Air-bearing surface (ABS) design with side flow blocker for mitigating lube and hydrocarbon accumulation in hard disk drives (HDD)

A method to reduce surface damage to a disk or head-disk interference HDI during hard disk drive (HDD) operation, the method comprising:

• providing a slider-mounted read/write transducer for a hard-disk drive (HDD) comprising:
• a slider body having an ABS (air bearing surface) bounded by a leading edge, a trailing edge and side edges and a surface topology for creating aerodynamic stability during said HDD operation;
• a transverse air-carrying groove, perpendicular to said side edges, having an opening in each side edge;
• a vertical air-flow groove on each side edge;
• a side flow blocker (SFB) embedded in each vertical air-flow groove,
• said side-flow blocker extending upward so that an uppermost portion partially blocks an inlet opening into said transverse air-flow groove;
• whereby
• airflow into said transverse air-flow groove is restricted and airflow patterns within ABS topology of said slider are disrupted and regions of airflow stagnation and consequent lubricant and particulate accumulation is mitigated and surface damage to an operational recording disk is reduced or eliminated.