Patent ID: 6989966

Claim:
A slider comprising: a leading edge; a trailing edge; a cavity dam extending to the leading edge; first and second side rails extending rearward from the cavity dam along opposite sides of the slider; a center rail extending rearward from the cavity dam to the trailing edge between the first and second side rails; a transducer supported by the center rail at the trailing edge; at least one sub-ambient cavity between the first and second side rails, including a first sub-ambient cavity between the first side rail and the center rail, and a second sub-ambient cavity between the second side rail and the center rail; a continuous air bearing surface extending over a region on the cavity dam between the opposite sides from at least adjacent the at least one sub-ambient cavity to the leading edge; and more than two spaced-apart step level slots extending into the air bearing surface at the leading edge to admit fluid into a space adjacent the region of the air bearing surface on the cavity dam, wherein each step level slot has a bottom surface that resides in a shallow plane between the air bearing surface and a bottom surface of the at least one sub-ambient cavity, and wherein each step level slot is bounded on at least three sides by the continuous air bearing surface.