Nanotribology of polymer surfaces for disk drive applications

In disk drives, bits of information are stored as magnetic domains in a magnetic layer on the surfaces of disks stacked in the drive. The bits are written are read using recording heads attached to the back of sliders. For most of today's disk drives, the slider must take off and land on the disk when the drive is powered on an off, during which many slider-disk contacts occur. The magnetic layer is protected against these slider-disk contacts by a protective overcoat, usually amorphous carbon, and thin film of polymer lubricant. The criteria used within the disk drive industry for selecting a polymer lubricant material for future slider-disk interfaces are presented.