Approaches to tilted magnetic recording for extremely high areal density

In this paper, we systematically present our fundamental understanding of the advantages of tilted magnetic recording. We investigate the various configurations of tilted magnetic recording including tilted longitudinal recording, tilted perpendicular recording with tilted media and normal single pole head, and tilted perpendicular recording with perpendicular media and tilted writing head. Tilted media with easy axis along the down-track and cross-track directions and tilted media with varied in-plane orientation ratios have been investigated and compared in detail. One important finding is that slightly oriented (in-plane) tilted media show a tremendous improvement in recording performance, which may release the pressure on the fabrication of perfect tilted hard disk magnetic media. Various fabrication methods for tilted media have also been discussed.