Room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs): media lubricants for Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR)?

RTIL nanofilms have been evaluated for potential application as HAMR lubricants. The experimental results showed that RTILs are thermally more stable than Zdol and Ztetraol. Based on a 0-order kinetic model, the best RTIL is estimated to be able to survive ~108-109 HAMR writes when the heating temperature is 400 °C. The RTILs containing fluorinated anions are readily solvable in Vertrel XF solvent and can be applied on the media by dip-coating. The lube uniformity of RTILs on COC is excellent and no dewetting is observed even when the RTIL nanofilm is as thick as 10 nm. The bonded ratio of RTILs is lower than Zdol/Ztetraol while the friction coefficient of RTILs is comparable to Zdol/Ztetraol.