New method of detecting contact between floating-head and disk

Acoustic Emission (AE) technique is applied to the detection of slider-to-disk contact. The type of slider-to-disk contact is identified by detecting the AE caused by contact. Advantages of this method are simplicity of measurement and the ability to detect contact between slider and disk fabricated from any material. In addition, this method can be used to measure the projection height distribution over an entire disk surface, which is one of the most important factors governing the reliability of disk files.