Thermal stability and recording characteristics of thin film media with a CoCr based non-magnetic interlayer

The effects of a CoCr based non-magnetic interlayer on thermal stability and recording characteristics were investigated with two series of thin film media with and without the interlayer at the magnetic layer thickness ranging from 75 to 200 Å. It was found that the interlayer buffers Cr diffusing into the magnetic layer during deposition and results a much thinner initial non-magnetic layer. Due to reduced initial non-magnetic layer, the media with the interlayer show more thermally stable behavior as the film thickness decreases to less than 100 Å. As the result of the media less affected by thermal fluctuation, the media with the interlayer have 10 dB higher SNR at 270 kfci and 3 times lower non-linear transition shift at 300 kfci in comparison to the media without the interlayer at 75 Å magnetic layer thickness