Perpendicular magnetic recording medium with exchange-coupled magnetic layers and improved coupling layer

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to perpendicular magnetic recording media, and more particularly to a disk with a perpendicular magnetic recording layer for use in magnetic recording hard disk drives.

2. Description of the Related Art

Perpendicular magnetic recording, wherein the recorded bits are stored in the generally planar recording layer in a generally perpendicular or out-of-plane orientation (i.e., other than parallel to the surfaces of the disk substrate and the recording layer), is a promising path toward ultra-high recording densities in magnetic recording hard disk drives. A common type of perpendicular magnetic recording system is one that uses a “dual-layer” medium. This type of system is shown in FIG. 1 with a single write pole type of recording head. The dual-layer medium includes a perpendicular magnetic data recording layer (RL) on a “soft” or relatively low-coercivity magnetically permeable underlayer (SUL) formed on the substrate.

One type of material for the RL is a granular ferromagnetic cobalt alloy, such as a CoPtCr alloy, with a hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) crystalline structure having the c-axis oriented generally perpendicular or to the RL. The granular cobalt alloy RL should also have a well-isolated fine-grain structure to produce a high-coercivity media and to reduce intergranular exchange coupling, which is responsible for high intrinsic media noise. Enhancement of grain segregation in the cobalt alloy RL can be achieved by the addition of oxides, including oxides of Si, Ta, Ti, Nb, Cr, V, and B. These oxides tend to precipitate to the grain boundaries, and together with the elements of the cobalt alloy form nonmagnetic intergranular material.

The SUL serves as a flux return path for the field from the write pole to the return pole of the recording head. In FIG. 1 , the RL is illustrated with perpendicularly recorded or magnetized regions, with adjacent regions having opposite magnetization directions, as represented by the arrows. The magnetic transitions between adjacent oppositely-directed magnetized regions are detectable by the read element or head as the recorded bits.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a cross-section of a prior art perpendicular magnetic recording disk showing the write field H acting on the recording layer RL. The disk also includes the hard disk substrate that provides a generally planar surface for the subsequently deposited layers. The generally planar layers formed on the surface of the substrate also include a seed or onset layer (OL) for growth of the SUL, an exchange break layer (EBL) to break the magnetic exchange coupling between the magnetically permeable films of the SUL and the RL and to facilitate epitaxial growth of the RL, and a protective overcoat (OC). As shown in FIG. 2 , the RL is located inside the gap of the “apparent” recording head (ARH), which allows for significantly higher write fields compared to longitudinal or in-plane recording. The ARH comprises the write pole ( FIG. 1 ) which is the real write head (RWH) above the disk, and a secondary write pole (SWP) beneath the RL. The SWP is facilitated by the SUL, which is decoupled from the RL by the EBL and produces a magnetic mirror image of the RWH during the write process. This effectively brings the RL into the gap of the ARH and allows for a large write field H inside the RL. However, this geometry also results in the write field H inside the RL being oriented nearly normal to the surface of the substrate and the surface of the RL, i.e., along the perpendicular easy axis of the RL grains, as shown by typical grain 1 with easy axis 2 . The nearly parallel alignment of the write field H and the RL easy axis has the disadvantage that relatively high write fields are necessary to reverse the magnetization because minimal torque is exerted onto the grain magnetization. Also, a write-field/easy-axis alignment increases the magnetization reversal time of the RL grains, as described by M. Benakli et al., IEEE Trans. MAG 37, 1564 (2001).

For these reasons, “tilted” media have been theoretically proposed, as described by K.-Z. Gao et al., IEEE Trans. MAG 39, 704 (2003), in which the magnetic easy axis of the RL is tilted at an angle of about 45 degrees with respect to the surface normal, so that magnetization reversal can be accomplished with a lower write field and without an increase in the reversal time. While there is no known fabrication process to make high-quality recording media with a tilted easy axis, there have been proposals to achieve a magnetic behavior that emulates tilted media using a media structure compatible with conventional media fabrication techniques. In one technique, the perpendicular recording medium is a composite medium of two ferromagnetically exchange-coupled magnetic layers with substantially different anisotropy fields (H k ). (The anisotropy field H k of a ferromagnetic layer with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy K u is the magnetic field that would need to be applied along the easy axis to switch the magnetization direction.) Magnetic simulation of this composite medium shows that in the presence of a uniform write field H the magnetization of the lower-H k layer will rotate first and assist in the reversal of the magnetization of the higher-H k layer. This behavior, sometimes called the “exchange-spring” behavior, and various types of composite media are described by R. H. Victora et al., “Composite Media for Perpendicular Magnetic Recording”, IEEE Trans MAG 41 (2), 537-542, February 2005; and J. P. Wang et al., “Composite media (dynamic tilted media) for magnetic recording”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 86 (14) Art. No. 142504, Apr. 4, 2005.

Pending application Ser. No. 11/231,516, published as US2006/0177704A1 on Aug. 10, 2006 and assigned to the same assignee as this application, describes an exchange-spring perpendicular magnetic recording medium with two magnetic layers with substantially different anisotropy fields coupled together by a CoRu or CoCr coupling layer. The Ser. No. 11/231,516 application is a continuation-in-part of pending application Ser. No. 11/051,536, published as US2006/0177700A1 on Aug. 10, 2006, which describes a horizontal magnetic recording medium with a high-moment upper magnetic layer exchange-coupled to a high-H k lower magnetic layer by a coupling layer of CoRu (Ru between 25 and 70 atomic percent) or CoCr (Cr between 26 and 40 atomic percent). Pending application Ser. No. 11/372,295, filed Mar. 9, 2006 and assigned to the same assignee as this application, describes an exchange-spring perpendicular magnetic recording medium with two magnetic layers with substantially the same anisotropy fields coupled together by a coupling layer formed of RuCo or RuCoCr alloys with low Co content (<about 60 atomic percent), or CoCr or CoCrB alloys with high Cr and/or B content (Cr plus B>about 30 atomic percent).

What is needed is an exchange-spring type of perpendicular magnetic recording medium with an improved coupling layer that results in a medium with optimal exchange coupling and magnetic performance as well as good corrosion resistance.

The invention is a perpendicular magnetic recording medium having an “exchange-spring” type magnetic recording layer (RL) with an improved coupling layer (CL). The RL includes the first or lower ferromagnetic layer MAG 1 , sometimes called the “media” layer, the second or upper ferromagnetic layer MAG 2 , sometimes called the “exchange-spring” layer, and the intermediate CL that provides ferromagnetic exchange coupling between MAG 1 and MAG 2 . The CL is below MAG 2 and sustains the growth of MAG 2 while mediating an optimized level of ferromagnetic coupling between MAG 2 and MAG 1 , that is not too strong to enable incoherent reversal and not too weak to allow for a substantial write assist effect. The CL is formed of NiCr or RuCr based alloys, or CoCr or CoCrB alloys with high Cr and/or B content (Cr plus B>about 25 atomic percent), RuCoCr alloys with sufficiently low Co content (<about 65 atomic percent), or RuCo alloys with sufficiently low Co content (<about 70 atomic percent). For each CL composition there is a CL thickness range that provides the optimal interlayer exchange coupling between MAG 1 and MAG 2 . The selected CL materials provide an exchange-type perpendicular magnetic recording medium with good magnetic performance, while the relatively high amount of Cr of the CL improves the corrosion resistance of the medium.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken together with the accompanying figures.

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a prior art perpendicular magnetic recording system.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a cross-section of a prior art perpendicular magnetic recording disk showing the write field H acting on the recording layer (RL).

FIG. 3A is a schematic of a cross-section of a prior art perpendicular magnetic recording disk with an exchange-spring recording layer (RL) made up of two ferromagnetically exchange-coupled magnetic layers (MAG 1 and MAG 2 ).

FIG. 3B is a schematic of a cross-section of a perpendicular magnetic recording disk with an exchange-spring recording layer (RL) made up of two magnetic layers (MAG 1 and MAG 2 ) separated by a ferromagnetic coupling layer (CL), and the fields H 1 and H 2 acting on MAG 1 and MAG 2 , respectively.

FIGS. 4A-4C are graphs of saturation field Hs as a function of CL thickness for three tested CL materials, specifically Ni 80 Cr 20 , Co 66 Cr 34 and Co 63 Cr 37 .

FIGS. 5A-5C are signal saturation curves for the three tested CL materials of Ni 80 Cr 20 , Co 66 Cr 34 and Co 63 Cr 37 .

FIGS. 6A-6C are graphs of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in units of 2T SNR as a function of CL thickness for the three tested CL materials of Ni 80 Cr 20 , Co 66 Cr 34 and Co 63 Cr 37 .

FIGS. 7A-7C are graphs of the bit error rate (BER) (logarithmic) as a function of CL thickness for the three tested CL materials of Ni 80 Cr 20 , Co 66 Cr 34 and Co 63 Cr 37 .

FIG. 3A is a schematic of a cross-section of a perpendicular magnetic recording disk according to the prior art with an exchange-spring recording layer (RL) made up of two ferromagnetically exchange-coupled magnetic layers (MAG 1 and MAG 2 ). MAG 1 , sometimes called the exchange-spring layer, and MAG 2 , sometimes called the media layer, each has perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. However, MAG 1 and MAG 2 have different magnetic properties, so that they respond differently to the applied write field. For example, one of MAG 1 and MAG 2 can be magnetically soft and the other magnetically hard. With a proper interlayer exchange coupling between the grains in MAG 1 and MAG 2 , the soft grains will rotate first under the applied write field, while at the same time providing an exchange field to the hard grains to effectively tilt their easy axis, thus assisting in the magnetization reversal of the grains in the hard layer. In the prior art disk of FIG. 3A the two magnetic layers MAG 1 and MAG 2 are in contact and are directly exchange-coupled without an intermediate coupling layer.

FIG. 3B illustrates an exchange-spring medium like that described in the previously-cited pending application Ser. Nos. 11/231,516 and 11/372,295 wherein a coupling layer (CL) is located between MAG 1 and MAG 2 . The composite RL has at least two ferromagnetically exchange-coupled magnetic layers (MAG 1 and MAG 2 ), each with generally perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, that are separated by the CL. The CL provides the appropriate ferromagnetic coupling strength between the magnetic layers. As shown in the expanded portion of FIG. 3B , a typical grain 10 in MAG 2 has a generally perpendicular or out-of-plane magnetization along an easy axis 12 , and is acted upon by a write field H 2 . A typical grain 20 in MAG 1 below the MAG 2 grain 10 also has a perpendicular magnetization along an easy axis 22 , and is acted upon by a write field H 1 that is less than H 2 as a result of MAG 1 being farther from the write head than MAG 2 . In the presence of the applied write field H 2 , the MAG 2 acts as a write assist layer by exerting a magnetic torque onto MAG 1 that assists in reversing the magnetization of MAG 1 . In this non-coherent reversal of the magnetizations of MAG 1 and MAG 2 , MAG 2 changes its magnetization orientation in response to a write field and in turn amplifies the “torque,” or reverse field, exerted on MAG 1 , causing MAG 1 to change its magnetization direction in response to a weaker write field.

As described in pending application Ser. No. 11/231,516, MAG 2 would have a lower H k than MAG 1 and would rotate first and assist in the reversal of the magnetization of the higher-H k MAG 1 . As described in pending application Ser. No. 11/372,295, the write field acting on MAG 1 can be significantly less than the write field acting on MAG 2 in a realistic write head structure, so that non-coherent reversal can be achieved even though MAG 1 can have substantially the same H k as MAG 2 , resulting in overall improved writability due to the torque created by the magnetization reversal of MAG 2 .

This invention is a perpendicular magnetic recording medium substantially as described with respect to FIG. 3B , but wherein the coupling layer CL has an improved composition range and thickness range to provide proper magnetic performance as well as improved corrosion resistance.

A representative disk structure for the invention will now be described. The hard disk substrate may be any commercially available glass substrate, but may also be a conventional aluminum alloy with a NiP surface coating, or an alternative substrate, such as silicon, canasite or silicon-carbide.

The adhesion layer or OL for the growth of the SUL may be an AlTi alloy or a similar material with a thickness of about 2-8 nm. The SUL may be formed of magnetically permeable materials such as alloys of CoNiFe, FeCoB, CoCuFe, NiFe, FeAlSi, FeTaN, FeN, FeTaC, CoTaZr, CoFeTaZr, CoFeB, and CoZrNb. The SUL may also be a laminated or multilayered SUL formed of multiple soft magnetic films separated by nonmagnetic films, such as electrically conductive films of Al or CoCr. The SUL may also be a laminated or multilayered SUL formed of multiple soft magnetic films separated by interlayer films that mediate an antiferromagnetic coupling, such as Ru, Ir, or Cr or alloys thereof.

The EBL is located on top of the SUL. It acts to break the magnetic exchange coupling between the magnetically permeable films of the SUL and the RL and also serves to facilitate epitaxial growth of the RL. The EBL may not be necessary, but if used it can be a nonmagnetic titanium (Ti) layer; a non-electrically-conducting material such as Si, Ge and SiGe alloys; a metal such as Cr, Ru, W, Zr, Nb, Mo, V and Al; a metal alloy such as amorphous CrTi and NiP; an amorphous carbon such as CN x , CH x and C; or oxides, nitrides or carbides of an element selected from the group consisting of Si, Al, Zr, Ti, and B. If an EBL is used, a seed layer may be used on top of the SUL before deposition of the EBL. For example, if Ru is used as the EBL, a 2-8 nm thick NiFe or NiW seed layer may be deposited on top of the SUL, followed by a 5-30 nm thick Ru EBL. Further, the EBL may include multiple layers.

The MAG 1 and MAG 2 layers may be formed of any of the known amorphous or crystalline materials and structures that exhibit perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Thus, the MAG 1 and MAG 2 may each be a layer of granular polycrystalline cobalt alloy, such as a CoPt or CoPtCr alloy, with a suitable segregant such as oxides of Si, Ta, Ti, Nb, Cr, V and B. Also, MAG 1 and MAG 2 may each be composed of multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, such as Co/Pt, Co/Pd, Fe/Pt and Fe/Pd multilayers, which may or may not contain a suitable segregant such as the materials mentioned above. In addition, perpendicular magnetic layers containing rare earth elements are useable for MAG 1 and MAG 2 , such as CoSm, TbFe, TbFeCo, GdFe alloys. MAG 1 and MAG 2 may have substantially different magnetic properties, such as different anisotropy fields (H k ), to assure that they respond differently to the applied write field and thereby exhibit the exchange-spring behavior to improve writability. MAG 1 and MAG 2 may also have substantially the same anisotropy field H k , meaning that the H k value for the layer with the lower H k is at least 70% (and up to at least 90%) of the H k value for the layer with the higher H k , and still exhibit the exchange-spring behavior as described above for the medium shown in FIG. 3B .

The MAG 2 layer may be in particular an alloy including Co, Cr, Pt, and B. The range for the elements in the MAG 2 layer is as follows: Cr between about 10 to 16 atomic percent (at. %), Pt between about 15 to 21 at. %, and B between about 4 to 11 at. %, with the balance of the composition of the MAG 2 layer being Co. The preferred range for the elements in the MAG 2 layer is as follows: 11≦Cr≦15 at. %, 16≦Pt≦20 at. %, and 5≦B≦10 at. % with the balance of the composition of the MAG 2 layer being Co. Other elements such as Cu and Ta may additionally be added to the alloy in amounts less than 10 at. % and more preferably less than 4 at. %.

The advantage of a MAG 2 layer of a CoCrPtB alloy is to improve the corrosion resistance and the mechanical performance of the media while maintaining good recording qualities. The smoothness of the CoCrPtB layer tends to improve the corrosion resistance of the media.

The OC formed on top of the RL may be an amorphous “diamond-like” carbon film or other known protective overcoats, such as Si-nitride.

Because the CL is below MAG 2 , it should be able to sustain the growth of MAG 2 , while mediating a ferromagnetic coupling of appropriate strength between the MAG 2 and MAG 1 . Hexagonal-close-packed (hcp) materials can mediate a sufficiently weak ferromagnetic coupling and provide a good template for the growth of MAG 2 . Face-centered-cubic (fcc) materials enable a ferromagnetic coupling between magnetic layers of tunable strength (i.e., they reduce the coupling by increasing the thickness) and are compatible with growth of MAG 2 . Because the CL must enable an appropriate coupling strength, it should be either nonmagnetic or weakly ferromagnetic. In this invention, the CL may be formed of NiCr or RuCr based alloys, or CoCr or CoCrB alloys with sufficiently high Cr and/or B content (Cr+B>about 25 atomic percent), or RuCoCr alloys with sufficiently low Co content (<about 65 atomic percent).

To achieve higher corrosion resistance, several CL materials with a considerable amount of Cr were tested and found to produce excellent recording properties, as demonstrated by FIGS. 4-7 . Also, from a growth point of view, these CL materials have either hcp or fcc crystalline structures and preferably small lattice mismatch with the adjacent CoPtCr alloy (with or without an oxide) media layer (MAG 1 ) and exchange-spring layer (MAG 2 ), so that the RL structure represents a MAG 1 /CL/MAG 2 growth sequence.

FIGS. 4A-4C are graphs of saturation field Hs as a function of CL thickness for three tested CL materials (Ni 80 Cr 20 ; Co 66 Cr 34 ; and Co 63 Cr 37 ). The media structures (SUL/EBL/12 nm Ta-oxide-containing MAG 1 /CL/4 nm Si-oxide-containing MAG 2 ) show a pronounced minimum of the saturation field Hs at an intermediate CL thickness (different for different CL materials) caused by the non-uniform magnetization reversal process that is facilitated by the optimal interlayer coupling. This fact is equally reflected in FIGS. 5A-5C , which are signal saturation curves for the three tested CL materials and which demonstrate that a CL of optimal thickness improves the media writability substantially, as compared to both fully-coupled structures (no CL) and very weakly-coupled structures.

FIGS. 6A-6C are graphs of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in units of 2T SNR as a function of CL thickness for the three tested CL materials. 2T SNR is the ratio of the signal to the media noise at half the target density (which was 1060 thousand flux changes/per inch (kfci) for these measurements). The improved SNR for the optimal CL thicknesses is due to a narrower switching field distribution. FIGS. 7A-7C are graphs of the bit error rate (BER) (logarithmic) as a function of CL thickness for the three tested CL materials and show the improved BER at the optimal CL thicknesses.

In addition to the specifically tested NiCr material, additional CL materials include an alloy consisting essentially of only Ni and Cr (with Cr greater than about 8 atomic percent), NiCr-based alloys that may include one or more elements (e.g., Fe, Co, or W), an alloy consisting essentially of only Ru and Cr (with Cr greater than about 20 atomic percent), and RuCr-based alloys that may include one or more elements (e.g., Ni, Re, or W). In addition to the specifically tested CoCr materials, additional CL materials include an alloy consisting essentially of only Co and Cr (with Cr greater than about 25 atomic percent), and an alloy consisting essentially of only Co, Cr and B (with Cr plus B greater than about 25 atomic percent).

The CL material may also be a RuCoCr alloy with low Co content (<about 65 atomic percent). In another tested RL structure, the CL was nonmagnetic Ru 50 Co 30 Cr 20 , MAG 1 was a 13 nm thick Co 57 Pt 18 Cr 17 (SiO 2 ) 8 layer, and MAG 2 was a 3 nm thick Co 57 Pt 18 Cr 17 (SiO 2 ) 8 layer. This structure exhibited optimal SNR with CL thickness in the range of about 0.4 to 0.7 nm.

Depending on the choice of material for CL, the CL may have a thickness of less than about 4 nm, and more preferably between about 0.3 nm and 2.5 nm. As shown by the data in FIGS. 4-7 , the optimal thickness range for each of the three tested CL materials is approximately 1.2 to 1.7 nm for Ni 80 Cr 20 , 1.5 to 2.2 nm for Co 66 Cr 34 , and 1.2 to 1.8 nm for Co 63 Cr 37 . The inter-layer exchange coupling between MAG 1 and MAG 2 may be optimized, in part, by adjusting the materials and thickness of the CL. The CL should provide a coupling strength sufficient to have a considerable effect on the switching field (and the switching field distribution), but small enough to not couple the MAG 1 and MAG 2 layers rigidly together. Also, the appropriate CL thickness will depend on the specific MAG 1 and MAG 2 material used, and could be substantially different from the specific numbers shown here, while staying within the overall preferred thickness range of 0.3 nm to 2.5 nm.

While the invention has been shown and described with an RL having only two magnetic layers and one CL, the RL may have three or more magnetic layers, with additional CLs as required to mediate an appropriate level of exchange coupling between adjacent magnetic layers.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the disclosed invention is to be considered merely as illustrative and limited in scope only as specified in the appended claims.