Neil Deeman

Characteristics of thermally assisted magnetic recording

Extensive thermally assisted recording measurements were performed on isotropic longitudinal media. The dynamic coercivity decrease provided by thermal assistance was quantified by spin stand measurements. Thermally assisted recording performance was found to equal the performance of conventional (nonthermally assisted) recording at significantly reduced values of write current. This reduction in write current is consistent with the coercivity decrease that occurs during the thermally assisted writing process.

Experimental Effects of Laser Power on the Writability and Pulse Width in a Heat Assisted Longitudinal Recording System

In this paper the effects of increasing laser power on the writability and pulse width at half max (PW50) were experimentally measured on a longitudinal CoCrPt recording medium in a heat assisted magnetic recording system. The dynamic coercivity, quantified by spin stand measurements, was found to decrease linearly with laser power. Furthermore, it was found that careful optimization of laser power and write current are required to minimize the PW50. By choosing an optimal combination of write current and laser power it was possible to achieve a PW50 with heat assistance that could not otherwise have been reached. The results of this study help to establish the viability of heat assisted magnetic recording technology as a potential solution to density limits set by superparamagnetism.