Current and future approaches for laser texturing of thin film media

Laser zone texture technology is widely used to enhance the tribological performance of high areal density media. A review of laser texture design approaches with stiction modeling and contact stress analysis is presented. Criteria developed for optimizing sombrero and crater bump designs for NiP/Al substrates and spherical bump designs for glass and glass-ceramic substrates are introduced. Manufacturability issues in maintaining bump height control for both NiP/Al and alternative substrates are presented. The extendibility of laser texture technology to meet the requirements of magnetic designs in excess of 10 Gb/in/sup 2/ is discussed.