Patent ID: 8199437

Claim:
A head comprising: a slider having a leading face, a trailing face opposite the leading face, and an air bearing surface normal to the trailing face, the air bearing surface defining an upstream direction pointing from the trailing face to the leading face and defining a lateral axis that is orthogonal to the upstream direction, the slider having a width measured along the lateral axis; and a read transducer adjacent the trailing face; wherein the air bearing surface includes: a trailing pad including a major surface adjacent the read transducer, the major surface lying in a primary plane; a sub-ambient pressure cavity disposed upstream of the trailing pad, the sub-ambient pressure cavity being recessed from the primary plane by at least 500 nm; at least one leading pad in the primary plane and disposed upstream of the sub-ambient pressure cavity; a first step surface immediately upstream of the at least one leading pad, the first step surface being recessed from the primary plane by a first step depth in the range 100 nm to 250 nm; a moat disposed upstream of the at least one leading pad, the moat recessed from the primary plane by at least 500 nm, the moat continuously spanning the entire width of the slider; a particle fence in the primary plane and disposed immediately upstream of the moat, the particle fence disposed adjacent the leading face, the particle fence continuously laterally spanning at least 70% of the width of the slider, and a second step surface immediately upstream of the first step surface, the second step surface being recessed from the primary plane by a second step depth that is at least 100 nm greater than the first step depth, but less than the recession of the moat.