A multidentate lubricant for use in hard disk drives at sub-nanometer thickness

We describe a second generation of multidentate lubricant structures for use on a magnetic media in a hard disk drive. Building on earlier work where a perfluoropolyether (PFPE) chain with hydroxyl bonding moieties were placed in the middle of the chain as well as on chain ends, creating a structure with two PFPE sub-units for enhanced tribological performance under very low head-disk spacing, this paper focuses on a PFPE chain composed of three, even shorter PFPE sub-units. Experimental data focusing on surface characterization of sub-nanometer thickness films, as well as tribological performance, are presented that confirm the high confinement level achieved with the lubricant structure. Molecular dynamics calculations are also discussed, that are consistent with a molecular film of high stiffness, leading to a denser, more compact structure. This approach could pave the way to achieving the sub-nanometer head-disk clearance level, presumed necessary for storage densities exceeding the terabit per square inch density landmark. (C) 2012 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3677984]