Burnishing of ultrathin carbon overcoat-towards further low glide height [hard disks]

The buffing process plays an essential role in the production of high-performance magnetic recording drives. The typical manufacturing process for magnetic thin film disks includes both carbon buffing and lubricant buffing. Carbon buffing involves polishing and texturing the carbon surface to create a degree of roughness, while lube buffing is done to ensure that the lubricant is evenly spread over the disk surface. However, not much is known about the tribological issues of this process. In this paper, experimental data of carbon buffing effects on surface roughness and contact angle and lube buffing effects on lubricant bonding and film uniformity are presented. The feasibility of integrating current magnetic hard disk manufacturing processes is also discussed in this paper.