Patent ID: 7286314

Claim:
A method for determining localized contact potential voltages and localized clearance data between a slider body and a hard disk of a hard disk drive, said method comprising: applying a plurality of direct current (DC) pulses at a plurality of discrete locations between said slider body and said hard disk, wherein each pulse of said plurality of direct current (DC) pulses comprise an equivalent duration and equal voltage and a bias, wherein each of said plurality of discrete locations comprise a portion of a data track; ceasing said applying a plurality of direct current (DC) pulses; increasing voltage of each pulse of said plurality of direct current (DC) pulses at each of said plurality of discrete locations until a contact between said slider body and said hard disk is detected; applying another plurality of direct current (DC) pulses at each of said plurality of discrete locations, wherein each of said another plurality of direct current (DC) pulses comprise said bias and an equivalent voltage, said equivalent voltage not equal to said equal voltage; and determining a contact potential voltage for each of said plurality of discrete locations in response to said applying a plurality of direct current (DC) pulses.