Iron-oxidized hard disk drive enclosure cover
An iron-oxidized hard disk drive (HDD) cover has an inner surface that is substantially free of un-oxidized or pure metallic iron, fabricated by baking a stainless steel cover and thereby oxidizing the cover surface of iron. Because the cover is iron-oxidized, a costly nickel-plating process may be foregone while a “Fe smear” problem may be significantly reduced. Such an iron-oxidized cover is especially beneficial for, though not limited to, use as an inner cover in a sealed HDD.
1. A hard disk drive comprising:
a base;
at least one disk media rotatably mounted on a spindle;
a head slider comprising a read/write head configured to read from and to write to said disk media;
a voice coil actuator configured to move said head slider to access portions of said disk media; and
a pre-oxidized cover coupled with said base to form an enclosure for said disk media, head slider and voice coil actuator, wherein a surface of said pre-oxidized cover is substantially free of un-oxidized metallic iron.
2. The hard disk drive of claim 1 , wherein an iron oxide concentration on said surface of said pre-oxidized cover is at least about ten times a chromium oxide concentration of said surface of said pre-oxidized cover.
3. The hard disk drive of claim 1 , wherein said pre-oxidized cover is composed of baked stainless steel.
4. The hard disk drive of claim 1 , wherein said pre-oxidized cover is not nickel-plated.
5. The hard disk drive of claim 1 , wherein said pre-oxidized cover is a first cover, said hard disk drive further comprising:
a second cover affixed to said first cover to form a hermetically sealed enclosure.
6. The hard disk drive of claim 5 , wherein said sealed enclosure is substantially filled with a gas that is lighter than air.
7. The hard disk drive of claim 5 , wherein said sealed enclosure is substantially filled with a predominantly helium gas.
8. An iron-oxidized cover for a hard disk drive enclosure, said cover comprising:
an inner surface substantially free of un-oxidized iron, wherein an iron oxide concentration on said inner surface is at least about ten times a chromium oxide concentration of said inner surface.
9. The iron-oxidized cover of claim 8 , wherein said iron-oxidized cover is composed of baked stainless steel.
10. The iron-oxidized cover of claim 9 , wherein said iron-oxidized cover is not nickel-plated.
11. A method of manufacturing a cover for a hard disk drive, the method comprising:
baking a stainless steel cover part to substantially fully oxidize iron on a surface of said cover part, such that an iron oxide concentration on said surface is at least about 10 times a chromium oxide concentration on said surface.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein said stainless steel cover part is not nickel-plated.