Media thermal robustness (MTR) test to quantify lifetime for media thermal decay

A media thermal robustness (MTR) test has been developed to quantify lifetime for media thermal decay. In this test, erasing currents produced by the write coil of a head were used to stress a written track. Amplitude was monitored as a function of log(time) to and beyond the failure point of 85% of initial amplitude. The lifetime with current =0 can be obtained by extrapolating [log(f_o·lifetime)]^2/3 versus current to current =0, where f_o~10⁹ Hz is the attempt frequency. This MTR test procedure allows the media thermal decay lifetime to be determined in ~ hours. Consistency of short and long media lifetime predictions by MTR test was found to be quite good. Repeatability of lifetime prediction was demonstrated to be within a reasonably narrow range