Slider with extended three-dimensional air-bearing surface
Disclosed herein is a hard disk drive slider having an extended three-dimensional air-bearing surface (ABS). The slider has an ABS and a back surface opposite the ABS, where at least a portion of the back surface defines a plane (i.e., if the back surface is substantially flat, the back surface itself defines the plane). Defined herein is an ABS function, which describes the characteristics of a portion of the ABS in a two-dimensional plane made by taking a cross-section of the slider perpendicular to the plane defined by the at least a portion of the back surface. The cross-section of the slider taken perpendicular to the plane has an ABS function that is a multi-valued function, which is defined herein as a relation for which, for at least one possible input value along the selected axis in the plane, the relation evaluates to two or more distinct nonzero values.
1. A slider, comprising:
a leading-edge surface;
an air-bearing surface (ABS) including a cavity with an opening oriented toward the leading-edge surface; and
a back surface opposite the ABS, at least a portion of the back surface defining a plane,
wherein an ABS function of a cross-section of the slider taken perpendicular to the plane and through the cavity is a multi-valued function, and
wherein no portion of the ABS function intersects the back surface.
2. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein the back surface is substantially flat and is continuous, and wherein the plane coincides with the back surface.
3. The slider recited in claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the ABS is substantially parallel to the plane.
4. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein:
at least a portion of the leading-edge surface is substantially perpendicular to the plane,
and the cross-section is substantially perpendicular to the at least a portion of the leading-edge surface.
5. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein:
at least a portion of the leading-edge surface is substantially perpendicular to the plane,
and the cross-section is substantially parallel to the at least a portion of the leading-edge surface.
6. The slider recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
a trailing-edge surface, wherein at least a portion of the trailing-edge surface is substantially perpendicular to the plane,
and wherein the cross-section is substantially perpendicular to the at least a portion of the trailing-edge surface.
7. The slider recited in claim 1 , further comprising:
a trailing-edge surface, wherein at least a portion of the trailing-edge surface is substantially perpendicular to the plane,
and wherein the cross-section is substantially parallel to the at least a portion of the trailing-edge surface.
8. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein the cross-section is oriented along an axis in the plane, and wherein the multi-valued function has at least two distinct values for at least one input value along the axis.
9. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein the cross-section is oriented along an axis in the plane, and wherein the multi-valued function has exactly two distinct values for at least one input value along the axis.
10. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein the cross-section is oriented along an axis in the plane, and wherein the multi-valued function has exactly three distinct values for at least one input value along the axis.
11. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein the cross-section is oriented along an axis in the plane, and wherein the multi-valued function has exactly five distinct values for at least one input value along the axis.
12. The slider recited in claim 1 , further comprising a head for reading from and writing to a disk.
13. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein the opening is substantially parallel to the leading-edge surface.
14. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein the opening is at an angle to the leading-edge surface.
15. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein the opening is rectangular.
16. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein a shape of the cavity is uniform.
17. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein a shape of the cavity is irregular.
18. The slider recited in claim 1 , wherein the cavity is a first cavity, and the opening is a first opening, and wherein the ABS further comprises a second cavity with a second opening oriented toward the leading-edge surface.
19. A magnetic storage system comprising a slider, the slider comprising:
a leading-edge surface;
an air-bearing surface (ABS) including a cavity with an opening oriented toward the leading-edge surface; and
a back surface opposite the ABS, at least a portion of the back surface defining a plane,
wherein an ABS function of a cross-section of the slider taken perpendicular to the plane and through the cavity is a multi-valued function, and
wherein no portion of the ABS function intersects the back surface.
20. The magnetic storage system recited in claim 19 , wherein the slider further comprises a head for reading from and writing to a disk.