Magnetic Cluster Size 'Knee' Analysis for Small Grain Continuous Media

By analyzing the magnetic cluster size of various media, we have investigated the variation of inter-granular exchange coupling with grain size. With the reduction of the grain size below 8.0 nm, higher inter-granular exchange coupled media showed a large increase in magnetic cluster size, while lower exchange media did not show as dramatic a cluster size change. This cluster size “knee” position was consistent with reduction in signal-to-noise ratio. To utilize small grain media for high density recording, it is desirable to push this “knee” position toward smaller grain size.