FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ABRASION RESISTANCE OF THIN-FILM MAGNETIC MEDIA

Abrasion testing was performed on DC sputtered hydrogenated carbon fil ms on commercial thin film disks processed under several conditions. F our film characteristics were found to influence the abrasion resistan ce of the disk, i.e., roughness, film adhesion, carbon toughness, and coefficient of friction. It was found that both fine-scale surface top ography from the sputtered layer and substrate texture degraded abrasi on resistance. Excellent abrasion resistance was observed for carbon f ilms as thin as 10 nm on polished substrates when the magnetic film to pography was minimized. Film adhesion was degraded by exposure to temp erature and humidity. Hydrogen incorporation into the carbon films red uced film hardness which degraded abrasion resistance.