Application of diamond like carbon films to metallic thin film magnetic recording media

Diamond Like Carbon films (DLC films) show remarkable characteristics such as high mechanical hardness, low friction, chemical stability and so on. Therefore, DLC films are expected to be greatly suitable as a protective layer. A number of deposition methods of DLC films have been studied^1-3, but DLC films by any of those methods have not been successfully applied as the protective layer of recording media in tape form. The new deposition method described here is suitable for mass production, and by this method DLC films can be deposited on the recording media at room temperature. This investigation reports the new deposition method and the feasibility of DLC films as the protective layer for the metallic magnetic recording media.