Production and Performance of ${\hbox{Si/SiO}}_{2}$ Magnetic Recording Head Sliders

摘要: An alternative has been sought for the very hard ceramic material (Al2O3 plus TiC) used as substrate magnetic recording heads. We have substituted silicon and slider body material; primary insulator enclosing head was made of SiO2. built tested these sliders with full read write capability in disk drives. Si provides improvement respect to hardness, modulus, thermal conductivity, adds potential active electronics located immediately adjacent head. describe a novel means producing heads, using entirely dry etching, rather than diamond sawing. The were etched from finished wafers form individual sliders, rows processed individually through completion. Conventional air bearings into suspensions attached, drives tested. outcome shows profound advantage mechanical head/disk interaction, particularly under shock conditions. Other results characterization are described.