Air bearing features on patterned media

This digest reports the air bearing features on the patterned media by mesh size of S nm only. Air bearing spikes and the flying height loss are calculated and discussed. Air bearing spikes exist mainly on the micrometer level groove pitches. In this case, a larger groove pitch provides a stronger air bearing force, if the groove depth and ratio are fixed. While for the sub-micrometer groove pitches, the air bearing force is approximately independent to the pitch size. Correspondently, the well-known formula for the flying height loss may underestimate the value under certain conditions.