Writability in Discrete Track Media

Discrete track recording has emerged as a promising candidate for high storage capacity since it reduces adjacent track erasing (ATE) and alleviates narrow head requirements. In this paper, the writability of discrete lines was studied in discrete track media (DTM) fabricated by e-beam lithography and ion-milling on perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) media. The writability of discrete lines with finite length and three kinds of line width (50, 100, and 150 nm) is compared with continuous media on the same track. When writing current is small (less than 12 mA), the narrowest discrete lines (50 nm) are not easily magnetized, most likely due to deformed magnetic layer created by a shallow wall angle. Conversely, wider discrete lines ( ges 100 nm) are magnetized like continuous media. No difference in the level of magnetization was observed for the narrowest lines if writing current was large enough (more than 12 mA). This smooth magnetization of the narrowest line at sufficient writing current flow makes it certain that narrow discrete line can be used for high capacity storage.