Magnetic and recording properties of [(CoCrPt).sub.1-x] [(Si[O.sub.2]).sub.x] media

In this work, we report on the determination of the optimum level of Si[O.sub.2] in [(CoCrPt).sub.1-x] [(Si[O.sub.2]).sub.x] perpendicular recording media. We have determined the optimum level via studies of magnetic viscosity which have been compared to recording properties. We find that the optimum level of Si[O.sub.2] is of the order of 10%. At this level, studies of the activation volume of reversal show that the grains become essentially exchange decoupled and that a further increase in the level of Si[O.sub.2] produces no further improvement in the decoupling. We also find that this level of Si[O.sub.2] corresponds to optimum recording performance and that increasing the level of Si[O.sub.2] further results in the production of a system with smaller grains where thermal loss is observed to increase dramatically. Index Terms--Activation volume, intergranular coupling, magnetic characterization, perpendicular recording media.