Molecular Dynamic Simulation on Combustion Process of Silicon-Doped Amorphous Carbon Film for Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording

Reactive molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are performed to investigate combustion process of silicon-doped amorphous carbon (a-C:Si) films for heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR). The evolution of atomic structure, system potential energy, O
₂
molecules consumption, number of Si-O bond and C-O bond are analyzed. The silica suboxide layers on the surfaces act as protecting layers and prevent the oxidation of carbon atoms at low temperatures. The a-C:Si film burns when temperature is above 1600 K. And it can be used as protective coating of HAMR disk.