Method of laser polishing surfaces on a head suspension assembly
AssigneeHutchinson Technology Incorporated
InventorsFredrick V. Hayen, Nathan M. Kinkaid, Mark R. Christianson, Hryhory T. Koba
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Abstract
A method of treating an operative surface on a head suspension with laser energy. A laser beam is patterned such that a single pulse extends across the entire operative surface. One or more pulses of the laser energy is applied to the operative surface sufficient to melt the operative surface. The melting serves to polish, smooth and/or reshape the operative surface.
Claims30
A method of treating an operative surface on a head suspension for a rigid disk drive, the head suspension including a load beam with a mounting region at a proximal end, a rigid region at a distal end and a spring region between the mounting region and the rigid region, the method comprising the steps of
- patterning a laser beam such that a single pulse extends across the entire operative surface;
- and
- applying one or more pulses of the laser energy sufficient to laser treat the operative surface.
A method of treating an operative surface of a head suspension assembly, comprising the steps of simultaneously applying pulsed laser energy to a region that extends across at least the operative surface of the lift tab sufficient to melt the operative surface to a depth of about 0.5 micrometers until the operative surface has an Ra surface roughness of about 120 nanometers or less.
A method of treating a load point dimple on a head suspension for a rigid disk drive, the head suspension having a load beam with a mounting region, a rigid region and a spring region located between the mounting region and rigid region, the load beam having a flexure, the method comprising the steps of:
- creating a load point dimple on the load beam;
- and
- patterning a laser beam such that a single pulse of laser energy extends across an entire operative surface on the load point dimple;
- and
- applying one or more pulses of the laser energy to the operative surface of the load point dimple sufficient to melt the operative surface.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.