Effect of island distribution on error rate performance in patterned media

The size, shape, and distribution of islands in a patterned medium depends on the patterning process adopted. The off-track performance in this case is mainly dominated by inter-track interference due to the neighboring islands. In this paper, the effect that the island distribution has on the off-track performance is investigated with respect to read channel bit-error-rate performance.

I. Introduction

The use of patterned media offers the potential to extend data storage capabilities beyond that achievable using conventional continuous media; in particular with regards to the circumvention of the superparamagnetic limit [1]. Considerable attention has been directed toward the fabrication of such media and a number of techniques have been documented to produce patterned structures of varying size, shape, and distribution. However, little effort, apart from the work of Hughes [2], has been aimed at understanding the replay and data recovery processes from such media. In particular, how the characteristics of the medium can influence the off-track performance of the data recovery channel.