Micromagnetic simulations of sweep-rate dependent coercivity in perpendicular recording media

The results of micromagnetic simulations are presented which examine the impact of thermal fluctuations on sweep rate dependent coercivities of both single-layer and exchange-coupled-composite (ECC) perpendicular magnetic recording media. M-H loops are calculated at four temperatures and sweep rates spanning five decades with fields applied normal to the plane and at 45 degrees. The impact of interactions between grains is evaluated. The results indicate a significantly weaker sweep-rate dependence for ECC media suggesting more robustness to long-term thermal effects. Fitting the modeled results to Sharrock-like scaling proposed by Feng and Visscher [J. Appl. Phys. 95, 7043 (2004)] is successful only in the case of single-layer media with the field normal to the plane.Comment: 7 pages, 14 figure

Hybrid Design for Advanced Magnetic Recording Media : Combining Exchange-Coupled Composite Media with Coupled Granular Continuous Media

In order to enhance the performance of advanced granular recording media and understand the physics behind the mechanism of the reversal process, an atomistic spin-dynamics simulation is used to investigate theoretically the magnetic properties and the magnetization-reversal behavior for a composite media design. This model allows us to investigate the effect of the magnetostatic interaction and inter- and intralayer exchange coupling for a realistic system. The composite granular medium investigated consists of hard and soft composite layers in which the grains are well segregated with a continuous capping layer deposited to provide uniform exchange coupling. We present a detailed calculation aimed to reveal the reversal mechanism. In particular, the angular dependence of the critical field is investigated to understand the switching process. The calculations show a complex reversal mechanism driven by the magnetostatic interaction. It is also demonstrated, at high sweep rates consistent with the recording process, that thermal effects lead to a significant and irreducible contribution to the switching field distribution

Domain wall switching: optimizing the energy landscape

It has recently been suggested that exchange spring media offer a way to increase media density without causing thermal instability (superparamagnetism), by using a hard and a soft layer coupled by exchange. Victora has suggested a figure of merit xi = 2 E_b/mu_0 m_s H_sw, the ratio of the energy barrier to that of a Stoner-Wohlfarth system with the same switching field, which is 1 for a Stoner-Wohlfarth (coherently switching) particle and 2 for an optimal two-layer composite medium. A number of theoretical approaches have been used for this problem (e.g., various numbers of coupled Stoner-Wohlfarth layers and continuum micromagnetics). In this paper we show that many of these approaches can be regarded as special cases or approximations to a variational formulation of the problem, in which the energy is minimized for fixed magnetization. The results can be easily visualized in terms of a plot of the energy as a function of magnetic moment m_z, in which both the switching field [the maximum slope of E(m_z)] and the stability (determined by the energy barrier E_b) are geometrically visible. In this formulation we can prove a rigorous limit on the figure of merit xi, which can be no higher than 4. We also show that a quadratic anistropy suggested by Suess et al comes very close to this limit.Comment: Acccepted for proceedings of Jan. 2007 MMM Meeting, paper BE-0

Numerical analysis of perpendicular magnetic printing for hard disks beyond 2 Tb/in2

AbstractA micromagnetic analysis of magnetic printing onto an exchange-coupled composite (ECC) media was performed with a data signal density of over 2 Tb/in2. Magnetic printing is a promising method of recording a servo signal onto an ECC media with data signal densities beyond 2 Tb/in2. The printing performance was close to 100% at servo signal densities of 1.0 and 1.7 Tb/in2. There was an optimum intergrain coupling strength in ECC media at each servo signal density, and as the servo signal density increased, the optimum intergrain coupling strength became weaker

Exchange coupled perpendicular media

The potential of exchange spring bilayers and graded media is reviewed. An analytical model for the optimization of graded media gives an optimal value of the magnetic polarization of Js = 0.8 T. The optimum design allows for thermally stable grains with grain diameters in the order of 3.3 nm, which supports ultra high density up to 5 to 10 Tbit per inch2. The switching field distribution is significantly reduced in bilayer media and graded media compared to single phase media. For the graded media the switching field distribution is reduced by about a factor of two. For bilayer media the minimum switching field distribution is obtained for soft layer anisotropies about one fifth of the hard layer anisotropy. The influence of precessional switching on the reversal time and the reversal field is investigated in detail for magnetic bilayers. Exchange spring bilayers can be reversed with field pulses of 20 ps.Comment: submitted to JMMM, 'Current Perspectives; Perpendicular recording

Nanostructured exchange coupled hard / soft composites: from the local magnetization profile to an extended 3D simple model

In nanocomposite magnetic materials the exchange coupling between phases plays a central role in the determination of the extrinsic magnetic properties of the material: coercive field, remanence magnetization. Exchange coupling is therefore of crucial importance in composite systems made of magnetically hard and soft grains or in partially crystallized media including nanosized crystallites in a soft matrix. It has been shown also to be a key point in the control of stratified hard / soft media coercive field in the research for optimized recording media. A signature of the exchange coupling due to the nanostructure is generally obtained on the magnetization curve $M(H)$ with a plateau characteristic of the domain wall compression at the hard/soft interface ending at the depinning of the wall inside the hard phase. This compression / depinning behavior is clearly evidenced through one dimensional description of the interface, which is rigorously possible only in stratified media. Starting from a local description of the hard/soft interface in a model for nanocomposite system we show that one can extend this kind of behavior for system of hard crystallites embedded in a soft matrix.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures. To be published in the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. (To be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03048853