DEVELOPMENT OF A MAGNETIC HEAD SUSPENSION SYSTEM FOR HIGH-SPEED SEEKING PERFORMANCE

To achieve higher areal recording density, together with reliable head -disk interface, a novel high performance magnetic head suspension sys tem has been developed. The new suspension consists of a spiral-shaped gimbal spring and a load beam with reverse rails. The characteristics of the developed suspension system-a frequency response and a slider following capability for disk runout-were investigated by numerical si mulations and experiments. It has been confirmed that an ideal suspens ion model shows both high stiffness for high-speed seek motion and com pliance for constant flying height. Dynamic analysis for the suspensio n was made including the stress stiffening effect and deformation of a load beam under loaded condition. The analysis results made it clear that the suspension resonant frequency change due to the stress stiffe ning effect, and that the vibration amplitudes of the torsional modes are strongly dependent on the deformed shape of the spring section. Us ing the deformed-shape optimization technique, it has been determined that the new suspension system can provide high performance for high-s peed seeking and 50 nm level head flyability.