Direct imaging of track edge fringing fields on recorded media

Abstract

The capability to image individual vector components of surface magnetic fields locally has been developed recently, and this component-selective technique has been applied to understand the field distribution of recorded patterns. Apart from the commonly measured in-plane component in the direction of the track Hx, a cross-track component Hy has been observed along the edges. While the Hx field images show side written patterns extending laterally from the edges, the Hy field images reveal localized bright and dark spots on both sides of the track. This suggests that pairs of mutually opposite magnetic dipole layers persist on both edges which are oriented transverse to the track direction. A systematic investigation was made of these side fringing fields to understand their behavior as a function of recording wavelength.