Multilevel magnetic media in continuous and patterned films with out-of-plane magnetization

In conventional high-density magnetic media, information is stored in the form of magnetic domains oriented in two possible remanent states along an easy axis of anisotropy. In order to further increase the areal density keeping the same bit size, multilevel magnetic media consisting of N decoupled ferromagnetic storage layers (N >= 2) with different coercivities can be used. In such a case, the recording media exhibit up to 2(N) stable remanent states. In this study, decoupled (Co/Pt) multilayers systems with perpendicular anisotropy have been sputtered on continuous silicon substrates and arrays of pre-patterned silicon nanodots in order to achieve magnetic continuous and patterned multilevel media. These media were characterized from a magnetic point of view. (c) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.