CoZrRe amorphous film heads for high-density magnetic recording

CoZrRe amorphous film heads with superior performance have been developed for use in high-density magnetic recording. These films produce near-zero magnetostriction of less than +2.5×10^-7 and saturation magnetization of 1.2 T. It is found that the addition of a small amount of Re to CoZr markedly improves the stability of magnetic properties during head fabrication. However, the process temperature must be less than 200°C. To realize the required temperature, a dry process is developed, using sputtered SiO₂ films for insulation instead of conventional hard-cured photoresist. A maximum process temperature of about 150°C is obtained As a result, a high linear density of more than 2100 fr/mm (53 kfci) at a spacing of 0.1 μm is achieved using CoZrRe film heads and metal-sputtered media with a coercivity of 1300 Oe