Abstract
Magnetic force microscopy measurements of perpendicular media with a CoCr-based hard layer and a CoFe soft underlayer has been made to investigate skew angle effects. The recorded tracks were produced using a focused ion beam made single pole head with a track width of approximately 400 nm and a gap thickness of approximately 1 mum at a 25 nm hying height. Magnetic force microscopy images of tracks recorded at write currents above and below the saturation value of approximately 100 mA turn were studied at different values of the linear density, 20-100 kfci, at zero skew angle as well as -15degrees and +15degrees. Calculated perpendicular recording fields versus the distance down the track, and across the track, near the trailing pole edge was performed using three-dimensional boundary element modeling and compared to the results from the microscopy data. Drawbacks and possible solutions to the skew angle problem for perpendicular recording are discussed. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.
