IUVSTA 15th International Vacuum Congress (IVC-15), AVS 48th International Symposium (AVS-48), 11th International Conference on Solid Surfaces (ICSS-11)
    Magnetic Recording Topical Conference Wednesday Sessions
       Session MR+MI+AS+SE-WeM

Invited Paper MR+MI+AS+SE-WeM6
Tribological Implications of the Confinement in PFPE Boundary Lubricant Films

Wednesday, October 31, 2001, 10:00 am, Room 110

Session: Magnetic Recording: Tribology & Integration
Presenter: G.W. Tyndall, IBM Almaden Research Center
Correspondent: Click to Email

Perfluoropolyether (PFPE) films of nominally 1.0 - 2.5 nm are commonly utilized by the magnetic recording industry to lubricate the head/disk interface in hard-disk drives. In this film thickness regime, the surface of the magnetic recording disk will "energetically confine" the lubricant. This confinement is manifested in physical and mechanical properties of the PFPE lubricant that differ substantially from those of the bulk fluid. In the current talk, the experimental evidence for confinement in the PFPE/carbon system will be reviewed, and the implications to the tribology of the head-disk interface discussed.