Experimental investigations of asperity compliance of flexible magnetic medium

Three-color interferometry was used to investigate the deformation of asperities on flexible medium surfaces. Elastic asperity compliance curves were obtained to evaluate changes in surface roughness due to burnishing, determine mechanical properties of flexible medium and analyze differences between single layer and dual layer metal particle tapes. Asperity compliance curves were obtained for metal particle tapes with different substrate properties and substrate thickness. A power function was used to fit the asperity compliance measurements and to calculate the contact pressure at the head/medium interface.