Title: Investigation of Lubrication and Planarization Issues on Patterned Media

Researcher: Ralf Brunner

Advisor: Prof. Frank Talke

Investigation of Lubrication and Planarization Issues on Patterned Media

To increase the storage densities of present day magnetic recording devices, patterned media recording approaches have been proposed such as discrete tracks or discrete bits that are separated from each other for reduction of the size of the bit cell. Reduced bit cell size relate directly to an increase in recording density.

Patterning of the disk surface changes the air bearing pressure distribution and hence the head/disk dynamics. For discrete track media (DTR), a high pressure zone is created on the land areas, while a low pressure is present in the groove region of the track. Thus, tribological problems of the head-disk interface on a nano-scale will occur. Planarization of the disk surface is an advanced alternative to fly a slider on a “smooth” disk. This study is showing the planarization issues at the nano-scale. AFM techniques were used to investigate different planarization materials and the change in adhesion between the land region and the groove filling.

Fig. 1: AFM image and contact angle measurement before planarization

This is a fundamental study of planarization perspectives on the nano level and can be applied in a variety of applications throughout nanotechnology.

Fig. 2: AFM image after planarization