The recording performance of MAMMOS-type disks is investigated by computational modelling, and strategies for improving written bit shape and regularity are suggested. Laser power, record layer coercivity and record field waveform are found to be important in determining shape and regularity of recorded marks. The LP-MFM method is shown to be suitable for recording short marks with accurately located edges.
One of the most critical and effective parameters in increasing areal density is the flying height or spacing between the read-write head and the recording disk medium. As the flying height reduces to near contact, the head flies around 5 nm about the disk surface. To date, optical interferometry has been the major means for the characterization of this parameter. However, it is difficult to use it directly to measure the flying height on a sealed drive. To circumvent this limitation, a system based upon CD-ROM optics has been designed. The results from the system are correlated to measurements of suspension arm movement and disk flutter using poly-vinylidine-flouride (PVdF) strain sensors. A CD-ROM drive utilizes a laser with photodiodes to read data from the disk. The photo detector output responds linearly to changes in the lens-disk separation. In our system two CD-ROM heads are located within a rig that allows independent positioning in all three planes. The optics are configured to reflect off of a typical hard disk drive disk and the slider. To validate its performance a thin (110 micron) sheet of poly vinylidine flouride (PVdF) piezoelectric material is bonded to the suspension arm to measure the average induced strain. A further PVdF sensor was used to measure the edge displacement of the disk due to disk bending. The sensor used was in a cantilever configuration, with one end rigidly bonded to the drive chassis in a manner that pre-tensions the cantilever against the disk. Any movement of the disk would change the strain induced in the cantilever.
Scanning Laser Microscopes (SLM) have been used to characterise the magnetic domain properties of various magnetic and magneto-optical materials. The SLM in our laboratory has been designed to enable both static and dynamic read-write operations to be performed on stationary media. In a conventional (static) SLM, data bits are recorded thermo-magnetically by focusing a pulse of laser light onto the sample surface. If the laser beam has a Gaussian intensity distribution (TEM00) then so will the focused laser spot. The resultant temperature profile will largely mirror the intensity distribution of the focused spot, and in the region where the temperature is sufficiently high for switching to occur, in the presence of bias field, a circular data bit will be recorded. However, in a real magneto-optical drive the bits are written onto non-stationary media, and the resultant bit will be non-circular. A versatile optical system has been developed to facilitate both recording and imaging of data bits. To simulate the action of a Magneto-Optical drive, the laser is pulsed via an Acousto-Optic Modulator, whilst being scanned across the sample using a galvanometer mounted mirror, thus imitating a storage medium rotating above a MO head with high relative velocity between the beam and medium. Static recording is simply achieved by disabling the galvanometer scan mirror. Polar magneto-optic Kerr effect images are acquired using multiple-segment photo-detectors for diffraction-limited scanned spot detection, with either specimen scanning for highest resolution or beam scanning for near real-time image acquisition. Results will be presented to illustrate the systems capabilities.
A potential application for ferroelectric thin films is micro positioning and actuation, as in MEMS devices. The amount of actuation possible is determined by a number of factors: the piezoelectric coefficient d31, geometric factors and the compliance of both the actuator and cantilever and the electric field across the film. It is important for their realization as devices in applications that these micro-actuators are characterized. One such means is to use optical beam deflection (OBD). However, whilst extremely simple to implement, optical beam deflection does not provide an absolute measure of displacement. For absolute displacement measurement, with directional determination, a dual-beam normal incidence polarization interferometer is required. Based upon an interferometer developed in our laboratory to measure the flying height or head-disk spacing in a hard disk drive, an optical system is proposed which enables both an OBD and a polarization interferometer to be combined in one compact system. Details of both systems and are presented and the combined system described.
In this paper, we give a detailed analysis of the working principle, application limits, and potential problems of the intensity interferometry flying height testing, one of the most popularly used flying height testing techniques. Then, a phase-shift method is proposed to improve the sensitivity of this technique when the head-disk spacing is below 10 nm or near contact, based on manufacturing the glass testing disk to have a thickness within specified tolerances. Theoretical analysis and numerical evaluation are presented.
A novel, differential focus error detection scheme for use in optical recording applications is described. The technique is based on the depth-discrimination property of confocal optical systems. A simple theoretical treatment is used to predict the form of the focus error signal, which is also investigated experimentally using a scanning optical microscope. The focus error response is found to exhibit a more than adequate lock-on range and gain, and is expected to be less sensitive to tracking feedthrough and other forms of cross-talk.
The design and application of scanning probe microscope primarily intended for topographic, magnetic force and magneto-optical investigations of magnetic thin films is described. A microfabricated silicon tip is scanned across the sample of interest, and the tip deflection detected using a modified form of the den Boef twin beam interferometric system. Initial studies of the recorded bit structure in magnetic and magneto-optic storage media, and the magnetic field from a thin film recording head are reported.
A scanning laser microscope (SLM) capable of performing a wide range of in-situ recording tests on magneto-optic storage media is described, and the results of such tests presented.
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