Since January 1990, when the first edition ofthis first-of-a-kind book
appeared, there has been much experimental and theoretical progress in
the multi- disciplinary subject of tribology and mechanics of magnetic
storage devices. The subject has matured into a rigorous discipline, and
many university tribology and mechanics courses now routinely contain
material on magnetic storage devices. The major growth in the subject
has been on the micro- and nanoscale aspects of tribology and mechanics.
Today, most large magnetic storage industries use atomic force
microscopes to image the magnetic storage components. Many companies use
variations of AFMs such as friction force microscopes (FFMs) for
frictional studies. These instruments have also been used for studying
scratch, wear, and indentation. These studies are valuable in the
fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena. In the second
edition, I have added a new chapter, Chapter 11, on micro- and nanoscale
aspects of tribology and mechanics of magnetic storage compo- nents.
This chapter presents the state of the art of the micro/nanotribology
and micro/nanomechanics of magnetic storage components. In addition,
typographical errors in Chapters 1 to 10 and the appendixes have been
corrected. These additions update this book and make it more valuable to
researchers of the subject. I am grateful to many colleagues and
particularly to my students, whose work is reported in Chapter 11. I
thank my wife, Sudha, who has been forbearing during the progress of the
research reported in this chapter.
