High-Density Bit Patterned Media: Magnetic Design and Recording Performance

We examine the magnetic properties and recording performance of bit patterned exchange coupled composite (ECC) magnetic media at different bit and island aspect ratios. The ECC media consists of Co/Pd and Co/Ni multilayers whose coupling is controlled using Pd interlayers. We show that this multilayer system can be tuned to provide writeable media with a low switching field distribution for bit patterned magnetic recording. The recording performance of 100 Gb/in² media shows a sub 1e-4 bit error rate floor and misregistration errors that are well-described by a simple error model.