Coated slider to inhibit contamination accumulation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10692542-B2
Application number	US-201916723618-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 20, 2019
Priority date	May 24, 2017
Publication date	Jun 23, 2020
Grant date	Jun 23, 2020

Abstract

A slider is provided with a conformal coating (e.g., an oxide) on the air-bearing surface (ABS) to provide a consistent surface energy to the ABS. The conformal coating may be formed by an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process. A consistent surface energy inhibits accumulation of contaminants on the slider ABS, such as at topographical transition areas.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A slider comprising:
an air-bearing surface (ABS) having a first area comprising a first material and a first surface energy, and a second area comprising a second material different than the first material and a second surface energy different than the first surface energy;
a constant-thickness oxide coating having a consistent and continuous surface energy across the first area and the second area; and
a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) coating on the oxide coating.

2. The slider of claim 1 , wherein the oxide coating is SiO 2 .

3. The slider of claim 1 , wherein the oxide coating has a thickness no greater than 200 nm.

4. The slider of claim 1 , wherein the first material is AlTiC and the second material is DLC.

5. The slider of claim 1 , wherein the first area is recessed in relation to the second area.

6. The slider of claim 1 , wherein the surface energy differs by no more than 0.1 V across the at least one recessed area and the at least one raised area.

7. The slider of claim 1 , wherein the oxide coating is across the entire ABS.

8. A slider comprising:
an air-bearing surface (ABS) comprising a first material and a second material different than the first material, the first material having a different surface energy than the second material; and
a dielectric coating having a thickness of 0.5 to 50 nm over the first material and the second material of the ABS, the coating providing a surface energy that varies by no more than 0.1 V across the ABS.

9. The slider of claim 8 ; further comprising a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) coating on the dielectric coating.

10. The slider of claim 8 , wherein the first material is in a recessed area and the second material is in a raised area compared to the recessed area.

11. The slider of claim 10 , wherein the first material is AlTiC.

12. The slider of claim 10 , wherein the second material is DLC.

13. The slider of claim 8 , wherein the dielectric coating has a constant thickness.

14. The slider of claim 8 , wherein the dielectric coating is over the entire ABS.

15. A method of making a slider, the slider having a body with an air-bearing surface (ABS) having a topography including recessed areas and raised areas and first areas comprising a first material and second areas comprising a second material, the method comprising:
applying an oxide coating via an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process on the first areas comprising the first material and on the second areas comprising the second material; and
applying a self-assembled monolayer (SAM) coating on the oxide coating.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first material is in the recessed areas and the second material is in the raised areas.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the oxide coating has a thickness no greater than 200 nm.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the oxide coating has a thickness that varies no more than 2 nm.

19. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first material is AlTiC and the second material is DLC.

Assignees

• Seagate Technology Llc

Inventors

• Kwon byung seok
• Ellison David

Classifications

• G11B33/1446 Primary

  Reducing contamination, e.g. by dust, debris · CPC title

• G11B5/3106 Primary

  where the integrated or assembled structure comprises means for conditioning against physical detrimental influence, e.g. wear, contamination (G11B5/3133 takes precedence) · CPC title

• G11B5/40

  Protective measures on heads, e.g. against excessive temperature  (G11B5/31 takes precedence; protection against wear G11B5/255  {; protective structure of the head: see under structures, e.g. G11B5/3106}) · CPC title

• B32B9/00

  Layered products comprising a {layer of a} particular substance not covered by groups B32B11/00 - B32B29/00 · CPC title

• B32B15/20

  comprising aluminium or copper {(B32B15/016 and B32B15/017 take precedence)} · CPC title