Heesung Park

Particle Generation Trend with Variation of Rest Time and Seek Mode in Hard Disk Drive Operation

Particles existing in a hard disk drive are known as a major source of TA(thermal asperity). Researchers have investigated how particles induce the TA phenomena, but have not verified yet the reason why and how particles are generated in a HDD. The objective of this study is to investigate why and how particles are generated, and in what condition, the largest number of particles is generated. The number of particles generated in a HDD was measured over the landing zone after various rest times of slider and during various motions and positions of slider. It is found that the large number of particles was generated when the HDD was turned on after a long rest time of slider and that a few of particles were continuously generated when the slider flied over the disk surface. It is thought that the number of particles generated in a HDD was related to the rest time of slider because the rest time of slider increased stiction, and that there were intermittent contacts between the slider and the disk surface when the slider flied over the disk surface.

Numerical Investigation of Contamination Particle's Trajectory in a Head/slider Disk Interface

Microcontamination caused by particle deposition on the head disk interface threatens the reliability of hard disk drive. Design of slider rail to control contamination becomes an important issue in magnetic recording. In this paper, how particles adhere to the slider and the disk is examined. To investigate accumulation mechanism of the particles, trajectory of the particles in a slider/disk interface is simulated with considering various forces including drag force, gravitational force, Saffman lift force, and electrostatic force. It is found that the charged particles can easily adhere to the slider or disk surface, if an electric field exists between the slider and the disk. It is supposed that the vertical motion of the particles should be related with not only Saffman force but also electrostatic force.