Thin Film Thermocouple Sensors for Measurement of Contact Temperatures During Slider Asperity Interaction on Magnetic Recording Disks

Thin film thermocouple sensors have been fabricated on a magnetic recording slider. Both sensor and the reference junctions are located on the air bearing surface of the slider. The effective size of the junctions is 4 µm and response time is faster than 0.5 μsec. The sensitivity of these thermocouples is measured to be 7 µV/°C. The thermocouple signals obtained at the slider asperity contacts show temperature rise of 1 - 5°C. Incorporating the sensor dimensions and assuming asperities of 0.5 µm width, we estimate the actual temperatures to be in the range of 90 - 450°C. © 1992 IEEE