Self-limiting wear contact pad slider and method for making the same

A method for forming a slider, comprising:

• forming a slider body having a first side, a second side, a leading edge and a trailing edge;
• using at least a first etching to form an air bearing structure on the slider body for providing a desired fly height, and
• using a last etching to form a non-actuatable, wearable pad on the air bearing structure at the trailing edge, the wearable pad being formed around a transducer and extending above the air bearing surface, the wearable pad having a surface area of less than 5% of a total air bearing surface area and a predetermined height selected to be greater than or equal to the desired fly height minus a disk roughness, wherein the wearable pad erodes during use to produce an interference of zero at the desired fly height.