Devices and methods of detecting movement between media and probe tip in a probe data storage system

A system for storing information, comprising:

• a media;
• at least one tip adapted to write information and read information on said media;
• a media movement mechanism attached to said media and configured to move said media in response to media control signals;
• and
• a capacitive comb array including:
• a fixed comb including fingers and a moving comb including fingers operably connected with the media the fingers of the fixed comb interleaved between the fingers of the moving comb;
• and
• capacitive outputs adapted to allow a measurement of capacitance carried by said capacitive comb array.

A method of determining relative movement of a tip and a media on which information is stored in a storage device, the method comprising:

• operatively associating a fixed comb of a capacitive sensor with static portion of the storage device;
• operatively associating a moving comb of the capacitive sensor with a moving portion of the storage device;
• determining relative movement of the fixed comb and the moving comb based at least in part on a change in capacitance between said fixed and moving combs;
• determining relative movement of the tip and the media based on the relative movement of the fixed comb and the moving comb.

A system for storing information, comprising:

• a media;
• a tip adapted to electrically communicate with said media;
• a movement mechanism configured to move one of the media and the tip in response to control signals;
• and
• a capacitive sensor configured to detect an amount of relative movement of said media and said tip, the capacitive sensor including:
• a fixed member,
• a moving member, at least of a portion of the moving member overlapping the fixed member;
• and
• an electrical path connected to said fixed member and an electrical path connected to said moving member;
• wherein relative movement is determined at least in part on a change in capacitance between said fixed and moving members of said capacitive sensor.