Thin-film recording media: Challenges for physics and magnetism in the 1990s (invited)

Abstract

Thin-film recording media introduced commercially to rigid disk drives in the early 1980s revolutionized the rigid disk industry. By the end of the decade, particulate disk technology accounted for less than half of the worldwide shipped disks and is expected to disappear from rigid disk drives altogether in the 1990s. The implementation of thin-film technology required entirely new disk fabrication processes and new insights into magnetic materials and microstructures. A review of the fundamental magnetic reasons for implementing thin-film technology will be given, followed by a discussion of the physics and magnetics of thin films. The technology is not completely understood and needs to be examined because of the continued increase of recording densities in rigid disk drives. Discussion will concentrate on thin films suitable for horizontal recording. Topics to be considered are those deemed important from a disk product development view and include thin-film media noise, anisotropy, and magnetic alloys and microstructures.