Effect of disk cross hatch texture on tribological performance

Wear at the head-disk interface of magnetic recording devices depends on the take-off velocity (TOV). At a lower TOV, the sliding distance between the head and disk prior to take-off is shorter, and the tribological performance is improved. Disks prepared with a cross hatch texture can produce a low ratio of center line to peak/peak to valley (R/sub p//R/sub t/) and a low bearing ratio (t/sub p/). This type of texture leads to a low TOV. However, some cross hatch textured disks and most circumferential textured disks have a high R/sub p//R/sub t/ and t/sub p/, leading to a higher TOV and poorer tribological performance. Heads with negative crowns and negative skew angles also lead to a higher TOV and poorer performance between the head and disk. >