随着硬盘(HDDs)面记录密度的增加,读写数据时磁头的飞行高度不断降低。磁头与磁片表面液体润滑膜的接触,会在表面形成半月板,或润滑剂回升,造成润滑剂转移。观测液体润滑膜的转移过程以及其在磁头上的动态变化特性,是研究润滑剂性能的重要方面。改进基于垂直物镜的椭圆偏振显微镜(VEM),提出一种旋转起偏器的方法获得膜厚与被测光强的线性关系,实现磁头表面润滑膜动态观察,并对现有显微镜尤其是照明系统进行改进。实验以非极性全氟聚醚(PFPE)润滑剂Z03覆盖的磁头为样品对椭圆偏振显微镜进行标定。以极性PFPE润滑剂Zdol4000作为样品,对其在磁头表面的去湿现象进行观察。结果证明显微镜横向分辨力约0.36 μm。该方法可用于纳米级液体薄膜的可视化观测。

As the recording density increasing in hard disk drives (HDDs), the head disk interface (HDI) spacing is decreasing during its operation of reading and writing. The meniscus is formed or the lubricant picks up when the head slider contacts with the liquid lubricant film on the disk surface, which makes the lubricant to transfer. Therefore, the transfer process of observing lubricant film and its dynamic change characteristics on the head are important aspects for studying the performance of lubricant. A vertical-objective-based ellipsometric microscope (VEM) is developed. The linear relationship between the thickness and the light intensity is obtained by phase shift of polarizer, which realizes the dynamic visualization of lubricant film on the surface of the head. The present microscope and illumination system are improved. In the experiment, the nonpolar perfluoropolyether(PFPE) lubricant Z03 is applied on the head to calibrate the ellipsometric microscope. The polar PFPE lubricant Zdol4000 is applied as the sample. Its dewetting phenomenon on the surface of the head is observed. The result shows that the lateral resolution of the microscope is 0.36 μm. The proposed method can be used for the visual observation of the nanometer-thick lubricant films.