On tribological problems in magnetic disk recording technology

Critical tribology problems of the head-disk interface are reviewed. Surface topography of hard disks is discussed along with experimental results concerning the friction and stiction behavior of lubricated carbon coated disks. The effect of environmental conditions on the headdisk interface is analyzed together with current techniques to measure the flying height between slider and disk in the nanometer spacing range. The effect of air bearing design on the tribology of the head disk interface is discussed and a critical evaluation of recently proposed approaches towards contact recording is presented.