26.5 Gb/in(2) areal-density longitudinal thin film media

A 26.5 Gb/in(2) areal-density demonstration was made using low-noise, therm ally stable media and advanced dual-spin-valve heads. The demonstration was achieved at a linear density of 504 kbpi, a track density of 52.6 ktpi, an d a data transfer rate of 230 Mb/s, The media had M(r)t of 0.40 memu/cm(2) and coercivity of 2500 Oe, and were composed of a dual-magnetic-layer struc ture with a five-element magnetic alloy. It was observed that smaller, unif orm and isolated magnetic grains are critical to reducing the media noise a nd for designing ultra-high areal-density recording media that are thermall y stable.