A thin-film piezoelectric impact sensor array fabricated on a Si slider for measuring head-disk interaction

A new type of acoustic emission sensor using a thin film piezoelectric material (sputtered ZnO) was developed for measuring head-disk interaction in a rigid magnetic disk system. The sensor is mounted on a Si slider (length: 3 mm) and was fabricated using micro-machining techniques in our on-going efforts to downsize sliders. Some fundamental tests of the sensor were conducted: sensitivity and frequency characteristics, and a flying test over a rotating bump disk.