Patent Grant
8192249
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of magnetic disk polishing to remove asperities such that the data storage capabilities of magnetic disk drive systems may be increased.
2. Statement of the Problem
To keep up with the demand for increased magnetic data storage density, smoother magnetic disk surfaces are used to avoid interference with read/write heads and the magnetic disks. Generally, the magnetic layers and carbon overcoat of a thin film magnetic disk are vacuum deposited to protect the magnetic layers from corrosion. The disk is then coated with about 1 nm of lubricant and polished with a mild abrasive tape, such as an alumina composite abrasive layer on a Mylar film, to remove asperities (e.g., above 5 nm). A polishing pad is used to press the polishing tape onto a surface of the magnetic disk. For example, the polishing pad may be applied to the back of the Mylar film to ensure that the abrasive composite layer contacts the magnetic disk surface. Polishing, however, is a delicate process as it can damage a magnetic disk by scratching the 2 to 4 nm thick carbon overcoat or the magnetic layers below.
A soft elastomeric pad that has a relatively low loss tangent can improve polishing and disk yield because the pad is more apt to “track” a disk's “waviness”. For example, the low modulus of the soft elastomeric pad allows the pad to more intimately contact the polishing tape when compared to the more conventional urethane foam pad, or “foam rubber” pad. The soft elastomeric pad may be injection molded from a thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), such as a block copolymer of styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene or styrene-ethylene/propylene-styrene. However, there is a strong adhesion between the smooth Mylar tape and a smooth pad, because the lightly cross linked elastomeric pad intimately contacts the Mylar film. For example, when a soft material is pressed into contact with a flat surface, a strong adhesion force arises due to dispersion interaction energy. During the automated disk polishing process, the pad is intermittently pressed onto the back of the tape and then retracted from the tape at the end of the disk polishing process. A relatively strong adhesion between the pad and the back of the tape causes a section of the tape between guide rollers to be “pulled” with the pad when the pad is retracted. This tape deflection continues until the tape tension force exceeds the adhesion force, at which point the tape abruptly releases and snaps back to its centered position.
The tape deflection and sudden release of the tape is undesirable because the polishing tape contains an alumina particle composite binder as well as other particles that have been removed from the disk. The vibration of the tape in close proximity to the disk may therefore detach abrasive particles from the tape into the air during manufacturing potentially scratching the disks. Accordingly, there exists a need to polish magnetic disks in a manner that substantially reduces disk asperities while preventing tape deflection during the polishing process.
A polishing system and associated methods are described for polishing a magnetic disk used in a disk drive system. In one embodiment, a polishing system includes a polishing film operable to contact a surface of the magnetic disk. The polishing film includes an abrasive material operable to polish asperities from the magnetic disk. The polishing system also includes an actuator operable to move the polishing film across the surface of the magnetic disk to polish the asperities from the magnetic disk and a polishing pad configured from a thermoplastic elastomer and may contain a “slip agent”. The polishing pad includes one or more protrusions extending from a surface of the polishing pad to contact the polishing film and press the polishing film against the surface of the magnetic disk. The one or more protrusions are operable to compress to about the surface of the polishing pad when pressing the polishing film against the surface of the magnetic disk. The one or more protrusions may be operable to extend from the surface of the polishing pad when the polishing pad is removed from contact with the polishing film. For example, the one or more protrusions may extend from the surface of the polishing pad at least about 100 microns. In this regard, the polishing pad may have an adhesion force with the polishing film of less than about 100 milligrams. Generally, an adhesion force as used herein refers to the mass times gravity value required to break the bond between the polishing tape and the polishing pad when the polishing pad is withdrawn from polishing tape. The system may also include a mounting bracket operable to retain the one or more protrusions of the polishing pad in a compressed position during polishing.
In another embodiment, a system is operable to polish a magnetic disk and includes a polishing film operable to contact a surface of the magnetic disk. The polishing film includes an abrasive material operable to polish the magnetic disk and an actuator operable to move the polishing film across the surface of the magnetic disk to polish the magnetic disk. The system also includes a polishing pad that comprises at least one protrusion extending from a surface of the polishing pad to contact the polishing film and press the polishing film against the magnetic disk. The protrusion is operable to compress to about the surface of the polishing pad when in contact with the polishing film.
In another embodiment, a method of polishing a magnetic disk includes retaining the magnetic disk with a mount, positioning a polishing tape proximate to the magnetic disk. The polishing tape includes an abrasive material operable to polish asperities from a surface of the magnetic disk. The method also includes positioning a polishing pad proximate to the polishing tape. The polishing pad includes one or more protrusions extending from a surface of the polishing pad. The method also includes pressing the polishing tape against a surface of the magnetic disk via the one or more protrusions of the polishing pad and moving the polishing tape about the surface of the magnetic disk to polish the magnetic disk.
The same reference number represents the same element or same type of element on all drawings.
The invention may include other exemplary embodiments described below.
The system 10 applies pressure to the polishing tapes 50 such that the tapes 50 are brought into contact with the corresponding surfaces of the magnetic disk 11, which is kept rotating. The system 10 thus removes asperities from both sides of the magnetic disk 11 at the same time. For example, when the polishing tape 50 contacts the magnetic disk 11 and the desired pressure is reached, the polishing tape 50 is moved radially from an inner periphery to an outer periphery of the magnetic disk 11. Thus, the entire recording surfaces of the magnetic disk 11 are polished.
The contact pressure of the polishing tape 50 on the magnetic disk 11 surface is controlled by the pressure mechanism that presses the polishing pad 37 against the disk surface at the desired pressure. A base portion, on which the polishing pad 37 is mounted, serves as a strain gage sensor 38. The pressure control is a feedback system. For example, when the polishing pad 37 contacts the magnetic disk 11 via the polishing tape 50, a stress strain is produced in the strain gage sensor 38. A strain output caused by the stress strain is given as a voltage signal to an amplifier 41. The voltage signal is then converted to a corresponding pressure value. A command is then issued to a servomotor so as to maintain the desired pressure. The servomotor may then drive a pressure base portion 40 by way of a ball screw.
To stabilize the pressing force, the strain gage sensor 38 is mounted on a slide mechanism 39 with a low coefficient of friction. At the completion of the polishing sequence, that is, when the tape has left the disk surface on the outer periphery thereof, the polishing tape 50 is fed a distance equivalent to or more than the length of the pad in a longitudinal direction of the tape for each disk.
The polishing film 101 includes a mild abrasive that is used to remove these asperities by carefully moving the film across the surface of the magnetic disk 106. The polishing system 101 may be configured with a mechanism that actuates motion of the tape along the surface of the magnetic disk 106. For example, the polishing system 102 may include rollers 102 and 104 mechanically coupled to an actuator 107 that pulls the polishing film 101 across the rollers 102 and 104. The magnetic disk 106 is positioned proximate to the rollers 102 and 104 such that the polishing film 101 may be applied to the magnetic disk 106.
The polishing film 101 is applied to the magnetic disk 106 by way of a polishing pad 103 that presses the polishing film 101 against the surface of the magnetic disk 106. For example, the polishing pad 103 may apply a certain amount of pressure against the back of the polishing film 101 that forces the polishing film 101 against the surface of the magnetic disk 106. The polishing film 101 is then moved via the actuator 107 along the rollers 102 against the magnetic disk 106. The combination of the pressure from the polishing pad 103 and the abrasive material of the polishing film 101 serves to polish the asperities from the surface of the magnetic disk 106.
As previously mentioned, the polishing process is delicate. A foam pad with a higher lost tangent was used to polish magnetic disks in the past. The pressure that is applied by the pad 103 is substantial enough to reduce the asperities in the magnetic disk 106 yet gentle enough to prevent scratching of the surface of the magnetic disk 106. Previous techniques included the use of a smooth thermoplastic elastomer pad that was pressed against the back of the polishing film 101. The smooth pad was effective at removing the asperities. However, the smooth pad would adhere to the back of the polishing film 101 at the end of the polishing process when the pad was retracted from the polishing film. This adhesion of the pad 103 to the polishing film 101 could be as high as 5 g and tended to pull the polishing film 101 away from the surface of the magnetic disk 106 causing the polishing film 101 to snap back when the tension in the film became larger than the adhesion force between the polishing film and the pad. In some cases, this tape deflection could be as high as 650 μm. Again, this “snapping back” of the polishing film 101 released abrasive particles from the polishing film as well as burnished particles from the magnetic disk 106. These loose particles can damage the surface of the magnetic disk 106. For example, when polishing a magnetic disk for use in a disk drive, the magnetic disk is polished in a clean room environment so as to prevent loose particles from scratching the processed disk. A scratched disk may interfere with a read/write head making the disk inoperable.
The polishing system 100 overcomes the previous deficiencies by providing a pad 103 that includes one or more protrusions 105 extending from a surface 108 of the pad 103. These protrusions 105 reduce the adhesion force between the pad 103 and the polishing film 101. In one embodiment, the pad 103 reduces the adhesion force to below about 20 mg causing a taped deflection of only about 50 μm, thereby reducing the tape deflection by as much as 600 μm.
To achieve this substantial reduction in the adhesion force between the pad 103 and the polishing film 101, the pad and the protrusions 105 thereof may be configured from a relatively soft elastomeric polymer having a Shore A hardness in a range of about 1 to 10. For example, the pad 103 may be an injected molded TPE such as Kraton, Dynaflex, and Versaflex produced by GLS Corporation of McHenry, Ill. Such a material may provide a certain level of compression that is used to assist in the release of the protrusion from the polishing film 101 as illustrated in
These protrusions 201, as they extend from the surface 203 when the pad 200 is retracted from the polishing film 101, reduce the adhesion force between the pad 200 and polishing film 101. As mentioned, an adhesion force generally arises from dispersive adhesion stress, or force per unit area, between the pad 200 and the polishing film 101. The total adhesion force may be decreased if the surface area of the pad 200 in contact with the polishing film 101 is decreased when the pad 200 is retracted from the film 101.
Also, the pad 200 applies a relatively uniform pressure against the film 101 to maintain an even polishing of the magnetic disk 106 and, in this regard, “track” the “waviness” of the magnetic disk 106. For example, the magnetic disk 106 is typically not perfectly smooth upon fabrication. The surface topography of the pad 200, therefore, should not be dramatically altered so as to maintain intimate contact with the magnetic disk 106 during polishing. The pad 200, configured from one or more of the materials above, compensates for this waviness of the magnetic disk 106 by remaining in intimate contact with the magnetic disk (i.e. via the polishing film 101) to ensure that the magnetic disk 106 is well polished.
The protrusions 201 may be configured of a height y with an effective spring length l. The compressive strain i-s then y/l and the spring recovery stress is therefore (y/l)E, where E is Young's modulus of the pad material, for example 23 kPa. The adhesion stress of the surface 203 of the pad 200 surrounding the protrusions 201 is σ, which is about 2.4 kPa measured on a smooth pad surface. Thus, the equation for the protrusions 201 to release the surrounding flat area from the polishing film 101 is (y/l)E>(1−f)σ, where f is the surface area fraction formed by the protrusions. The effective spring length of the protrusions can then be calculated as l=yE/((1−f)σ). The adhesion force for protrusions 201 configured in square shapes of about 100 μm by 100 μm and spaced about 50 μm apart was empirically determined to be about 500 mg as shown in
Generally, it is desirable to reduce the adhesion force below about 400 mg. This may be achieved by decreasing the surface area on top of the protrusions 201 and configuring the protrusions farther apart, keeping in mind that the protrusion height y should be greater than l(1−f)σ/E. Various pad configurations 500-800 of such are shown in
Using Dynaflex G6703 injection molded with about 0.2% Armoslip E, the protrusion height y may be about 100 μm. The adhesion force, in this regard, generally scales with the residual surface area fractions f=x2/(x+w)2 of the protrusions 201, where x is the protrusion length and w is the width of the space between the protrusions in a uniform grid pattern. An example of this adhesion force scaling is illustrated in
Although shown and described for the most part with respect to square protrusions, the invention is not intended to be so limited. Rather, other surface area shapes, such as rectangles, triangles, and circles, may be implemented for the protrusions. In fact, a reduced surface area fraction for the protrusions generally reduces the adhesion force. Accordingly, pyramidal and conical shapes extending from the surface of the pad may improve the adhesion force reduction. Moreover, a “rounding” of the square profile design of the protrusions may occur during the injection molding process. The rounding deformation is probably caused by partial recovery of a polymer chain deformation that is “frozen-in” when the molten polymer cools while flowing into the protrusion cavities of a mold.
In
The polishing process concludes after a certain number of passes required to remove the asperities from the magnetic disk 106 (e.g., process element 1505). When completed, the polishing system 100 retracts the polishing pad 103 from the polishing film 101 in the process element 1506. The protrusions extending from the polishing pad 103 reduce a surface area adhesion between the pad 103 and the polishing film 101. For example, when the polishing system 100 removes pressure from the pad 103 against the polishing film 101, the protrusions tend to spring out from a surface of the pad 103 and essentially break the adhesion force between the polishing film 101 and the pad 103. As mentioned above, the protrusions may be configured in a variety of shapes and spacings to reduce the adhesion force and thus the deflection of the polishing film 101. This reduced deflection assists in preventing dispersion of particles that may potentially damage the magnetic disk 106.
Although specific embodiments were described herein, the scope of the invention is not limited to those specific embodiments. The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims and any equivalents thereof.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3787273 | Okrepkie et al. | Jan 1974 | A |
| 4412400 | Hammond | Nov 1983 | A |
| 4656790 | Mukai et al. | Apr 1987 | A |
| 4930259 | Kobylenski et al. | Jun 1990 | A |
| 5209027 | Ishida et al. | May 1993 | A |
| 5643044 | Lund | Jul 1997 | A |
| 5733181 | Hasegawa et al. | Mar 1998 | A |
| 6036579 | Cook et al. | Mar 2000 | A |
| 6074284 | Tani et al. | Jun 2000 | A |
| 6086986 | Suzuki et al. | Jul 2000 | A |
| 6155914 | Reynen et al. | Dec 2000 | A |
| 6193590 | Weiss et al. | Feb 2001 | B1 |
| 6332832 | Suzuki | Dec 2001 | B1 |
| 6402596 | Hakomori et al. | Jun 2002 | B1 |
| 6592435 | Kishima | Jul 2003 | B2 |
| 6648733 | Roberts et al. | Nov 2003 | B2 |
| 6705927 | Horie et al. | Mar 2004 | B2 |
| 6761620 | Naujok | Jul 2004 | B2 |
| 6777498 | Imai et al. | Aug 2004 | B2 |
| 6848974 | Hasegawa | Feb 2005 | B2 |
| 6884156 | Prasad | Apr 2005 | B2 |
| 6893329 | Tajima et al. | May 2005 | B2 |
| 6913517 | Prasad | Jul 2005 | B2 |
| 6964604 | Chen et al. | Nov 2005 | B2 |
| 20020187732 | Moore | Dec 2002 | A1 |
| 20050032468 | Hunt et al. | Feb 2005 | A1 |
| 20050197050 | Prasad et al. | Sep 2005 | A1 |
| 20050287932 | Basol et al. | Dec 2005 | A1 |
| 20060088735 | Endou et al. | Apr 2006 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 927 605 | Apr 2008 | EP |
| 2000 263423 | Sep 2000 | JP |
| 2001047355 | Feb 2001 | JP |
| 2001067655 | Mar 2001 | JP |
| 2001261874 | Sep 2001 | JP |
| 2002124491 | Apr 2002 | JP |
| 2002178255 | Jun 2002 | JP |
| 2006142439 | Jun 2006 | JP |
| 2006142440 | Jun 2006 | JP |
| 2006339570 | Dec 2006 | JP |
| 2007326984 | Dec 2007 | JP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20100233940 A1 | Sep 2010 | US |
