HAMR Recording Limitations and Extendibility

Abstract

Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) limitations and extendibility are studied in light of the recent 1.0 Tb/in <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> technology demonstration. The paper examines HAMR specific technology challenges, including switching field distributions at elevated temperature, saturation noise, and near-field transducer (NFT) thermal spot-size limits. While current HAMR recording density ( ~ 1 Tb/in <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> ) is limited by switching field distribution and thermal spot size, ultimate HAMR density (up to 5 Tb/in <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> ) is determined by achievable recording-layer magnetic anisotropy and grain size.