Proximity Recording Desire Considerations

"Proximity recording" terminology has been used for the head/media system with the head flying close the media surface. With current media technology, the glide avalanche is about 1 μ in; a head which flies at less than 2 μ in has been considered to be in the proximity regime. To date there has been little amount of literature or study on this subject. This paper proposes a new regime of the head/media interface that the proximity recording technology is based upon. It is called the pseudo contact regime. This paper will present new considerations in the designs of airbearing and suspensions for the proximity recording head as well as additional tribological issues.