Head and media design considerations for reducing thermal asperity

Recent use of magnetoresistive (MR)/giant-magnetoresistive (GMR) heads in disk drives requires tighter control on particle contamination that may generate thermal asperities at the head/disk interface. In this study, the effects of slider air bearing surface (ABS) design and media on TA reduction capability are investigated. The motion of particles at the head/media interface is simulated numerically. Drive level TA tests are performed using a particle injection chamber. It is observed that a new ABS design, that has an aerodynamic U-shaped rail and a central airflow passage, is beneficial in reducing the particle contamination on the slider. Scratch-resistance of the media surface is correlated to TA reduction capability of the media; more scratch-resistant media produced less TA. On the other hand, the adhesion properties of the media have minor effects on TA reduction, as the particles that usually generate TA in a drive are too small to spin off the media. 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd.