A slider comprises an air bearing surface having a leading edge at a first end of the air bearing surface; a trailing edge at a second end of the air bearing surface, wherein the first end is opposite to the second end; a first region adjacent to the trailing edge, wherein the first region comprises one or more transducer elements; and a second region adjacent to the first region and the leading edge. The air bearing surface has a protective overcoat layer as an outermost layer, wherein the protective overcoat layer extends across the entire air bearing surface. The air bearing surface comprises a lapped surface and a plurality of milled surfaces, wherein a surface potential difference between the lapped surface and a milled surface is 0+/−50 milliVolts or less as measured according to Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy (KPFM).

The present disclosure relates to kiss lapping sliders after patterning an air bearing surface pattern, followed by applying a protective overcoat to the air bearing surface. The present disclosure also involves related sliders.

A method of restoring a suspension of a hard disk drive includes detaching a slider, which is mounted on a tongue portion of the suspension via an adhesive, from the suspension, measuring a thickness of the adhesive in a cleaning area of the tongue portion, specifying a first residual area in which the thickness of the adhesive exceeds a threshold value, irradiating a first irradiation area including the first residual area locally with a first laser beam, and irradiating the cleaning area entirely with a second laser beam.

The present disclosure relates to kiss lapping sliders after patterning an air bearing surface pattern, followed by applying a protective overcoat to the air bearing surface. The present disclosure also involves related sliders.

The present disclosure includes methods of forming air bearing surfaces having multi-tier structures using nanoimprint technology and/or 3D printing technology. In some embodiments, a single stage of milling can be used to transfer a multi-tier photoresist pattern into a substrate (e.g., an AlTiC substrate).

A magnetoresistive (MR) sensor shield shields against both down track and cross-track interference and is formed in a single deposition step. A tail portion of the shield is eliminated by including a non-magnetic material adjacent to opposite sides of a middle portion of the sensor stack.

The present disclosure includes methods of forming air bearing surfaces having multi-tier structures using nanoimprint technology and/or 3D printing technology. In some embodiments, a single stage of milling can be used to transfer a multi-tier photoresist pattern into a substrate (e.g., an AlTiC substrate).

A method of restoring a suspension of a hard disk drive includes detaching a slider, which is mounted on a tongue portion of the suspension via an adhesive, from the suspension, measuring a thickness of the adhesive in a cleaning area of the tongue portion, specifying a first residual area in which the thickness of the adhesive exceeds a threshold value, irradiating a first irradiation area including the first residual area locally with a first laser beam, and irradiating the cleaning area entirely with a second laser beam.

The present disclosure includes methods of forming air bearing surfaces having multi-tier structures using nanoimprint technology and/or 3D printing technology. In some embodiments, a single stage of milling can be used to transfer a multi-tier photoresist pattern into a substrate (e.g., an AlTiC substrate).

A perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) writer is configured to magnetically record data on a rotatable disk surface. The PMR writer including a pole tip, side shields, an air-bearing surface (ABS) region, a yoke region comprising Silicon Dioxide (SiO2), side gaps and a plurality of throat regions. The side gaps are arranged respectively between the pole tip and the side shields and include SiO2. A side gap width of the plurality of throat regions increases with a side shield throat height above the ABS region for each of the throat regions. The side gap width has a different width variation in each of the throat regions.