Today magnetic recording is still the leading technology for mass data storage. Its dominant role is being reinforced by the success of cloud computing, which requires storing and managing huge amounts of data on a multitude of servers. Nonetheless, the hard-disk storage industry is presently at a crossroads as the current magnetic recording technologies are unable of achieving densities beyond 1 Tbit/in2.
Pushing the recording density in the terabit regime requires new storage materials, novel recording schemes, and media designs in order to solve signal-to-noise ratio, thermal stability, and writability issues. In this book, worldwide experts from universities, public research institutions, and industry collaborate to illustrate the most recent progresses in magnetic recording from the media perspective and to highlight the future prospects of the technology. Theoretical, experimental, and technological aspects are covered in a clear and comprehensive way, making the book a useful reference for final-year undergraduates, postgraduates, and research professionals in the magnetic recording area.
The first two chapters introduce the fundamentals of magnetism and magnetic recording and are useful to guide the reader in the chapters that follow. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 focus on the materials for conventional perpendicular recording media, next-generation recording media, and exchange-coupled composite media. The most promising technologies for next-generation magnetic recording, i.e., energy assisted and bit-patterned recording, are extensively treated in chapters 6 and 7, while chapter 8 covers the techniques and protocols for magnetic characterization of recording media. Finally, chapter 9 gives an overview of the emerging classes of magnetic memories.
About the Author: Gaspare Varvaro is a research scientist at the Institute for Structure of Matter of the Italian National Research Council (ISM-CNR). He obtained his PhD in materials science (preparation and investigation of CoPt films for ultrahigh-density magnetic recording media) from La Sapienza University in 2007. His main research interest is in the study of magnetic properties of nanostructured single-phase and composite materials (thin films, multilayers, nanoparticles, nanopatterned systems) for fundamental studies and applications (information storage, energy, sensors, biomedicine). He is the author of more than 30 peer-reviewed papers and 1 book chapter on the subject.
Francesca Casoli is a research scientist at the Institute of Materials for Electronics and Magnetism (IMEM-CNR). She obtained her PhD in physics from the University of Parma in 2005, investigating magnetic thin films and multilayers with perpendicular anisotropy and exchange-spring properties. Her main research interest is in the design and study of magnetic thin films, nanostructures, and nanocomposites with new functional properties. She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers on the correlation between nanoscale structure and magnetic properties in materials for magnetic recording, sensors/actuators, and biomedicine.
