A. Moser

High K/sub u/ materials approach to 100 Gbits/in/sup 2/

High K/sub u/, uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy, materials are generally attractive for ultrahigh density magnetic recording applications as they allow smaller, thermally stable media grains. Prominent candidates are rare-earth transition metals (Co/sub 5/Sm,...), and tetragonal intermetallic compounds (L1/sub 0/ phases FePt, CoPtY,...), which have 20-40 times higher K/sub u/ than todays hexagonal Co-alloy based media. This allows for about 3 times smaller grain diameters, D, and a potential 10-fold areal density increase (/spl prop/1/D/sup 2/), well beyond the currently projected 40-100 Gbits/in/sup 2/ mark, Realization of such densities will depend on a large number of factors, not all related to solving media microstructure problems, In particular it is at present not known how to record into such media, which may require write fields in the order of 10-100 kOe. Despite this unsolved problem, there is considerable interest in high Ku alternative media, both for longitudinal and perpendicular recording. Activities in this area will be reviewed and data on sputtered and evaporated thin FePt films, with coercivities exceeding 10000 Oe will be presented.

Antiferromagnetically coupled magnetic media layers for thermally stable high-density recording

We describe a magnetic recording media composed of antiferromagnetically coupled (AFC) magnetic recording layers as an approach to extend areal densities of longitudinal media beyond the predicted superparamagnetic limit. The recording medium is made up of two ferromagnetic layers separated by a nonmagnetic layer whose thickness is tuned to couple the layers antiferromagnetically. For such a structure, the effective areal moment density (Mrt) of the composite structure is the difference between the ferromagnetic layers allowing the effective magnetic thickness to scale independently of the physical thickness of the media. Experimental realizations of AFC media demonstrate that thermally stable, low-Mrt media suitable for high-density recording can be achieved.

Nanocomposite CoPt:C films for extremely high-density recording

Nanocomposite CoPt:C films were investigated as potential media for extremely high-density recording. An annealing temperature of over 600 °C is necessary to form nanocomposite CoPt:C films consisting of C matrix and fct CoPt nanocrystallites with grain sizes of 8–20 nm and coercivities of 3–12 kOe. Coercivity and grain size increase with increasing annealing temperature and decreasing C concentration and they are insensitive to film thickness. The average activation volumes are about 0.9×10−18 cm3. The properties of these nanocomposite CoPt:C films can be tailored to satisfy the thermal stability, coercivity, and media noise requirements for extremely high-density recording.

Recording performance of high-density patterned perpendicular magnetic media

Isolated tracks of magnetic single-domain islands have been fabricated by patterning perpendicular Co70Cr18Pt12 continuous films using focused-ion-beam lithography, reaching areal densities as high as ∼200 Gbit/in2. We demonstrate writing and reading of individual islands using a quasistatic write/read tester. We present results on transition position jitter and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for patterned media and compare them with those on equivalent unpatterned strips of the media. We observe that patterning dramatically reduces jitter and improves SNR, which is independent of track width. Moreover, the synchronization requirements needed for writing bits in patterned media was investigated on a single row of islands revealing a significant “write window,” where islands can be written correctly, of about half the island period.

Generation of 41 mW of blue radiation by frequency doubling of a GaAlAs diode laser

A monolithic ring resonator of KNbO3 was used for efficient frequency doubling of a 856 nm GaAlAs diode laser. A special electronic servo technique was devised to lock the diode laser frequency to the KNbO3 cavity so that stable generation of blue output was obtained. With 105 mW of incident near‐infrared power, 41 mW of 428 nm radiation were produced. The conversion efficiency from electrical input power into the diode laser to blue output was ∼10%.

Writing and reading perpendicular magnetic recording media patterned by a focused ion beam

We have written and read bit patterns on arrays of square islands cut with a focused ion beam into granular perpendicular magnetic recording media. Using a static write–read tester, we have written square-wave bit patterns on arrays of islands with sizes between 60 and 230 nm, matching the recording linear density to the pattern period. These measurements reveal the onset of single-domain behavior for islands smaller than 130 nm, in agreement with magnetic force microscope images. The recording performance of patterned regions is systematically compared to that of unpatterned regions.

Dynamic coercivity measurements in thin film recording media using a contact write/read tester

Thermally activated magnetization reversal processes become manifest in the dependence of the remanent coercivity on the time during which a magnetic field is applied opposite to the initial magnetization direction. They have important consequences for the long term stability and short time writeability of future high density recording media. In this paper, we report on a new experiment using a contact write/read tester to study the time dependence of the remanent coercivity over more than 10 orders of magnitude (from 6 ns to >60 s). Remanence coercivity and signal decay measurements of a CoPtCr recording medium with 5.5 nm thickness are presented.

High‐power operation of strained InGaAs/AlGaAs single quantum well lasers

The high‐power integrity of strained single quantum well InGaAs/AlGaAs lasers grown by molecular beam epitaxy is investigated. In the high‐power regime, the lifetime of the Lz=7 nm strained quantum well laser emitting at ≂ 980 nm is found to be limited by the air‐cleaved facets. However, a comparison with lattice‐matched 7 nm quantum well GaAs/AlGaAs lasers, which otherwise have an almost identical vertical structure shows a substantial lifetime improvement. This indicates that lattice hardening due to the indium in the quantum well is effective in the facet region. The investigations demonstrate the feasibility of 150 mW single mode operation with sufficient lifetime for practical applications in the wavelength range of ≂1 μm.

Thermodynamics approach to catastrophic optical mirror damage of AlGaAs single quantum well lasers

The time dependence of catastrophic optical damage (COD) was studied for the cw operation of AlGaAs single quantum well lasers with cleaved mirrors. An empirical rule is proposed, which yields the time for a COD failure in the form of a rate equation, containing a frequency factor and an activation energy. In this way COD is explained as a thermally activated process, depending on the mirror temperature.

Writing of high-density patterned perpendicular media with a conventional longitudinal recording head

We have fabricated arrays of magnetic islands in perpendicular CoCrPt media with ∼100 nm lateral dimension using a focused ion beam. A quasistatic write/read tester was used to study aspects of the recording physics of these patterned media. We present results on the variation of the readback signal as the phase of the written square wave changes with respect to the patterned array as a function of island size and write current. Using an analytic near-field expression for head field we are able to model how the observed dependence between phase shift and readback signal as a function of write current arises. This analysis allows us to gain an insight into the role of the island switching field distribution and the write head magnetic field gradient in the patterned media writing process.