SLIDER OVERCOATS FOR ENHANCED INTERFACE DURABILITY IN MAGNETIC RECORDING APPLICATIONS

The effects on tribological performance of air bearing surface overcoa ts on magnetic recording sliders are presented. Both component level a nd disk drive level testing indicate that significant performance enha ncements are afforded by the overcoat, and that both stiction/friction and wear of the head/disk interface are reduced, thus increasing inte rface durability. The degradation in electrical performance of the hea ds due to the presence of the overcoat is shown to be consistent with that predicted by the Wallace equation. In addition, it is shown that the performance enhancements of the overcoat are achieved only in the presence of lubricant on the disk surface, suggesting that the overcoa t lubricant interaction may be more benign than the interaction of the lubricant with the slider material.