The effect of oxygen incorporation on the crystallographic, magnetic, and recording performance of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) oxide media was investigated. The media were prepared by dc-magnetron sputtering of CoCrPt-SiO_(2) targets in an Ar/O_(2) gas mixture. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) detected Cr-O peaks in the sputtered film, whereas no strong evidence of SiO_(2) is seen. Moderate oxygen incorporation in the film (～15 at ) promotes Cr-O formation in the grain boundary and results in a dramatic increase of coercivity H_(c) and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). However, as the O_(2) content is further increased, oxide incorporates into the core of the grains, resulting in decreased H_(c), magnetization and SNR.
展开▼
