Increasing performance parameters of hard disk drive (HDD) such as higher capacity and faster data access speed with decreasing physical size make HDD more susceptible to thermal effects. Contact temperature measurement using thermocouple is not suitable for the rotating platter of HDD. Heat analysis using simulation software requires accurate initial parameter setting such as thermal (initial & boundary) conditions of certain regions. Temperature measurement using infrared (IR) system avoids these limitations; it is non-contact, responsive and does not require initial parameter setting. Thermal pattern distribution can be studied from the thermal images. However, emissivity of the target has to be known and calibration of the system is essential for accurate temperature reading. This paper showed that temperature within the HDD increases with ambient temperature and time, but the thermal distribution pattern in the HDD was not affected by different ambient temperatures. Three wall boundary conditions were conducted to study the thermal distribution pattern in the HDD. A solution was then proposed based on the results obtained from the experiments to improve the heat transfer rate and steady state temperature, and reduce the detrimental effects from high thermal generation in future prototypes. Another important finding was that the averaged temperature of the head cap was generally higher compared to that of the disk, as the spindle motor is the primary heat source within the HDD. Heat source analysis of HDD with IR system allows designers to have better visibility of the temperature generated in different components of the HDD. Proper cooling may enhance disk life as well as ensure the stability and integrity of the system.

This paper presents the studies of the performance of an improved femto air bearing slider which is optimized based on the past studies and effort. The flying characteristics performance of this novel femto slider is relatively stable over different radii. This optimized slider achieved a flying height of 3 nm, with variation of about 0.2 nm. The variations for pitch and roll values are 6 µrad and 0.9 µrad respectively. In the studies for the effect of side rail on flying characteristics, it was found that there exists transition of pitch value when the side rail is located very close to the leading edge. The modulation of flying height reduces greatly when the areas of double shallow steps increase. The roll variation reduces when the flat double shallow steps profile is modified into a “V-Shape” profile