Dynamic Write/Read Characteristics of Alumina Nanohole Patterned Media With a Soft Underlayer Measured With a Perpendicular Magnetic Head

We present dynamic write/read characteristics of alumina nanohole patterned media having a soft magnetic underlayer (SUL), which offer good flyability of a perpendicular magnetic head with a flight height of 10 nm. Increase in the head-field gradient in the recording layer owing to the SUL was confirmed by measurements of signal-to-noise ratio and isolated magnetic transition width. The writability of the magnetic nanopillars was clearly demonstrated by visualization of the recorded patterns with a magnetic force microscope