Abstract:
This research paper presents a study to identify possible causes of the recording's head damage
during electromagnetic epoxy curing in the head gimbal assembly (HGA) process by using the
simulation and validating by the actual experiment. COMSOL Multiphysic is applied for the curing
process simulation in 2D and 3D to determine factors that influence the change in temperature and
the thermal distribution inside the oven as well as components' temperatures, in particular, a slider,
respectively. A K-type thermocouple that is regularly used as the slider temperature measurement
tool in the actual process and a temperature dot are applied to the experiment to measure the thermal
distribution and the direct slider temperature, respectively. The result from the 2D model shows
that the slider temperature is clearly influenced by the suspension thickness and the slider's
irradiation area. In the 3D simulation, the electromagnetic lamp is set to heat up the oven to 97+-2 C
that is the normal range of the operating temperature read by the oven's thermocouples. It is found
that the center of the carrier trailing edge that is aligned with the lamp center is warmer than other
carrier positions and the temperature distribution is fairly similar to that of the actual experiment.
The 3D simulation shows the slider temperature reaching its peak at approximately 160 C while the
direct slider measurement using the temperature dot reads the average temperature of 151+-2 C,
only 4.6%-6% difference. This direct measurement gives out at least 50?C higher than that of the
thermocouple. It can then be analyzed and concluded that material absorption and emission
characteristics that emerge as significant variables in the radiation heating are the probable cause of
the observed difference. If the thermocouple is still in use at higher curing temperature the real
slider temperature could easily exceed the blocking temperature of some read layers resulting in the
magnetic soft damage. The thermocouple measurement may thus not be the right tool for the
temperature measurement in the electromagnetic curing oven.