Theory of playback process with soft magnetic underlayer

Based on the Tsuboi-Fushida-Wallace spacing loss law, reciprocity principle, and the principle of an image plane, a two-dimensional, head independent theory of the playback process has been developed for perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) media with a soft magnetic underlayer (SMUL). An assumption that the reversible magnetic permeability of the recording media is equal to one gives results in a simple form. The article, while not addressing the effect of underlayer on write performances, demonstrates complications caused by the presence of the underlayer during readback.