Optical Surface Analysis of the Head-Disk-Interface of Thin Film Disks

This paper describes the design, operation, theory, and data interpretation of an Optical Surface Analyzer (OSA). The OSA can measure carbon wear, lubricant depletion/accumulation, surface roughness, and lubricant alteration on carbon coated thin film disks. This device can measure an Angstrom of carbon wear or lubricant depletion/accumulation. The OSA can also measure debris generation and lubricant degradation through a measurement of optical index change. The lateral resolution of the OSA is approximately 5 by 10 microns and the bandwidth of the device is 2 MHz. The small device size allows it to be used within a test stand environment.