Abstract
The head flyability over a disk coated with the diamond like carbon (DLC) CH_x by the hot filament plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (HF-PECVD) was studied. The flyability was evaluated by measuring acoustic emission (AE) signals using a head attached a piezo transducer (PZT). Particularly, the noise level of AE signals during the head flying was focused, and it is called as the glide noise. As the results, the glide noise was changed by film characteristics of the DLC overcoat. The DLC overcoat was analyzed to clarify the difference of the glide noise using several analysis methods. From the analysis results of the DLC overcoat, it was found that the glide noise was changed by the hydrogen content in the DLC overcoat and the amount of the organic hydrocarbon onto the overcoat surface. It is important to control the hydrogen content in the DLC overcoat to keep the glide noise lower.
