The effect of high deposition energy of carbon overcoats on perpendicular magnetic recording media

High-energy carbon deposition techniques provide thin overcoats with high corrosion and wear protection for magnetic recording media applications. The effect of high-energy ( 0-300 V substrate bias) deposition on the implantation induced changes in magnetic and structural properties of granular perpendicular magnetic recording media is studied. To observe subtle changes in a thin region of recording media, antiferromagnetically coupled layer structure was used. Clear changes in the magnetic properties, observed as a function of the carbon deposition energy, correlate with other measurements such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, indicating the need to consider such effects when designing media and overcoat. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.