Electrostatic microactuator for HDD tracking servo: compatibility with contact recording

A microactuator that moves a slider relative to a suspension by electro-static force was tested with a contact-recording slider. Since this type of microactuator usually generates a very small force, it has a very flexible spring to obtain a reasonable stroke. What needs to be addressed are: 1) the magnitude of the off-track motion of the slider due to contact force when the slider is mounted on a flexible spring, and 2) whether the output force of the electrostatic actuator is large enough to overcome the slider/disk contact force. Spin-stand experimental results show that these problems can be overcome if the disk roughness is properly chosen and the resonance of the microactuator is damped.