Claims
- 1. A method for forming a slider, comprising:
forming a slider body having a first side, a second side, a leading edge and a trailing edge; using at least a first etching to form an air bearing structure on the slider body extending to the trailing edge for providing a desired fly height, and using a last etching to form a non-actuatable, wearable pad on the air bearing structure extending to the trailing edge, the wearable pad extending above the air bearing surface and having a surface area of less than 5% of a total air bearing surface area and a predetermined height so that wearing of the pad during use produces an interference of zero at the desired fly height and provides negligible lift to the slider.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the using at least a first etching to form an air bearing structure further comprises using two etching to form three surface levels.
- 3. The method of claim 2 wherein the using a last etching to form a non-actuatable, wearable pad further comprises forming a fourth surface level.
- 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the using a last etching to form a non-actuatable, wearable pad further comprises forming the non-actuatable, wearable pad around a magnetic sensor.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the using a last etching to form a non-actuatable, wearable pad further comprises forming a non-actuatable, wearable pad having a predetermined height selected to be greater than or equal to the desired fly height minus a disk roughness.
- 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising forming at least one front air bearing pad.
- 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising forming side rails extending along sides of the support structure.
- 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the non-actuatable, wearable pad is formed of a material selected from the group comprising alumina, TiC/AI2O3 and silicon.
- 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the non-actuatable, wearable pad comprises a surface area of less,than 3.5% of a total air bearing surface area.
- 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the non-actuatable, wearable pad comprises a surface area of less than 2% of a total air bearing surface area.
- 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the non-actuatable, wearable pad comprises a surface area of 1% of a total air bearing surface area.
RELATED PATENT DOCUMENTS
[0001] This is a divisional of patent application Ser. No. 09/687,234, filed on Oct. 13, 2000 (SJO0000026US01), to which Applicant claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §120.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09687234 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Child |
10600730 |
Jun 2003 |
US |