Optimization of a magnetic disk drive actuator with small skew actuation

Currently the utilization of the voice-coil motor for actuating read/write head elements in magnetic hard disk drives results in a skewed actuation, which necessitates an involved microjogging process and thus a complicated servo system. Furthermore, in perpendicular recording systems, a small skew actuation will relax the requirement on pole trimming. This article presents a magnetic hard disk drive actuator and suspension assembly with small skew actuation. In the present study, the distance from the actuator pivot to the read/write head is chosen so that the skew angle variation is minimized. After that, the suspension head is assembled to the actuator arm at a slant angle with respect to the actuator longitudinal direction to achieve an absolute small skew actuation. Finite element modeling and experimental measurements reveal that there are no significant changes of the actuator assembly dynamic performance with and without the slant angle. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.