FLYING CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ZERO-LOAD SLIDER BEARING

One of the most critical elements making up a disk storage system is the air bearing interface located between the magnetic transducer and the disk surface on which data is stored and retrieved. Two of the most sought after properties of this lubricating film are a low generated load and high fluid stiffness. The Zero-Load slider incorporates both low load and high stiffness in a single bearing. Numerical simulations which are presented for both static and dynamic operation indicate that the Zero-Load slider should be a strong contender for application in high performance disk files.