Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Femto slider mounted on the head gimbal assembly, which is on the end of the head actu-
ator arm.
Figure 8.8
Magnified head gimbal assembly featuring a Femto slider.
(Photo courtesy Hitachi Global Storage Technologies.)
The newer slider designs also have specially modified surface patterns that are designed
to maintain the same floating height above the disk surface, whether the slider is posi-
tionedabovetheinneroroutercylinders.Conventionalsliderswouldincreaseordecrease
their floating heights considerably according to the velocity of the disk surface traveling
beneaththem.Abovetheoutercylinders,thevelocityandfloatingheightwouldbehigher.
Thisarrangement isundesirable innewerdrivesthatusezonedbitrecording,inwhichthe
bitdensityisthesameonallthecylinders.Whenthebitdensityisuniformthroughoutthe
drive, the head floating height should also be relatively constant for maximum perform-
ance. Special textured surface patterns and manufacturing techniques enable the sliders to
float at a much more consistent height, making them ideal for zoned bit recording drives.
For more information on zoned recording, see the section “
Disk Formatting
”
in
Chapter
9
,
“
Hard Disk Storage
.”
A typical Femto air-bearing slider surface design is shown in
Figure 8.9
.
Figure 8.9
Femto air-bearing slider surface design.
