r/askscience • u/Cryogenicastronaut • 6d ago

Engineering How are hard disk drives' read/write heads assembled in a factory?

So the read/write head floats only a few nanometres from the disc. How is this assembled in a factory to such precision? Is the entire process done by machines? How can a machine position something so precisely?

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u/[deleted] 5d ago

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u/insta 5d ago

do you have any sources for the magnetic repulsion claim? I'm skeptical of it, and tried to find anything supporting it. i found several links talking about air cushions (helium is partly to reduce the gap further), and literally nothing talking about magnetic levitation. voice coils and the spindle motor, sure, but not the heads flying