Non-Contact Surface Profilometer for Tribology Research

该奖项资助了一种非接触式轮廓仪，用于正在进行的研究用于磁信息存储的氧化物涂层磁盘上的固体润滑膜的磨损行为。这些润滑膜可防止磁头在启动或断电过程中发生“碰撞”和随之而来的信息丢失。由于它们在硬盘使用期间不能被补充，因此它们的磨损行为对磁盘的整体性能至关重要；由于它们非常薄且容易变形，因此最容易使用高分辨率、非接触式光学轮廓仪来研究它们的磨损行为，例如该基金资助的仪器。

The award funds a non-contacting profilometer to be used in on-going research on the wear behavior of solid lubricant films on oxide coated disks used for magnetic information storage. These lubricant films prevent head "crashes" and consequent information loss during start-up or power loss. Since they cannot be replenished during the life of the hard disk their wear behavior is critical to the over-all performance of the disk; and since they are extremely thin and easily deformed their wear behavior is most readily studied using a high-resolution, non-contacting optical profilometer such as the instrument funded under this grant.