Asymmetric DC-magnetron sputtered carbon-nitrogen thin-film overcoat for rigid-disk applications

An asymmetric DC-magnetron sputtering technique was evaluated to deposit carbon-nitrogen (C:N) overcoats for rigid-disk applications. The tribological characteristics of very thin C:N overcoats (/spl sim/100 /spl Aring/) were investigated by using thin-film flying inductive heads, Tripad-proximity r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE transactions on magnetics 1996-09, Vol.32 (5), p.3774-3776
Main Authors: Lal, B.B., Yang, M.M., Chao, J., Russak, M.A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amorphous magnetic materials
Cascading style sheets
Cathodes
Internal stresses
Magnetic films
Magnetic heads
Nitrogen
Optical films
Sputtering
Testing
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Summary:An asymmetric DC-magnetron sputtering technique was evaluated to deposit carbon-nitrogen (C:N) overcoats for rigid-disk applications. The tribological characteristics of very thin C:N overcoats (/spl sim/100 /spl Aring/) were investigated by using thin-film flying inductive heads, Tripad-proximity recording heads, and carbon-coated magneto-resistive (MR)-heads in different test environments. Comparison of >20 K contact start-stop (CSS) test cycles showed superior stiction and durability performance for the asymmetric DC-magnetron sputtered (asym-C:N) films compared to standard symmetric DC-magnetron sputtered (sym-C:N) films. After CSS testing, no visible wear marks and/or head-build up were observed. Comparison of stress and hardness data showed a reduction of internal stress without noticeable change in hardness for asym-C:N films. Also, elemental analysis showed higher nitrogen content in asym-C:N films. In addition, Raman spectroscopy data suggest that the asym-C:N films have higher sp/sup 3/ content than that of sym-C:N films, which can contribute to greater durability.
ISSN:0018-9464
1941-0069
DOI:10.1109/20.538832