Stiction improvement for sub-microinch glide height media using small crater laser bumps

The effect of smaller crater laser bumps on stiction performance was invest igated in this paper. A Nd-YVO4 laser and a green laser were employed to ge nerate crater laser bumps on NiP/AlMg substrates. A stiction map for three different bump diameters was made to depict high stiction and normal sticti on regions. It shows that smaller bump diameter is a good approach to meet both low stiction and low glide requirements. This is attributed to the red uction in radius of curvature at the top of the laser bump rim. A novel til ted crater laser bump providing good wear durability and low stiction was a lso evaluated.