Noise due to particle distributions in metal-particle media

Noise is a concern when it comes to storing data because noise can cause a corrupted signal and, therefore, lost data. Micromagnetic simulation was used to gain insight and understanding of particulate media noise due to nonuniform particle distribution. These distributions result in a spatial fluctuation of the anisotropy field and orientation of the particles, which introduces randomness into the recording process. The effect of the randomness (i.e., noise) on the recording process was studied, as were effects of reduced media thickness and improved particle alignment on the noise level and record nonlinearity. Effect of the noise on write-equalized recordings was also investigated. The focus of the paper is on thin metal-particle media.