Alkane contamination effects on PFPE lubricant bonding to a-CHx overcoats

Increasing operating temperatures within hard disk drives promote increased outgassing from drive components and thus can adversely influence the dura bility and reliability of hard disk drives. This study investigates the eff ects of hydrocarbon contamination on the bonding of perfluoropolyalkyl. eth er (PFPE) lubricants to amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-CHx)overcoats. Thi s work has used decane (C10H22) as a model for the hydrocarbon contaminatio n present in drives and perfluorodiethyl. ether ((CF3CF2)(2)O) and 2,2,2-tr ifluoroethanol (CF3CH2OH) as models for the backbone and endgroups, respect ively, of the common disk lubricant Fomblin Zdol. Temperature-programmed de sorption experiments were conducted using CF3CH2OH coadsorbed with C10H22 o n an a-CHx overcoat and (CF3CF2)(2)O coadsorbed with C10H22 on an a-CHx ove rcoat. The results indicate that the presence of C10H22 decreases the adsor ption energies of both CF3CH2OH and (CF3CF2)(2)O on the a-CHx overcoats. Th e implication of these results is that the mobility of PFPE lubricant films can be increased by the presence of hydrocarbon contaminants on the disk s urface.