Flying characteristics of shallow step pads slider for low flying

Lower flying height provides higher recording density in hard disk drives. The gas lubricating film thickness (flying height) between the magnetic head and the disk has been reduced to under 50 nm and various designs for the air bearing surface of the head slider have been discussed. To obtain high flying stability in very low flying conditions, it is important to achieve a high air bearing stiffness and to reduce the flying height fluctuation during head motion over the disk surface. We simulated the flying characteristics of the slider with shallow step air bearing pads and compared the simulated results with the experimental results. We also analyzed the air bearing stiffness, the flying characteristics during seek motion, the altitude sensitivity and the flying fluctuation due to the major manufacturing tolerances. The newly designed sliders have good characteristics for achieving a flying height around 25 nm.