No Arabic abstract
Bit Patterned Media (BPM) for magnetic recording provide a route to densities $>1 Tb/in^2$ and circumvents many of the challenges associated with conventional granular media technology. Instead of recording a bit on an ensemble of random grains, BPM uses an array of lithographically defined isolated magnetic islands, each of which stores one bit. Fabrication of BPM is viewed as the greatest challenge for its commercialization. In this article we describe a BPM fabrication method which combines e-beam lithography, directed self-assembly of block copolymers, self-aligned double patterning, nanoimprint lithography, and ion milling to generate BPM based on CoCrPt alloys. This combination of fabrication technologies achieves feature sizes of $<10 nm$, significantly smaller than what conventional semiconductor nanofabrication methods can achieve. In contrast to earlier work which used hexagonal close-packed arrays of round islands, our latest approach creates BPM with rectangular bitcells, which are advantageous for integration with existing hard disk drive technology. The advantages of rectangular bits are analyzed from a theoretical and modeling point of view, and system integration requirements such as servo patterns, implementation of write synchronization, and providing for a stable head-disk interface are addressed in the context of experimental results. Optimization of magnetic alloy materials for thermal stability, writeability, and switching field distribution is discussed, and a new method for growing BPM islands on a patterned template is presented. New recording results at $1.6 Td/in^2$ (teradot/inch${}^2$, roughly equivalent to $1.3 Tb/in^2$) demonstrate a raw error rate $<10^{-2}$, which is consistent with the recording system requirements of modern hard drives. Extendibility of BPM to higher densities, and its eventual combination with energy assisted recording are explored.
In this work we present a micromagnetic study of the performance potential of bit-patterned (BP) magnetic recording media via joint optimization of the design of the media and of the magnetic write heads. Because the design space is large and complex, we developed a novel computational framework suitable for parallel implementation on compute clusters. Our technique combines advanced global optimization algorithms and finite-element micromagnetic solvers. Targeting data bit densities of $4mathrm{Tb}/mathrm{in}^2$, we optimize designs for centered, staggered, and shingled BP writing. The magnetization dynamics of the switching of the exchange-coupled composite BP islands of the media is treated micromagnetically. Our simulation framework takes into account not only the dynamics of on-track errors but also of the thermally induced adjacent-track erasure. With co-optimized write heads, the results show superior performance of shingled BP magnetic recording where we identify two particular designs achieving write bit-error rates of $1.5mathrm{x}10^{-8}$ and $8.4mathrm{x}10^{-8}$, respectively. A detailed description of the key design features of these designs is provided and contrasted with centered and staggered BP designs which yielded write bit error rates of only $2.8mathrm{x}10^{-3}$ (centered design) and $1.7mathrm{x}10^{-2}$ (staggered design) even under optimized conditions.
A fully-automated pole-tip shape optimization tool, involving write head geometry construction, meshing, micromagnetic simulation and evaluation, is presented. Optimizations have been performed for three different writing schemes (centered, staggered and shingled) for an underlying bit patterned media with an areal density of 2.12 Tdots/in$^2$ . Optimizations were performed for a single-phase media with 10 nm thickness and a mag spacing of 8 nm. From the computed write field and its gradient and the minimum energy barrier during writing for islands on the adjacent track, the overall write error rate is computed. The overall write errors are 0.7, 0.08, and 2.8 x 10$^{-5}$ for centered writing, staggered writing, and shingled writing.
Manipulation of the magnetization by external energies other than magnetic field, such as spin-polarized current1-4, electric voltage5,6 and circularly polarized light7-11 gives a paradigm shift in magnetic nanodevices. Magnetization control of ferromagnetic materials only by circularly polarized light has received increasing attention both as a fundamental probe of the interactions of light and magnetism but also for future high-density magnetic recording technologies. Here we show that for granular FePt films, designed for ultrahigh-density recording, the optical magnetic switching by circularly polarized light is an accumulative effect from multiple optical pulses. We further show that deterministic switching of high anisotropy materials by the combination of circularly polarized light and modest external magnetic fields, thus revealing a pathway towards technological implementation.
We have used a plane-wave expansion method to theoretically study the far-field head-media optical interaction in HAMR. For the ASTC media stack specifically, we notice the outstanding sensitivity related to interlayers optical thickness for media reflection and magnetic layers light absorption. With 10-nm interlayer thickness change, the recording layer absorption can be changed by more than 25%. The 2-D results are found to correlate well with full 3-D model and magnetic recording tests on flyable disc with different interlayer thickness.
We investigate the switching field distribution and the resulting bit error rate of exchange coupled ferri-/ferromagnetic bilayer island arrays by micromagnetic simulations. Using islands with varying microstructure and anisotropic properties, the intrinsic switching field distribution is computed. The dipolar contribution to the switching field distribution is obtained separately by using a model of a triangular patterned island array resembling $1.4,mathrm{Tb/in}^2$ bit patterned media. Both contributions are computed for different thickness of the soft exchange coupled ferrimagnet and also for ferromagnetic single phase FePt islands. A bit patterned media with a bilayer structure of FeGd($5,mathrm{nm}$)/FePt($5,mathrm{nm}$) shows a bit error rate of $10^{-4}$ with a write field of $1.16,mathrm{T}$.