Properties of longitudinal recording process at 100 Gb/in/sup 2/ and higher areal densities

A track trimming technique on a spin-stand tester has been used to understand magnetic recording behavior at high areal densities. Bit-error-rate (BER) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) were measured over a wide range of linear densities (300-750 kbpi) and trimmed-track widths (2-17 /spl mu/in) using an advanced head/media system. Monotonic degradation in BER and SNR was observed by increasing the linear density and/or reducing the trimmed-track width (TTW). These two-dimensional variations enable us to understand the necessary improvement needed for future areal densities. It also provides information about the optimal bit aspect ratio (BAR) and electronic/media noise distribution at high linear and track densities.