High bandwidth Macro/micro-actuation for hard-disk drive

The track density of hard disk drives had been increasing of 30%/year in these last years. The increase in bandwidth is limited by the presence of mechanical resonance modes and other nonlinear in the voice coil motor (VCM) actuators. One approach to overcoming the problem is by using a dual-stage servo mechanism. Dual stage actuator systems composed of a micro actuator and a conventional actuator (VCM)-macro actuator may enable such high track densities to be attained. In this paper, a novel piezoelectric microactuaor was successfully designed and mounted on the suspension in hard disk drives. The microactuator is based on the deformation in piezoelectric effect, and drives the head suspension assembly. The paper describes the structure of macro/micro actuators, its principles of operation and mechanical characteristics. The actuators system in hard disk has a high bandwidth, simple structure and low cost.