As magnetic computer disks are developed to ever-greater data storage densities, the accuracy
required for head positioning is moving beyond the accuracy provided by present technology using
single-stage voice-coil motors in hard disk drives. This thesis details work to develop a novel active
suspension arm with 2-dimensional actuation for use in advanced hard disk drives. The arm
developed is capable of high-bandwidth data tracking as well as precision head flying height control
motion. High-bandwidth data tracking is facilitated by the use of piezoelectric stack actuator,
positioned closer to the head.
The suspension arm is also capable of motion in the orthogonal axis. This motion represents active
flying height control to maintain the correct altitude during drive operation. To characterise the
suspension arm's structural dynamics, a high-resolution measurement system based on the optical
beam deflection technique has been developed. This has enabled the accurate measurement of
minute end-deflections of the suspension arm in 2-dimensions, to sub-nanometre resolution above
noise. The design process of the suspension arm has led into the development of novel
piezoelectric-actuated arms. In the work involving lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thick films as
actuators, work in this thesis shows that reinforcing the films with fibre improves the overall
actuation characteristics of the thick films. This discovery benefits applications such as structural
health monitoring.
The final suspension arm design has been adopted because it is simple in design, easier to integrate
within current hard disk drive environment and easier to fabricate in mass. Closed-loop control
algorithms based on proportional, integral and derivative (PID) controller techniques have been
developed and implemented to demonstrate high bandwidths that have been achieved. The
suspension arm developed presents an important solution in head-positioning technology in that it
offers much higher bandwidths for data tracking and flying height control; both very essential in
achieving even higher data storage densities on magnetic disks at much reduced head flying heights,
compared to those in existing hard disk drives
