Micromagnetic simulations of discrete track media

Abstract Discrete track media were simulated and compared with conventional, continuous media. The optimum write pole width was determined for discrete track media with 60 nm land/30 nm grooves, subject to the condition that there be no adjacent track erasure. Under optimal conditions discrete track media outperformed continuous media in terms of both on-track and off-track SNR. The performance difference became greater at higher linear densities, demonstrating the potential of discrete track media.