Understanding Adjacent Track Erasure in Discrete Track Media

We present a micromagnetic modeling analysis on recording performance, in particular adjacent track erasure (ATE), in discrete track media. We have compared the ATE performance between the continuous and discrete track media, and we have modeled two types of perpendicular media: one with zero intergranular exchange coupling and the other with moderate intergranular exchange coupling. We found that in the medium with moderate intergranular exchange coupling, the ATE has significantly been suppressed; that is, the track pitch can be significantly smaller with the same recording head and recording condition for the same ATE level. This gain becomes less significant if the medium has zero intergranular exchange coupling.