Antiferromagnetically Coupled Media for Microwave-Assisted Magnetic Recording

Antiferromagnetically coupled (AFC) media were modeled as a part of a microwave-assisted magnetic recording system. Recording media grains with magnetically hard and soft layers were AFC by a Ru interlayer. The magnetostatic field arising from such grains has a smaller influence on neighboring grains and recording layers during recording. Compared with single-layer recording media, the SNR of AFC media decreased much more slowly with increasing linear density, and AFC media SNR was superior at high densities. An example of an AFC medium with two recording layers is also presented.