High aspect ratio motion limiter of a microactuator and method for fabrication
View Patent ↗A high-aspect ratio motion limiter of a microactuator and a method for fabrication are disclosed. In one embodiment, at least one low-aspect ratio gap is created in a substrate of a microactuator of a hard disk drive. The low-aspect ratio gap is then utilized to facilitate the creation of a high-aspect ratio motion limiter in the substrate of the microactuator.
1. A microactuator for a data storage device, said microactuator comprising:
at least one integrated high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure formed in a substrate of a first thickness consisting of two parallel flat and of a unitary composition surfaces which are separated by a high-aspect ratio gap, said high-aspect ratio gap being one twentieth of said first thickness, wherein one of said two parallel flat and of a unitary composition surfaces is longer than a second of said two parallel flat and of a unitary composition surfaces.
2. The microactuator of claim 1 wherein said microactuator further comprises:
a first high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure for limiting the range of motion implemented by said microactuator in a first direction; and
a second high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure for limiting the range of motion implemented by said microactuator in a second direction.
3. The microactuator of claim 1 wherein said at least one integrated high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure is fabricated using a silicon substrate material of said microactuator.
4. The microactuator of claim 3 wherein said at least one high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure is fabricated using a silicon deep-reactive ion etching (Si-DRIE) technique.
5. The microactuator of claim 1 wherein said microactuator utilizes a rotational stage to implement motion of a surface of said high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure.
6. The microactuator of claim 5 wherein said at least one high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure is disposed at a maximum distance from a center of rotation of said rotational stage.
7. The microactuator of claim 6 wherein a first of the two parallel flat and of a unitary composition surfaces and a second of the two parallel flat and of a unitary composition surfaces are oriented perpendicular to a direction of motion implemented by said rotational stage.
8. The microactuator of claim 1 wherein said high-aspect ratio gap comprises an aspect ratio of at least 5.
9. A data storage device comprising:
a housing;
a disk pack mounted to the housing and comprising at least one disk that is rotatable relative to the housing, the disk pack defining an axis of rotation and a radial direction relative to the axis;
a magnetic head support assembly mounted to the housing and being movable in a first direction that is perpendicular to said axis of rotation; and
a microactuator coupled with said magnetic head support assembly and said microactuator comprising at least one integrated high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure consisting of two parallel flat and of a unitary composition surfaces formed in a substrate of a first thickness which are separated by at least one high-aspect ratio gap, said high-aspect ratio gap being one twentieth of said first thickness adjacent to a low-aspect ratio region in the substrate of said microactuator, wherein one of said two parallel flat and of a unitary composition surfaces is longer than a second of said two parallel flat and of a unitary composition surfaces.
10. The data storage device of claim 9 further comprising:
a first integrated high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure comprising said at least one high-aspect ratio gap; and
a second integrated high-aspect ratio motion limiting structure comprising a second high-aspect ratio gap.
11. The data storage device of claim 9 wherein said at least one high-aspect ratio gap is fabricated within a silicon substrate material of said microactuator.
12. The data storage device of claim 11 wherein said at least one high-aspect ratio gap is fabricated using a silicon deep-reactive ion etching (Si-DRIE) technique.
13. The data storage device of claim 9 further comprising:
a rotational stage to implement motion in response to a voltage.
14. The data storage device of claim 13 wherein said at least one high-aspect ratio gap is disposed at a maximum distance from a center of rotation of said rotational stage.
15. The data storage device of claim 9 wherein a first parallel surface and a second parallel surface defining said high-aspect ratio gap are oriented perpendicular to a direction of motion implemented by a rotational stage.
16. The data storage device of claim 9 wherein said high-aspect ratio gap comprises an aspect ratio of at least 5.