Review of head-media coupling in magnetic recording

Recent advance of magnetic recording technology has resulted in tremendous increase in area densities. Several new components were developed: Thin film media, and thin film head in longitudinal recording; Single-layer media, double-layer media, and probe head in perpendicular recording. A variety of head and media combinations become possible, and each has a different degree of head-media coupling. The soft magnetic underlayer in double-layer perpendicular media has such a strong coupling with the head that the head and media must be treated as a single entity in the analysis. The evaluation of only a head or a medium without knowing its counterpart could be quite misleading. Optimization of head-media coupling to select the most suitable combination becomes a key factor in designing a high density recording system. We will review the recording and reproducing processes from both the theoretical and experimental aspects for all the head-media structures which have some practical interest.     

A continuum approach to magnon-phonon couplings—III: Numerical results

The present final part of this work is devoted to the numerical evaluation of the various effects which were studied, both analytically and qualitatively, in Part II insofar as coupled magnetoelastic waves in ferromagnets are concerned. The case of four typically deformable ferromagnets (Cobalt, Nickel Ferrite, YIG and Iron) is examined. The graphs of practical interest which are obtained provide quantitative results pertaining to the repulsion of coupled modes in crossover regions of the dispersion diagram, the magnetoacoustic resonance effect in the absence of dissipation, the magnetoacoustic Faraday effect and the exchange of relaxation between coupled modes in the neighborhood of the coupling point when viscosity and spin-lattice relaxation are accounted for. The latter effect occurs slightly before, slightly after, or practically at the coupling point, depending on the material considered.     

Optimization of Precompensation for NLTS in Perpendicular Magnetic Recording

Nonlinear transition shift (NLTS) and nonlinear amplitude distortion (NLAD) in perpendicular magnetic recording were investigated for CoPtCr-SiO$_2$media with various SiO$_2$contents that have various inter-granular exchange coupling. The tighter inter-granular coupling increases both NLTS and NLAD. The NLTS and NLAD were discriminated and extracted NLTS showed that perpendicular media exhibited the opposite shift to longitudinal media as theoretically expected. Careful precompensation optimization is required to obtain a good error-rate performance at high-linear densities.     

The emergence of spin electronics in data storage

Electrons have a charge and a spin, but until recently these were considered separately. In classical electronics, charges are moved by electric fields to transmit information and are stored in a capacitor to save it. In magnetic recording, magnetic fields have been used to read or write the information stored on the magnetization, which 'measures' the local orientation of spins in ferromagnets. The picture started to change in 1988, when the discovery of giant magnetoresistance opened the way to efficient control of charge transport through magnetization. The recent expansion of hard-disk recording owes much to this development. We are starting to see a new paradigm where magnetization dynamics and charge currents act on each other in nanostructured artificial materials. Ultimately, 'spin currents' could even replace charge currents for the transfer and treatment of information, allowing faster, low-energy operations: spin electronics is on its way.     

The effect of cluster size on thin film media noise

A dynamic micromagnetic model of thin film magnetic recording media with generalised structure has been used to study the effect of cluster size on thin film media noise. Clusters formed by common crystallography and by intergranular exchange coupling have been simulated, and the effects of clustering on hysteresis and noise are presented. For small clusters of a few grains, crystallographic correlations are shown to have the same effect on noise as intergranular exchange coupling, giving an increase in magnetic feature size and noise     

Effect of Grain Size Distribution on the Performance of Perpendicular Recording Media

Micromagnetic simulations of perpendicular recording in hard disk storage media have been performed with model media of variable microstructural disorder. Simulations indicate that increasing disorder, either due to size and shape distribution or due to disordered packing, decreases signal and increases noise. The mechanism observed in the model is that, in a disordered microstructure, there is a distribution of magnetostatic and exchange coupling between grains that acts to create clusters of grains that act collectively. These clusters increase the auto-correlation function of the spatial distribution of magnetization that is a measure of the magnetic feature size. Consequently, the transition width between recorded bits increases and the position variation of the transition locations (jitter) increases, so that signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) falls. The results suggest that microstructurally ordered media will exhibit higher performance, and that such effects may ultimately demand the use of self-assembled or patterned media with regular packing and very narrow size distribution     

FePt纳米薄膜研究进展

由于FePt在超高密度磁存储材料方面的广阔应用前景及其局限性,研究人员对FePT薄膜进行了大量的研究及改性.根据国外近期在此领域的研究现状,综述了单相、复相及掺杂FePt薄膜的制备以及对结构和性质的影响.复相或掺杂主要是通过结构的改变来降低L10晶相转变温度和FePt颗粒的大小,通过其耦合作用来影响FePt薄膜的磁学性能,使其成为超高密度存储器材料.     

3 Gb/in2 recording demonstration with dual element headsand thin film disks

We have successfully demonstrated magnetic recording at an areal density of 3 Gb/in² with narrow track inductive-write MR-read dual element heads on low noise Co alloy thin film disks. In this demonstration, the write head is a ten turn thin film inductive head with thick and narrow P2 pole-tips. The read head is a shielded ~1 μm trackwidth MR sensor soft-film biased in the read region for linearization and exchange-biased at the tail regions for magnetic stabilization. During recording tests, the heads were flown over low noise Co-alloy media at a clearance similar to that in the previous 1 Gb/in² recording experiment. Results showed good writability from the narrow track write head in terms of overwrite and hard transition shift. Readback yields symmetrical signals as large as 600 μV (p-p) and rolloff measurements showed 50% densities as high as 5000 fc/mm. Track profile and microtrack profile measurements showed the write and read trackwidths to be ~1.4 μm and ~1.1 μm respectively, with tight side-writing and side-reading characteristics. An overall assessment of the parametric recording results suggested areal density feasibility up to as high as 3 Gb/in². This projection was confirmed by error rate performance testing using a PRML channel with a digital filter and write precompensation. At a data rate of 4-5 Mb/s and at very low ontrack error, a linear density as high as 185 Kbpi and an optimized track pitch as narrow as 1.5 μm were achieved, corresponding to an areal recording density of ~3.1 Gb/in²     

A crosstalk model considering leakage fluxes and methods to reducecrosstalk between read/write head and pre-erase head

A head combined with a read/write (R/W) and a pre-erase gap is adopted for 4 MB flexible disk drives. Reducing the crosstalk coupling between the erase head and the R/W head is an important factor in the design. We developed a simple design method to analyze the crosstalk using a three-dimensional finite-element method (3D-FEM). We found that there are two flux paths contributing to the crosstalk in the reproducing process: one is the path through the ferrite cores, and another is the path fringing and reentering into the R/W core. Balancing the fluxes through these two paths, it was possible to realize both high efficiency and low crosstalk simultaneously, Furthermore, the crosstalk during the recording process was analyzed using dc-bias recording theory     

A micromagnetic model of dual-layer magnetic-recording thin films

The micromagnetic model, which is capable of simulating magnetic layers having different magnetic and geometric properties, is applied to the study of the magnetic properties of dual-layer media characterized by a three-dimensional isotropic distribution of anisotropy axes in both layers, using parameters typical of cobalt-alloy films. In the absence of exchange interactions between the layers, a correlation is found between squareness ratios, average magnetostatic energy densities, and structural dimensions of the media. An in-phase magnetization reversal of the layers occurs with increasing interlayer exchange coupling. A complex relationship is found between coercivity and media parameters     

Electrodeposited multilayer films with giant magnetoresistance (GMR): Progress and problems

The giant magnetoresistance (GMR) effect was discovered in 1988 in nanoscale metallic ferromagnetic/non-magnetic (FM/NM) multilayers. By now, devices based on this phenomenon have been widely commercialized which use multilayered structures manufactured via physical deposition (PD) methods, mainly sputtering. It was shown in the early 1990s that electrodeposition (ED) is also capable of producing multilayered magnetic nanostructures exhibiting a significant GMR effect. These layered structures include multilayer films similar to those prepared by PD methods on macroscopic substrates and multilayered nanowires deposited into nanosized template pores, the latter ones being unique to the ED technique. Whereas ED multilayered nanowires can exhibit a GMR effect comparable to the values obtained on PD multilayer films, the GMR values achieved on ED multilayer films still remain inferior to them and, quite often, require high magnetic fields for saturation. Therefore, in spite of the relative simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the ED method, the GMR characteristics of ED multilayer films are still not competitive with the corresponding parameters of their PD counterparts. The main purpose of the present review is to give a summary of the progress achieved over the last one and a half decades on ED multilayer films with GMR effect and to critically evaluate the GMR results reported for various element combinations accessible to the ED technique for the preparation of FM/NM multilayer films (ED multilayered nanowires will be treated very briefly only). In order to promote an understanding of the inferior behavior of ED multilayer films, a detailed discussion of the magnetoresistance effects occurring in bulk homogeneous ferromagnets as well as in magnetic nanostructures (FM/NM multilayers and granular alloys) will be provided. Particular attention will be paid to the case of non-ideal magnetic nanostructures which contain both FM and superparamagnetic (SPM) regions. This is an essential ingredient in explaining the high saturation field of GMR commonly observed in ED multilayer films. In addition to the GMR magnitude, this is another characteristic decisively influencing the magnetic field sensitivity, a key feature concerning applications in sensor devices. The controversial results reported for the spacer layer thickness dependence of GMR in ED multilayer films will also be discussed. It is pointed out that the still inferior GMR characteristics of ED multilayer films can be to a large extent ascribed to microstructural features leading to the appearance of SPM regions, pinholes in the spacer layers and probably not sufficiently perfect interfaces between the FM and NM layers. The origin of the latter deficiency is not yet well understood although it is clearly one of the main causes of a weak interlayer coupling (if there is any coupling at all) and, thus, a small degree of antiparallel alignment leading to a reduced GMR effect. Works will also be described in which attempts were made to produce ED multilayer films with view on possible applications in GMR sensor devices. Finally, problems will be identified which should still be solved in order to make the properties of ED multilayer films attractive for GMR applications.     

Thin film magnetoresistors in memory, storage, and related applications

This paper is a review of ferromagnetic metal film magnetoresistors for applications such as read transducers in advanced computer memory and storage technology (mainly bubble domain memories and magnetic recording systems). Uses of semiconductor Hall effect sensors in this environment are also reviewed, and wherever possible a comparison of the suitability of the two classes of sensors for a particular application is made. The paper includes a phenomenological treatment of galvanomagnetic effects, a brief discussion of materials, design considerations and applications, and a short section on device fabrication techniques.     

High-density perpendicular magnetic recording media of granular-type (FePt/MgO)/soft underlayer

Perpendicular magnetic recording media, composed of granular-type FePt-MgO films on Fe-Ta-C soft magnetic underlayer (SUL), have been fabricated on to 2.5-in glass disks. [001] textured FePt granular films with high-perpendicular magnetic anisotropy were obtained by annealing the FePt/MgO multilayer films. The FePt grain size, perpendicular coercivity, magnetic activation volume, and the exchange coupling between the FePt grains were found to be strongly dependent on the initial multilayer structures and the annealing conditions. The recording performance of the disks was evaluated by a spin-stand. The obtained results reveal a close correlation between the recording performance and magnetic properties. The thermal stability of the granular-type FePt media was studied using high-temperature magnetic force microscopy (MFM) technique, equipped with in situ sample heating, in the temperature range 25/spl deg/C-200/spl deg/C. The estimated signal decay at high temperature is ascribed to the temperature dependent magnetic anisotropy behavior.     

Effect of spacer arm length on protein retention on a strong cation exchange adsorbent

The retention of five proteins was compared on a set of three strong cation exchange adsorbents that differed in spacer arm chemical structure and length. The adsorbents included a commercial product, Amersham Biosciences SP Sepharose Fast Flow, containing a six-carbon spacer between the agarose matrix and the anionic ligand, and two custom-prepared materials. One of the custom adsorbents contained a spacer of about half the length of the SP Sepharose Fast Flow, and the other contained no spacer arm. The adsorbent with no spacer arm was found to be significantly more retentive for all of the test proteins examined, in both isocratic and gradient elution tests. Reducing the spacer arm length by half resulted in increased retention for four of the five proteins, but this increase was less than what was observed when the spacer arm was eliminated. Retention increases were obtained without increasing the density of the anionic charge groups and appear to result from an enhancement of electrostatic or secondary nonelectrostatic interactions, or both. The results indicate that spacer arm length may be a useful variable in manipulating stationary-phase retention properties.     

Role of bottom layer of double recording layer structure for antiferromagnetically coupled longitudinal media

Double recording layers stacked on a Ru spacing layer are commonly used to obtain good recording properties for antiferromagnetically coupled (AFC) longitudinal media. In this paper, we report on a study that clarified the role of the bottom recording layer (BRL). We measured physical magnetic properties such as magnetic anisotropy field (H/sub k/), magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (K/sub u/), intergranular interaction, and thermal agitation of the AFC media, with and without BRL. Results showed that: 1) even a thin BRL (1 nm thick) significantly increases remanent coercivity H/sub cr/; 2) this increase in H/sub cr/ is mainly caused by an increase in H/sub k/ due to elimination of the low K/sub u/ region at the bottom portion of the top recording layer; and 3) judging from magnetic cluster size, insertion of a BRL can reduce the intergranular exchange coupling at the initial growth region of the recording layer.     

Interfacial effects on the magnetic profiles and interlayer exchange coupling of Co/CoSi multilayers

Density functional calculations are conducted to investigate the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC) between ferromagnetic Co slabs mediated by a CoSi spacer in Co/CoSi(001) multilayers with CsCl crystalline structure. For both sharp and mixed Co-Si interfaces we calculated the magnetic moment distribution and the energy stability for ferromagnetic (F) IEC and antiferromagnetic (AF) IEC between the Co slabs as function of the spacer thickness. We show that mixing near to the interface noticeably modifies the IEC to the extent that this can change from an oscillatory IEC as function of the spacer thickness to an exponentially decaying AF behavior.     

On the Identification of Fermi-Liquid Behavior in Simple Transition Metal Compounds

The status of Fermi liquid behavior in weakly magnetic transition metal compounds is reviewed. Single-crystals of the weak itinerant ferromagnets ZrZn₂, Ni₃Al, and YNi₃ display a non-Fermi liquid (NFL) temperature dependence of the resistivity consistent with an inhomogenous ferromagnetic state. But at high-magnetic fields they exhibit quantum oscillations of a Fermi liquid ground state. On the other hand, the helical magnet MnSi displays a pronounced change from a Fermi liquid to NFL resistivity under pressure, where a small regime of partial magnetic order in the NFL regime suggests unconventional textures driven by an unpinning of the helical order. But the stability of the chiral interactions under pressure and magnetic field points at a more complex origin of the NFL behavior.     

Media for high density magnetic recording

Longitudinal recording is limited at high bit densities by recording demagnetization, self-demagnetization, and adjacent-bit demagnetization, which occur during the writing-demagnetization processes. To minimize these adverse effects it becomes necessary to resort to extreme scaling of the media parameters and their thickness, with the consequence of greatly increasing the difficulty of fabrication and the cost of such optimized media. Pure perpendicular recording circumvents these writing and demagnetization problems because of the strong head coupling of a single pole head with a double layer medium, positive interaction between adjacent bits, and low self-demagnetization at high bit densities. Therefore, it does not require any extreme scaling of the media magnetic parameters and their thickness. Of great interest, at least for the next several years, are the quasi-perpendicular particulate media which can support perpendicular magnetization. These include the isotropic, high-squareness media, and oriented perpendicular media employing particles with uniaxial crystalline or shape anisotropies. The attractiveness of these media derives from their excellent recording performance and from the fact that they preserve the existing head/media interface and they utilize existing coating facilities which should reflect favorably on their cost. In this paper the advantages and disadvantages of the various media under development for high density magnetic recording are compared, and predictions are made for their potential application in future systems.     

Magnetization structures in thin-film recording media

A computer simulation study of magnetization configurations in planar isotropic thin-film recording media and their transient behavior during magnetization reversal is presented. Magnetization structures formed during magnetization reversal are characterized for various medium parameters. It is found that a reversed region nucleates by formation of a magnetization vortex. Multiple vortex formation yields elongated reverse domains in the applied field direction. Randomly oriented crystalline easy axes provide natural sites for vortex formation, which are facilitated by magnetostatic interactions. Intergranular exchange coupling significantly enhances vortex motion through which domains expand. Large-size domains occur in exchange coupled films. During a domain expansion, vortex-crosstie pairs can be generated and annihilated. Annihilation of vortices, vortex-crosstie pairs, or vortex-vortex pairs completes local magnetization reversal.<>     

Defects-Driven Ferromagnetism in Undoped Dilute Magnetic Oxides:A Review

In the past several decades, dilute magnetic semiconductors, particularly the dilute magnetic oxides have evolved into an important branch of materials science due to their potential application in spintronic devices combining of properties of semiconductors and ferromagnets. In spite of a major effort devoted to the mechanism of ferromagnetism with a high Curie temperature in these materials, it still remains the most controversial research topic, especially given the unexpected d0 ferromagnetism in a series of undoped wide-band-gap oxides films or nanostructures. Recently, an abundance of research has shown the critical role of various defects in the origin and control of spontaneous magnetic ordering, but contradicting views from intertwined theoretical calculations and experiments require more in-depth systematic research. In our previous work, considerable efforts have been focused on two major oxides, i.e. ZnO and ZrO 2. This review will present a summary of current experimental status of this defect-driven ferromagnetism in dilute magnetic oxides(DMOs).