Patent Application
20080182132
Embodiments of the present invention relate to manufacturing hard disk drives. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to determining the cleanliness of a part used in manufacturing by selectively detecting particles substantially comprised of hard contaminant.
Manufacturing disk drives is a very competitive business. People that buy disk drives are demanding more and more for their money. For example, they want disk drives that are more reliable and have more capabilities. One way to provide more capabilities is to make the various disk drive components smaller. One way to make disk drives more reliable is to improve the cleanliness of the parts used in manufacturing the disk drive.
Typically a hard disk drive (HDD) uses an actuator assembly for positioning read/write heads at the desired location of a disk to read data from and/or write data to the disk. The read/write heads can be mounted on what is known as a slider. Generally, a slider provides mechanical support for a read/write head and electrical connections between the head and the drive. Typically, the closer that the slider can glide over a disk's surface the higher the density that data can be stored on the disk's surface.
However, the closer that a slider glides over the disk's surface, the more prone the disk's surface is to damage. For example, the rotation of a disk around the spindle causes air to move beneath a slider. The slider can glide over the moving air at a uniform distance above the surface of the rotating disk, thus, avoiding contact between the read/write head and the surface of the disk. As disk drives are handled during the manufacturing process, particles from various sources can be generated. A particle can cause damage to the disk if the particle comes between the slider's air bearing surface and the disk. This is just one example of how particles can cause damage to a hard disk drive.
Embodiments of the present invention pertain to determining the cleanliness of a part used in manufacturing by selectively detecting particles substantially comprised of hard contaminant. According to one embodiment, filtered particles captured on a filter are received at a selective particle detection device. The selective particle detection device determines if at least one of the filtered particles is substantially comprised of hard contaminant. Examples of hard contaminant include silicate, carbide, and ceramic. The determination does not require detecting particles which are not substantially comprised of hard contaminant.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention:
The drawings referred to in this description should not be understood as being drawn to scale except if specifically noted.
Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While the invention will be described in conjunction with these embodiments, it will be understood that they are not intended to limit the invention to these embodiments. On the contrary, the invention is intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in the following description of the present invention, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the present invention.
Parts, such as HDD components and tools used to manufacture HDDs, are typically lapped during the manufacturing process in order to clean and to provide smooth surfaces on the parts. The materials that are used in lapping include silicon carbide (SiC). The process of lapping can result in particles that are substantially comprised of silicon carbide. Silicon carbide is an example of a ceramic and a hard contaminate. Examples of hard contaminates include, but are not limited to, silicates, carbides, and ceramics. Particles that are substantially made of hard contaminant are considered by the industry to be “hard particles” which can cause substantial damage to a hard disk drive for example if a hard particle comes between a slider and a disk's surface. Therefore, it is important to determine the cleanliness of parts used in manufacturing. If the cleanliness is not adequate, then actions can be taken to improve the cleanliness.
However, conventional methods of assessing cleanliness are time consuming, typically taking several hours. Disk drives can be sold at lower prices when they are manufactured more quickly. Therefore, the company that can manufacture disk drives the quickest has a significant competitive advantage over their competitors. According to one embodiment, particle analysis can be performed in approximately 10 minutes instead of several hours, for example, by selectively detecting particles that are substantially made of hard contaminate. Although many of the embodiments described herein refer to a ceramic, such as silicon carbide, various embodiments can be used for any type of hard contaminant.
The components are assembled into a base casting 113, which provides attachment and registration points for components and sub assemblies. A plurality of suspension assemblies 137 (one shown) can be attached to the actuator arms 134 (one shown) in the form of a comb. A plurality of transducer heads or sliders 155 (one shown) can be attached respectively to the suspension assemblies 137. Sliders 155 are located proximate to the disk 138's surface 135 for reading and writing data with magnetic heads 156 (one shown). The rotary voice coil motor 150 rotates actuator arms 135 about the actuator shaft 132 in order to move the suspension assemblies 150 to the desired radial position on a disk 138. The actuator shaft 132, hub 140, actuator arms 134, and voice coil motor 150 may be referred to collectively as a rotary actuator assembly.
Data is recorded onto the disk's surface 135 in a pattern of concentric rings known as data tracks 136. The disk's surface 135 is spun at high speed by means of a motor-hub assembly 130. Data tracks 136 are recorded onto spinning disk surfaces 135 by means of magnetic heads 156, which typically reside at the end of sliders 155.
After the particles have been filtered through one or more filters 450, the filters 450 can be dried. For example, a filter 450 can be transferred to a carbon sticky stub. The filter 450 can be dried over night at room temperature or dried under an infrared (IR) lamp using IR radiation for approximately 30 minutes to 1 hour in a clean room environment.
The term “parts” shall refer to any HDD component or manufacturing tool used in assembling the HDD components. Refer to the description of
According to one embodiment, the solution 240 is used to remove particles from a part. For example, the solution can include water from the manufacturing site's treatment plant. The water is di-ionized to remove ion contaminates, according to one embodiment. The solution may include a fixed amount of detergent, such as 0.004% Micro-90 detergent. The detergent, according to one embodiment, facilitates removal of the particles from the part.
According to one embodiment, the container 220 is used for containing solution that a part can be submerged in. According to one embodiment, the container is a clean beaker. For example the clean beaker may be approximately 110 milliliters (ml) to 400 ml. According to another embodiment, the container can be a stainless steel container.
The filters 450 may be polyethylene, polypropylene, or polycarbonate. The pore size can range from approximately 0.3 microns to 0.8 microns. The diameter may be approximately 1.5 cm. Spot sizes of approximately 2 mm or 3 mm can be used.
According to one embodiment, the vibrating mechanism 210 is an ultrasonic tank, such as a Branson 40 kilohertz (kHz) ultrasonic tank. According to one embodiment, approximately 40-90% output of the ultrasonic tank and approximately 30 kilohertz (kHz) to 300 kHz for approximately 60 seconds are used. According to another embodiment, approximately 80% output of the ultrasonic tank and 40 kHz for approximately 60 seconds are used.
The filter receiver 510 can receive one or more filters with associated particles. For example, a filter can be mounted on a sticky stub and placed in the device. The particle detector 520 can detector whether any of the particles associated with the filter are particles substantially made of hard contaminant. For example, the device 500 can be configured to selectively detect particles that are substantially made of hard contaminant, as will become more evident. The device 500 can also be configured to detect particles made substantially of hard contaminant. Examples of hard contaminant include silicates, carbides, ceramic, or a combination thereof. Further, the device 500 can detect the particles made substantially of hard contaminant without requiring full analysis. The particles associated with the filter can be analyzed using backscatter mode. EDX analysis can be used to identify and quantify the total number of particles on the filter.
As already stated, the device can be configured to selectively detect particles that are substantially made of hard contaminant. Table 1 depicts values that can be used to configure a device 500 as depicted in
According to one embodiment, spot size (value reference no. 3), brightness (value reference no 6) and contrast (value reference no. 7) are configured to achieve a desired level of brightness. For example, a spotsize of 460, brightness of 75% and contrast of 80% may be used. Although these 3 values are one example, other values may be used depending on SEM conditions and filament history. Brightness selection can be set to make particles made substantially of hard contaminant visible by backscatter detector (BSD) under the combined parameter settings. For example, for SiC detection, the BSD settings may be brighter than what is conventionally used for metallic particle detection.
With regards to field number (value reference no. 21), according to one embodiment, 4×3×2 (2 locations on 12 fields) is used for a spot size of 2.0 mm on the filter. According to one embodiment, a field factor less than 15 or the area analyzed by EDX is not less than 6.7% of the total area. Once the field number is selected, the field numbers analyzed can be fixed. Correlation can be done if any change is made to the SEM or EDX settings. For example, an amp time (value reference no. 25) of 10 us to 17 us may in many cases be used for particle analysis.
The amp time (value reference no. 25), according to one embodiment, is set to result in a dead time of EDX that is less than 30%. The spot size (value reference no. 3) can be increased or the filament changed, according to one embodiment, in order to achieve EDX signal abundance (CPS) that is greater than 1000. The BSD Gain (value reference no. 13) may be set to change automatically. The Magnification (value reference no. 17) can be set to approximately 1000. The threshold erosion (value reference no. 30) can be set to 1, the threshold (value reference no. 33) can be approximately 130-220, and the threshold size (value reference no. 34) can be approximately 0.3-50 um.
Although Table 1 and 2 depict examples of values for configuring a device 500 to selectively detect particles that are substantially made of hard contaminant, other values may be used. For example, it may be desirable to use different values for the spot size (value reference no. 3) and the contrast (value reference no. 7) than what are depicted in Tables 1 and 2 as a part of selectively detecting particles that are substantially made of hard contaminant.
After analyzing the filters, for example using auto analysis, the device 500 may display the number of particles (also referred to as “raw number”) that it counted. The following is a description of one way of calculating the final number of particles based on the raw number of particles. Nfinal represents the final number of particles substantially made of hard contaminant on a filter. Nd represents the raw number of particles detected. Nfinal can be calculated using the following formula, according to one embodiment:
N
final
=N
d
S
t
/S
a
For example, if the spot size diameter is 3.0 mm and 12 fields were analyzed, the area analyzed would equal 0.119×0.089×12 which equals 0.1271 mm̂2. The area factor (St/Sa) would equal 7.0684/0.1271 which equals 55.6. If however two locations were analyzed, the area factor would be 27.8 (55.6/2). In another example, if the spot size diameter is 2.0 mm and 12 fields were analyzed, the area analyzed would equal 0.119×0.089×12 2 which would equal 0.1271 mm̂2. The area factor (St/Sa) would equal 3.14/0.1271 which equals 24.7. If two locations were analyzed, the area factor would be 12.35 (24.7/2).
In preparation of the method described by flowchart 600, particles made substantially of hard contaminant can be extracted from a part 230 as described under the subheading “Extracting Hard Particles From a Part.”
At step 610, the method begins
At step 620, filtered particles captured on a filter are received at a selective particle detection device. The filter receiver 510 can receive one or more filters 450 with associated particles. For example, a filter 450 can be mounted on a sticky stub and placed in the device 500. The device 500 can be turned on. Wait until the SEM gun associated with the device and the system vacuum are ready. The acceleration voltage can be set at approximately 5 KV to 30 KV and the beam can be stabilized for approximately 10 minutes.
According to one embodiment, the beam can be moved to stub #1 and BSD can be used to select a filter 450's location at 30x to 50x. The secondary electron detector can be configured to focus the SEM at 2000x. After focusing, BSD can be returned to 100x. The stage location can be added into the stage table. Repeat the process of moving the beam to a stub, selecting a filter 450's location, focusing at approximately 2000x, returning to 100x, and adding the stage location into the stage table for the other stubs.
At step 630, the selective particle detection device determines if at least one of the filtered particles is substantially comprised of hard contaminant. The particle detector 520 can detect whether a particle associated with the filter 450 is a particle substantially made of hard contaminant. Particles associated with the filter 450 can be analyzed using backscatter mode.
For example, the device 500 can be configured to selectively detect particles that are substantially made of hard contaminant. For example, the SEM BSD brightness can be increased until particles made substantially of hard contaminant are visible for example at scan speed=3 or a cycle time of 334 ms. According to one embodiment, this may be accomplished by increasing SEM BSD brightness by approximately 30%-50% over what is conventionally used for detecting and analyzing all of the filtered particles (also known as “full analysis”), whether metallic or hard contaminant. The EDX threshold can be set to 130-220 and the threshold erosion can be set to 1. For more information, the device 500 can be configured using values such as those depicted in Tables 1 and 2 and as described in the subheading “Values for Configuring the Selective Particle Detection Device.” By selectively detecting particles that are substantially made of hard contaminant, detection of particles which are not substantially comprised of hard contaminant is not required. Thus, particle analysis can be performed in approximately 10 minutes instead of several hours.
The SEM screen can be frozen and an image captured using EDX. At the EDX menu bar, the user can click on process, then click on dilate, and then click on erode. The job can be saved with a job name.
At step 640, the method ends.
According to one embodiment, the method described by flowchart 600 provides a “raw number” of particles that it counted. The final number of particles can be calculated based on the raw number of particles as described under the subheading “Calculating Results.” Corrective action can be taken if, for example, the number of particles indicate that the part is not clean enough. For example, the part can be washed one or more additional times.
The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed, and many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments described herein were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention and various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and their equivalents.
