HEAD-DISK INTERFACE PERFORMANCE WITH A STARVED LIQUID BEARING - ANALYTICAL SOLUTION TO REYNOLDS-EQUATION IN THE NEAR-CONTACT REGIME

Further increase in magnetic recording density requires a reduction in slider flying height. The current study employs the short-bearing app roximation to determine analytically the static equilibrium configurat ion of a slider supported by a starved liquid bearing that operates be tween ideally smooth surfaces. The solution incorporates rheological b ehavior based on previously acquired data. The accuracy of the short-b earing approximation is assessed by determining how well the resulting solution satisfies the Reynolds equation. The analysis suggests a mea ns of designing a slider to achieve head/medium spacings in the neighb orhood of 20 nm.