Air Bearing Surface Designs in Consideration of Thermomechanical Actuation Efficiency

Abstract

Thermomechanical actuation (TMA) at the transducer region of the air bearing surface (ABS) protrudes from the transducer toward the recording media. This actuation induces a change in the air bearing pressure and a concomitant lift of the slider. The actual actuation in flying height divided by the TMA protrusion, defined as the TMA efficiency, is intimately coupled to the ABS design. After introducing an expression describing the changes in the air bearing forces due to the TMA protrusion, three approaches are proposed that facilitate the optimization of the ABS design for improving the TMA efficiency. These approaches include (a) reducing the air bearing pressure, (b) reducing the size of the TMA affected area, and (c) decoupling the peak air bearing pressure area from the TMA affected area. To illustrate these approaches, several ABS designs are evaluated by comparing their TMA efficiencies.