Template-Assisted Direct Growth of 1Td/in$^2$ Bit Patterned Media

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel template-assisted method for growing high-density bit patterned magnetic media, utilizing epitaxial seed layers with Pt pillars to improve media quality for hard disk drives.

Contribution

The study presents a new directed growth technique combining topographical and chemical processes for fabricating high-quality, templated magnetic recording media.

Findings

Successful growth of bit patterned media with templated regions

Enhanced media quality through combined topographical and chemical processes

Potential for high-density hard disk drive applications

Abstract

We present a method for growing bit patterned magnetic recording media using directed growth of sputtered granular perpendicular magnetic recording media. The grain nucleation is templated using an epitaxial seed layer which contains Pt pillars separated by amorphous metal oxide. The scheme enables the creation of both templated data and servo regions suitable for high density hard disk drive operation. We illustrate the importance of using a process that is both topographically and chemically driven to achieve high quality media.