Slider air bearing design and method providing writing of a laser field (WOLF) measurement without substantial fly height affect

A disk drive, comprising:

• at least one rotating disk;
• a recording medium, disposed on the at least one rotating disk, the recording medium dragging air as the disk rotates and creating an air flow in parallel with a tangential velocity of the disk rotation;
• an actuator assembly disposed adjacent the at least one rotating disk for positioning a suspension assembly relative to the recording medium;
• and
• a slider disposed at a distal end of the suspension assembly for supporting a transducer above the rotating disk, the slider further comprising:
• a slider body having a surface with a leading edge, a trailing edge and first and second side edges;
• first and second front air bearings positioned at the leading edge of the slider body along the first and second side edges, the first and second front air bearings including first and second front pads and a height selected for a predetermined fly height and second stepped surface side rails having a height selected to be substantially equal to an ion-mill height;
• a rear pad extending from the trailing edge and located substantially centrally between said sides of said slider, the rear pad including stepped surfaces having a height selected to be substantially equal to an ion-mill height;
• a negative pressure cavity positioned in the center of the slider body between the side rails;
• and
• a center pad having a height selected to be substantially equal to an ion-mill height, the center pad having a good reflective area for writing of laser field slider curvature measurements while insubstantially affecting fly height, the center pad being positioned at the center of the slider within the negative pressure cavity.

A method of forming a slider, comprising;

• forming a slider body having a surface with a leading edge, a trailing edge and first and second side edges;
• forming first and second front air bearings at the leading edge of the slider body along the first and second side edges, the first and second front air bearings including first and second front pads and a height selected for a predetermined fly height and second stepped surface side rails having a height selected to be substantially equal to an ion-mill height;
• forming a rear pad extending from the trailing edge and located substantially centrally between said sides of said slider, the rear pad including stepped surfaces having a height selected to be substantially equal to an ion-mill height;
• forming a negative pressure cavity in the center of the slider body between the side rails;
• and
• forming a center pad having a height selected to be substantially equal to an ion-mill height, the center pad having a good reflective area for writing of laser field slider curvature measurements while insubstantially affecting fly height, the center pad being positioned at the center of the slider within the negative pressure cavity.