Tribological behavior of thin film rigid disks with regular dot array texture on carbon overcoats

Frictional behavior and contact start/stop (CSS) performance are described for thin film rigid disks with regular dot array texture on carbon overcoats formed by a photo-lithography technique. Both initial friction and friction buildup in CSS tests become smaller with a decrease in apparent area of contact between the slider and disk, while wear depth of carbon overcoats in tests increases. These phenomena agree well with those of concentric circular texture formed by similar process. These results show that the apparent area of contact is the dominant factor for friction and wear, nearly independent of texture arrangement. When the hill height is insufficient, a sudden increase in friction may occur during a CSS test due to wear of the hills. To improve tribological durability, the optimum texture profile should be designed by taking account of the wear rate of overcoats during the operating conditions of magnetic disk drives