Far-field head-media optical interaction in heat-assisted magnetic recording.

ABSTRACT

We have used a plane wave expansion method to theoretically study the far-field head-media optical interaction in heat-assisted magnetic recording. For the Advanced Storage Technology Consortium media stack specifically, we notice the outstanding sensitivity related to the interlayer's optical thickness for media reflection and the magnetic layer's light absorption. With 10 nm interlayer thickness change, the recording layer absorption can be changed by more than 25%. The 2D results are found to correlate well with the full 3D model and magnetic recording tests on a flyable disc with different interlayer thickness.