New blends of complex lubricants have recently been introduced to help meet the increasing tribological demands being placed on the head-disk interface in hard-disk drives. A20H (Moresco), a hybrid molecule consisting of a perfluoropolyether (PFPE) lubricant (Z-Dol) and cyclic phosphazene (X1P), is one such lubricant used in combination with a simple PFPE (e.g., Z-Dol). This paper describes an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) method to simultaneously measure the thickness of each lubricant component, as well as the carbon layer thickness, via reference to the magnetic layer.

Overcoat thickness is continuously being decreased to achieve higher areal density in magnetic media. The mechanical integrity of thin carbon films (∼30 Å) must be robust enough to act as an effective protection against wear and corrosion. Presently, technologies such as ion beam deposition and plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition are replacing sputtering to produce overcoats. Ion beam carbon (IBC) technology produces ultrathin durable and corrosion resistant overcoats. In the IBC process, a hydrocarbon (CxHy) gas is used as a precursor. In this article, we report the results of our work to study the effect of hydrocarbon precursors on the properties of the overcoat produced. Different precursors such as: ethane (C2H6), ethylene (C2H4), acetylene (C2H2), and a mixture of ethylene and acetylene were used for ion-beam carbon deposition. Hydrogen content in the carbon film varied depending upon the precursor used, which subsequently affected the overcoat hardness, resistivity, and lubricant–carbon interaction, which in turn influenced the head–media interaction.

Sputtered carbon/Ni/sub x/Si/sub y/ overcoats as thin as 50 /spl Aring/ are shown to be effective at providing both wear and corrosion resistance for magnetic hard disks. This paper will explore, through the results of an XPS study of the carbon/Ni/sub x/Si/sub y/ interface, the mechanism of how Ni/sub x/Si/sub y/ provides improved reliability.