Heat assisted magnetic recording of bit patterned media beyond 10 Tb/in$^2$

TL;DR

This paper proposes a design for heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) with bit patterned media achieving over 10 Tb/in$^2$ areal density, analyzing switching behavior and optimizing parameters for high-density storage.

Contribution

It introduces a realistic model for bit patterned media with detailed analysis of switching behavior to optimize storage density beyond 10 Tb/in$^2$.

Findings

Achieved over 10 Tb/in$^2$ areal density in the model.

Analyzed switching behavior to estimate bit error rates.

Optimized grain spacing and head positioning for maximum density.

Abstract

The limits of the areal storage density as can be achieved with heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) are still an open issue. We want to address this central question and present the design of a possible bit patterned medium with an areal storage density above 10 Tb/in$^2$. The model uses hard magnetic recording grains with 5 nm diameter and 10 nm height. It assumes a realistic distribution of the Curie temperature of the underlying material as well as a realistic distribution of the grain size and the grain position. In order to compute the areal density we analyze the detailed switching behavior of a recording bit under different external conditions, which allows to compute the bit error rate of a recording process (shingled and conventional) for different grain spacings and write head positions. Hence, we are able to optimize the areal density of the presented medium.