Study of Siloxane Adsorption on Hard Disk Media Surface.

Siloxane adsorption on disk surfaces is investigated as a function of lubricant film thickness and carbon film composition through several analytical technologies including FTIR, XPS, TOF-SIMS, GC-MS, and Candela OSA. Disk parameters that govern the propensity for siloxane adsorption are identified. Lubricant film coverage, taken as the fractional monolayer thickness, is found to be the most significant determinant.

Infrared spectroscopic analysis of sub-monolayer perfluoropolyether Z-Tetraol films used in boundary lubrication.

Infrared specular reflection spectra of Z-Tetraol on a gold substrate was simulated and studied experimentally. The simulated spectra were obtained using a classical dispersion analysis coupled with solutions of Maxwell's equations for transmission and reflection of electromagnetic radiation. The simulated spectra, which are based on a randomly oriented sample, provide excellent fits for Z-Tetraol over a wide film thickness range.

Mechanism of ultraviolet bonding of perfluoropolyethers revisited.

The mechanism of ultraviolet (UV) bonding of perfluoropolyether (PFPE) boundary lubricants on magnetic disk surfaces is re-examined experimentally. It is found that UV-emitted photoelectrons may contribute a negligible part, and instead the UV bonding correlates with the direct photodissociation of PFPE molecules. The UV-induced photodissociation is demonstrated to occur almost randomly on the PFPE molecular chain.