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     

Cross-track transition location and transition parameter effects in heat-assisted magnetic recording

When conventional longitudinal and perpendicular magnetic recording architectures reach their well-known superparamagnetic limits, one candidate to break through the limit is heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR). In this paper, we investigate the effect of cross-track transition location and transition parameter (a-parameter) profiles in an HAMR system. Here, we apply microtrack modeling and the thermal Williams-Comstock model to longitudinal recording to determine the transition location and a-parameter profiles along the cross-track direction in the presence of a temperature profile. We then explore the effect of temperature on the isolated transition response of the system.     

Recording characteristics of electroless-plated perpendicular media for flexible disks

The read/write characteristics of electroless-plated perpendicular magnetic recording media for flexible disks were studied using commercial VHS and 8-mm VTR ring heads. Excellent results were shown for a medium composed of Co-Ni-Re-P plated on a non-magnetic electroless-plated Ni-P layer. A Ni-P underlayer of only 500 Å greatly improved the read/write characteristics of the disk. Reproduced signals over 300 kFRPI were observed for a system using a VHS head, andD_{50} = 134kFRPI was obtained using an 8-mm head.     

Track position dependence of performance attributes in permanentmagnet biased MR/SAL heads

The cross track performance of permanent magnet biased MR/SAL heads for high density magnetic recording is investigated. Two designs using different methods to define the read width (with and without inactive MR wing regions under the conductors) are fabricated and compared. The design with the wings is easier to manufacture than the other design, but it has some shortfalls that limit its cross track performance. The cross track characteristics such as servo capability and side reading range can be affected significantly by the design and sensor stripe height. A 3-dimensional micromagnetic model and servo calculations are utilized to understand the cross track behavior of the two designs and the impact on system performance. The influence of top pole curvature due to the underlying conductor topography in the read head on the cross track profile is also studied     

Effect of pole-tip size on perpendicular recording head remanence

To aid understanding the physical mechanisms responsible for the perpendicular write head remanent field and thereby improve the write head design, we studied the remanence of single-pole perpendicular recording heads with trailing shield by using a contact scanning recording tester. We used two different pole-tip size heads in the study. We found that the remanence areas of the heads tested usually locate at the trailing edge corners of the pole tip. We also found that the remanence areas of both types of heads are also the head field easy-rising areas when the heads are driven by low write currents. Additionally, the current level that leads to remanence is the same for both types of heads. However, the remanence of the small pole-tip heads can be demagnetized by a much lower amplitude reverse current than that of the large pole-tip heads.     

Perpendicular magnetic recording--Its basics and potential for the future

In this tutorial paper, perpendicular and longitudinal magnetic recording are compared in terms of their fundamental magnetization transition sharpness and magnetostatic energy per bit. The superiority of perpendicular recording to longitudinal recording at high densites is demonstrated. Perpendicular recording with ring-shaped heads is also discussed. Performance and structural features are compared for several different head configurations.     

Recording performance characteristics of granular perpendicular media

The recording performance of CoCrPtO granular-type perpendicular media was examined with two types of perpendicular heads to demonstrate the importance of matching head and media designs in perpendicular recording. Shielded-pole heads with high write field gradients, field angles, and sufficient write field magnitude yielded superior writability and signal-to-noise ratio as compared to mono-pole heads. The recording performance dependences on head-to-medium spacing, interlayer thickness, and soft-underlayer (SUL) thickness were also weaker with the shielded-pole heads. In addition, the effect of stray fields on the SUL domain noise was investigated for a synthetic antiferromagnetically-coupled (SAF) SUL. A radial field close to the exchange field of the SAF SUL was found to induce domain noises that could potentially cause errors in recording systems.     

Recording on perpendicular anisotropy media with ring heads

This paper reports experimental studies directed at the application of ring head structures to a perpendicular recording system. The media tested were sputter deposited films of CoCrTa alloys. Ferrite heads were studied, but the thin film head was chosen for evaluating roll-off, overwrite, and superposition. The data presented in the paper demonstrates the potential of high density recording with a single layer medium with perpendicular magnetic anistropy and a thin film head separated by 0.20 micrometers.     

Thin-film inductive heads for perpendicular recording

A modified thin-film magnetic head for perpendicular recording in rigid disk drives with improved read/write characteristics, especially at high areal bit densities, is presented. The head on which the modified design is based is described. It combines the advantages of single-pole heads and thin-film heads, writing with the sharp field edge of the leading pole and reading like a thin-film head. To increase the writing efficiency and improve the yield, the sequence of magnetic layers in the head is changed; the second layer of the four-layer head is embedded in the substrate, where it can be placed much closer to the pole tip of the first layer. The improved write capability depends mainly on the position of the embedded layer. In addition, there results an improved magnetic flux guidance from the embedded layer into the pole tip layer, providing the potential for a significant improvement in fabrication yield. The embedded-layer approach also allows a further increase in areal density. The results of read/write tests and the write-wide and read-narrow characteristics are presented     

Fundamental properties of perpendicular magnetic recording

A two dimensional computer simulation model of the magnetic recording process has been, developed to assess the fundamental properties of perpendicular magnetic recording. It was found that vertical anisotropy media are well suited to abrupt and closely spaced magnetic transitions. The demagnetizing fields support short transitions in the perpendicular mode as opposed to degrading transitions in the longitudinal mode. However, gapped heads may have difficulty in delivering high intensity vertical fields to saturate the medium. Novel write head designs might be required.     

The switching criterion in perpendicular magnetic recording

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the effect of the "switching criterion", the level at which self-consistency is assumed in calculations on the perpendicular magnetic recording process. It can be proven that in a perpendicular recording configuration with an ideal keeper layer and a recording layer with a rectangular hysteresis loop, the switching criterion in stand-still recording situations is immaterial, because self-consistency is reached at all depth levels simultaneously. If either the keeper layer is absent, or the recording layer's hysteresis loop is sheared, it is shown that the higher the level at which self-consistency is assumed, the sharper the stand-still recorded transitions will be.     

Perpendicular stand-still recording in Co-Cr films

Some features of perpendicular recording were investigated by means of stand-still recording experiments. For this purpose several radio frequency (RF)-sputtered Co-Cr layers of two different compositions were used as media while a Permalloy single pole (SP) head was used as a write transducer. A magnetoresistive transducer (MRT) was utilized to read the recorded pattern. Further, an analytical model was developed enabling the magnetization induced by the head field in the recording medium to be calculated. Both calculations and experimental results show a sharpening of the transition, due to the demagnetizing field. For a good approximation it is sufficient to consider only the vertical head field component and vertical magnetization in the recording medium. This is a consequence of the well-developed perpendicular anisotropy and negligible in-plane remanence of the Co-Cr layers. In addition the read-out signal is completely determined by the magnetic surface charges. The remanent magnetization in the recording medium and therefore the read-out amplitude is limited by demagnetization and consequently determined by the coercivity of the Co-Cr layer. The medium noise of a dc-erased medium indicates magnetic structures of much larger dimensions than the size of the individual crystallites. This noise appears to be dependent on the saturation magnetization of the Co-Cr medium. Activation of the single pole head by a homogeneous field results in a nonlinear behavior, caused by head saturation effects. This is supported by simple one-dimensional calculations of the head field.     

Simulation of the perpendicular recording process including image charge effects

This paper presents a complete model for the perpendicular recording process in single-pole-head keeper-layer configurations. It includes the influence of the image-charge distributions in the head and the keeper layer. Based on calculations of magnetization distributions in standstill situations, the model describes the relaxation process that takes place if the activated head is shifted along the recording layer, periodically switching its head field. The magnetization distributions thus derived are used in combination with a model for the readback process to calculate the readback flux and voltage pulses. For the sake of arithmetical convenience, the model was applied to a recording configuration with a thick single-pole head, but it can also be used for calculations with other head shapes, e.g. thin single-pole heads.     

Possibilities of perpendicular magnetic recording

The potential of perpendicular magnetic recording using a single-pole head and a double-layered medium has been investigated theoretically by computer analysis and compared with that of longitudinal magnetic recording. In conventional longitudinal recording, a recording demagnetizing loss due to the change of magnetization mode from semicircular to circular shapes occurs with increasing recording level at high bit density. In perpendicular magnetic recording, the perpendicular magnetization mode is maintained regardless of recording level even at an extremely high bit density of 571 kFRPI. This indicates that the perpendicular recording medium has a very high recording resolution, where a single bit size approaches several diameters of the microcrystalline particles of the Co-Cr layer. An ultrahigh density at which the recording area for 1 bit will reach 1 μ² at present and 500 Å₂ in future should be possible     

Three-dimensional magnetic field measurement of a modifiedthin-film magnetic head for vertical recording by means ofLorentz-tomography

The method of Lorentz tomography with an electron beam as a microprobe, combined with an analytical reconstruction procedure, has been successfully adapted to thin-film heads for vertical recording. It is noted that the measured results can be used as a basis for adjusting the magnetic parameters of the thin-film head to achieve good agreement with corresponding FEM or BEM (finite element or boundary element method) calculations. It is concluded that Lorentz tomography can be used as an important tool in the design of thin-film magnetic heads     

High-energy Co-Cr thin films sputtered on glass disks forperpendicular recording

The authors have developed high-energy Co-Cr thin-film perpendicular recording media for rigid disks. They obtained high perpendicular coercivity (Hc⊥) exceeding 2000 Oe with Co-Cr films sputtered on glass disks. They examined recording characteristics obtained with double-layered media and single-pole heads. Readout voltages were proportional to Hc⊥ up to 2000 Oe and not dependent on saturation magnetization. The authors explain the experimental results using the hysteresis curve of the Co-Cr film and the permeance factor determined by the magnetic reluctance of the head and medium. Using a magnetic circuit model, they clarify the effect of the difference in the operating point on the hysteresis curves of rigid- and flexible-disk systems     

Analytical modelling of perpendicular recording

An analytical model for perpendicular magnetic recording is presented which is capable of calculating 'ab-initio' the magnetisation distributions written by an 'arbitrary' head field into both single and double layer recording media. Magnetisations are shown to follow the head field distribution existing at the medium's top surface. Application of the theory allows prediction of many of the fundamental features of the perpendicular write/read cycle, e.g. transition widths, replay pulse shapes, D50values etc.     

Magnetization transitions obtained by deconvolution of measured replay pulses in perpendicular magnetic recording

Magnetization transitions in perpendicular magnetic recording have been calculated from measured replay pulses by a deconvolution algorithm using an analytical expression for the field of a probe head (PH). The transitions appear to be asymmetric whereby a pronounced magnetization peak occurs whose shape depends on the medium coercivity. For the experiments double layer media with double sided probe heads have been used. For the deconvolution only perpendicular head field and medium magnetization components are considered.     

Read performance of a single-pole head with trapezoidal cross section for perpendicular recording

The read performance of a single-pole head with trapezoidal cross section for perpendicular recording is investigated theoretically. With the aid of the reciprocity theorem for magnetic recording the expressions for the response to a single magnetization reversal and to harmonic magnetization on a tape with a soft magnetic backlayer are obtained. Numerical results are presented for different bevellings of the cross section.     

L1₀ FePtCu bit patterned media

Chemically ordered 5 nm-thick L1? FePtCu films with strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy were post-patterned by nanoimprint lithography into a dot array over a 3 mm-wide circumferential band on a 3 inch Si wafer. The dots with a diameter of 30 nm and a center-to-center pitch of 60 nm appear as single domain and reveal an enhanced switching field as compared to the continuous film. We demonstrate successful recording on a single track using shingled writing with a conventional hard disk drive write/read head.