NANOLITHOGRAPHICALLY DEFINED MAGNETIC-STRUCTURES AND QUANTUM MAGNETICDISK

Isolated and interactive arrays of magnetic nanostructures as small as 15 nm are fabricated using nanolithography and related technologies, and are characterized using magnetic force microscopy. It has been dem onstrated that manipulating the size, aspect ratio, and spacing of the se nanostructures can lead to unique control of their magnetic propert ies. A quantum magnetic disk based on discrete single-domain nanomagne tic structures with storage density of 65 Gbits/in.(2) is demonstrated along with a low-cost method for mass producing such disks. Other imp acts that nanofabrication can bring to the development of future magne tic storage are discussed. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.