van der Waals interactions between the air-bearing surface and a lubricated glass disk: A comparative study

Abstract

Lifshitz theory has been used to calculate the van der Waals (vdW) force between a magnetic storage read-write head over both a lubricated glass disk and a magnetic disk. These forces were then incorporated into an air-bearing simulation that calculates the flying height of the slider as a function of disk revolutions per minute (rpm) for both types of media. A sharp decrease in the flying height of the slider over the magnetic disk was calculated at approximately 1950 rpm, whereas a similar decrease is observed at 150 rpm slower over the glass disk. These differences were ascribed to a significantly larger vdW force acting between the slider and the magnetic media, when compared to the glas..