Suspension assembly for supporting a read/write head over a rotating storage disk with dynamically adjustable fly height

摘要

A suspension assembly for supporting a read/write head/slider assembly adjacent to a rotating storage disk with dynamically adjustable flying height for use within a hard disk drive is provided. The suspension assembly includes a generally elongated loadbeam that has a baseplate defined at a first end thereof and a gimbaled flexure portion defined at a second end thereof. The flexure portion includes a pair of flexure legs and a flexure tongue. The pair of flexure legs extend from the flexure tongue and each leg attaches to an opposite side of the loadbeam. The flexure tongue generally provides a mounting surface for the read/write head/slider assembly. Strips of thermal-expansion material are attached to the flexure portion. These strips are connected to a power source via a power conductor. When the strips are energized, they expand and deform a portion of the flexure portion. This deformation of the flexure portion is transposed to the read/write head/slider assembly for dynamically adjusting the flying height thereof.