Experimental studies of the switching properties of synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) media

The magnetic switching characteristics of synthetic antiferromagnetic (SAF) longitudinal recording are much more complicated than for conventional longitudinal thin film recording media due to a time lag in the switching of the various magnetic layers due to anti-ferromagnetic coupling. The SAF media´s switching characteristics are studied in terms of their effect on the recording performance of such media. It is shown that recording parametrics such as amplitude, nonlinear transition shift (NLTS) and PW₅₀ can be significantly influenced by this time-lag effect. Optimization of the SAF structure to reduce these effects on the recording performance is also discussed.