The design of laser texture media using acoustic emission measurements

This paper investigates the flying and contact phenomena of proximity contact recording and flying sliders. The tribological performance of thin film laser textured media is studied with acoustic emission analysis. The laser bump height and density were controlled to achieve a desired tribological performance. The relationship between the laser bump height/density and acoustic emission energy during drag and start/stop testing for different slider designs was studied. Emphasis was also placed on identifying the critical parameters of media and slider designs for tribological performance improvements. Reliability and glide height avalanche testing results were found to correlate well with the acoustic emission energy data.