disk file of the liquid-bearing type has an improved head-disk interface provided in by a transducer carrier with new properties. The carrier supports a conventional head for reading and writing data to the disk. The carrier has an air-bearing surface near its front end, a ski pad near its rear end, and a plurality of ski feet or struts which support the air-bearing surface off the liquid film of the disk when the disk file is not operating. The air-bearing surface is in the form of a pair of air-bearing rails located outboard of the rear ski pad so that no air-bearing effect occurs in the rearward region of the carrier to assure the skiing action of the rear ski pad. As operational speed is approached the air-bearing lifts the struts off the disk and the rear ski pad is the sole ski foot on the liquid film.