An active head slider using a piezoelectric cantilever for in situ flying-height control

This paper describes design and fabrication of active head sliders using PZT thin films for in situ flying-height control. Silicon sliders with piezoelectric unimorph cantilevers were fabricated monolithically using micromachining process. The deflection of 70 nm was obtained at the tip of the 0.6-mm-long cantilever with a drive voltage of 4 V. Furthermore, an air-bearing surface design that makes it possible to reduce the aerodynamic lift force under the head is discussed. Index Terms--Hard disks, microactuators, microelecto-mechanical devices, piezoelectric films.