Recording physics of perpendicular media: hard layers

The results of both theoretical and experimental studies of some of the key issues related to the hard layer in perpendicular magnetic recording are presented. Among the discussed issues are the guidelines and underlying physics for choosing the optimized recording layer parameters such as thickness, specific magnetic properties. types of recording layer material, etc. Special attention is given to the physical phenomena and parameters that define the optimum thickness of the recording layer. To stress the specific aspects of the recording physics native only to perpendicular recording, a comparison between perpendicular and longitudinal media is carried out throughout the work. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.