Patent ID: 7450333

Claim:
A mechanism for maintaining a constant fly-height of a slider, said mechanism comprising: a capacitive fly-height change sensor configured for coupling with a slider in a head gimbal assembly, said capacitive fly-height change sensor configured for measuring capacitance between said slider and a surface of a disk through the use of a fly-height change sensing signal, said capacitive fly-height change sensor further configured for outputting a sensor voltage which is substantially proportional to a sensed change in said capacitance; and an electrostatic fly-height controller coupled with said capacitive fly-height change sensor and configured to couple with said slider, said electrostatic fly-height controller configured to process said sensor voltage into a fly-height control signal for electrostatically maintaining a constant fly-height of said slider relative to said surface of said disk, said electrostatic fly-height controller including a voltage biaser configured for applying a small bias voltage to said slider such that a non-linear relationship between said fly-height control signal and a resultant electrostatic force between said slider and said surface of said disk becomes closer to a linear relationship.