Advances in carbon based materials applied to data storage devices

The magnetic storage industry is driven by the quest for higher areal-storage densities. As we advance towards proximity recording, one method of achieving this goal is by reducing the space between the media and the magnetic recording head (Jorgensen, 1996). Unfortunately, this leads to increased wear rates at the interface and hence causes device reliability problems. A very thin coating of DLC deposited from a hydrocarbon ion beam reduces the wear of the magnetic recording head. The paper aims to investigate the potential of new deposition technologies for the formation of these wear coats and possibly electrical isolation layers in the magnetic sensor.