A PMR (perpendicular magnetic recording) write head is configured for measurements at the slider level and wafer-level processing stages that will allow a determination of the pole width at a position A (PWA) using the results of a resistance measurement between a main pole (MP) and surrounding write shields (WS) with a layer of conductor in the write gap and a layer of insulating material replacing the side gaps. Knowledge of an accurate value of PWA allows adjustments to be made in the processing of sliders on each rowbar which, in turn improves the capability of delivering the desired statistical variation (sigma) in the distribution of erasure widths for AC signals (EWACS) in a given design which, in turn, gives better overall performance in hard disk drive (HDD) applications.

According to one embodiment, a suspension assembly includes a support plate and a lift tab extending in a first direction. The lift tab has an arc-shaped cross section, and includes an arc-shaped outer circumferential surface, an arc-shaped inner circumferential surface, a first upper end surface located between one arc ends of the outer and inner circumferential surfaces, and a second upper end surface located between other arc ends of the outer and inner circumferential surfaces of the inner circumferential surface, and a first angle made between the outer circumferential surface and the first upper end surface is less than a second angle made between the inner circumferential surface and the first upper end surface.

A lubricant including a plurality of segments including a divalent center segment and two sidechain segments, each including a perfluoroalkyl ether moieties is provided in which a dewetting thickness of the lubricant may be determined based in-part on a segment weight average molecular weight of the segments. A magnetic recording medium and a magnetic data storage system including the lubricant are also provided.

A gimbal assembly includes a flex circuit with a first end extending along a loadbeam and second end having bond pads configured to be electrically coupled to a slider. The gimbal assembly includes a metallic layer with a fixed portion fixably attached to the loadbeam and a movable portion fixably attachable to the slider. The movable portion has at least one extension arm coupled to and providing support to the second end of the flex circuit. First and second linear actuators are coupled between the fixed portion and the movable portion. The first and second linear actuators cause a rotation of the slider in response to an electric signal.

Various embodiments concern a method of attaching a microactuator to a flexure, depositing a wet mass of structural adhesive on the flexure, mounting the microactuator on the wet mass of structural adhesive, partially curing the mass of structural adhesive through a first application of curing energy, and depositing a mass of conductive adhesive on the flexure. The mass of conductive adhesive is deposited in contact with the mass of structural adhesive. The state of partial curing of the structural adhesive prevents the conductive adhesive from wicking between the flexure and the underside of the microactuator and displacing the structural adhesive which may otherwise result in shorting to a stainless steel layer of the flexure. The method further comprises fully curing the mass of structural adhesive and the conductive adhesive through a second application of curing energy.

A gimbal assembly of a single or dual stage actuator is provided with gold at a tongue/dimple interface where a dimple of a supporting loadbeam contacts a tongue on the gimbal assembly. Using gold at the tongue/dimple interface greatly reduces the amount of wear particles formed during assembly and operation of the microactuator. The tongue may include a gold coating on the tongue at the tongue/dimple interface, or the tongue may have a hole etched in a stainless steel layer at the tongue/dimple interface to expose a gold layer disposed below the stainless steel layer. The tongue portion of the tongue/dimple interface may also be formed from a gold-coated copper pad with a polymer coating over the gold.

A disk-drive suspension includes a load beam, a flexure laid on top of the load beam, a first terminal provided on the flexure, and a first bump arranged on a top surface of the first terminal. The first terminal includes a narrow part having a first width in a first direction and including a center of the first terminal, and a wide part having a second width in the first direction greater than the first width. The wide part and the narrow part are arranged in a second direction intersecting the first direction. The first bump has, at the center, a first height from a bottom surface of the first terminal. The first height is greater than the first width.

A slider of a magnetic recording head comprises a media-facing surface, an upper surface opposing the media-facing surface, a leading edge, and a trailing edge. A plurality of electrical bond pads is disposed in a spaced-apart relationship on the trailing edge of the slider. An interconnect interposer is connected to the trailing edge of the slider. The interposer comprises a back side comprising a plurality of electrical contacts in contact with the plurality of bond pads on the trailing edge of the slider. The interposer also comprises a front side comprising a plurality of electrical interposer pads corresponding in number to the plurality of electrical contacts on the back side. The interposer further comprises a plurality of conductors each of which electrically couples one of the plurality of electrical contacts on the back side with one of the plurality of interposer pads on the front side.

A method for fabricating an improved magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) structure is described. A bottom electrode is provided on a substrate. A MTJ stack is deposited on the bottom electrode. A top electrode is deposited on the MTJ stack. A first stress modulating layer is deposited between the bottom electrode and the MTJ stack, or a second stress modulating layer is deposited between the MTJ stack and the top electrode, or both a first stress modulating layer is deposited between the bottom electrode and the MTJ stack and a second stress modulating layer is deposited between the MTJ stack and the top electrode. The top electrode and MTJ stack are patterned and etched to form a MTJ device. The stress modulating layers reduce crystal growth defects and interfacial defects during annealing and improve the interface lattice epitaxy. This will improve device performance.

According to one embodiment, a suspension assembly includes a support plate, a wiring member on the support plate, and a magnetic head mounted on the wiring member. The magnetic head includes a head slider and connection pads provided at an outflow end of the head slider and electrically connected to the wiring lines. The wiring member includes a head installation region in which the magnetic head is mounted, and an etched region which is at least partly located in the head installation region and is opposed to an end portion of the head slider at the inflow end thereof to form a gap between the end portion and the etched region.