Cover-layer effects on contamination in near-field optical data storage

Abstract

Contamination at the head-disk interface (HDI) was observed for first-surface near-field recording (NFR) under accumulation over a long writing time with a high writing power. The contamination was caused by laboratory dust coupled with the heat from the focus of the writing laser at the HDI. One suggested solution to the problem is that a cover layer should be laminated for cover-layer-incident NFR. A uniform and edge-bead-free UV-curable cover layer was laminated by using an outer-ring technique. Diamondlike carbon films were optimized and coated on the cover layer, and then a lubricant film was applied to reduce the tribological problems at the HDI.