Recording Performance Study of PMR Media With Patterned Tracks

Discrete track recording technology offers a potential advantage in reducing adjacent track erasure/interference. As nano-imprinting technology advances, fabrication of such media has been demonstrated. In recent years, discrete track recording has generally been viewed as one of the next promising technologies for areal density advancement. In this study, we evaluated the recording performance of PMR media with patterned tracks. To accurately assess the advantage of discrete track performance and compare with current continuous media, both recording performances were measured on one single track. The head flying height is monitored on the patterned and continuous media regions. At 100-nm data track width, patterned tracks show noticeably better signal-to-noise ratio and significantly lower adjacent track erasure compared with continuous media at the same track width. Such measured performance advantages are critical to increase track density beyond 300-400 ktpi