NEAR-FIELD OPTICAL-RECORDING - AN APPROACH TO 100 GBIT/IN(2) RECORDING

Near-field magneto-optical recording has been shown to be capable of recording and playing back domains in an array with 120 nm spacing between domain centers. This corresponds to a storage density of 45 Gbit/in(2). This demonstration was done using a scanning stage with piezo-electric drivers and had a very low data rate (<10 kHz). Here, the prospects for achieving a storage density of 100 Gbit/in(2) and at acceptable data rates (>10 MHz) are considered. It is shown that magneto-optical materials which will support stable 40 nm domains with 80 nm center-to-center spacing exist and that the shot noise limited signal-to-noise ratio from such materials should, in principle, be adequate to achieve data rates in excess of 100 MHz.