Cubic anisotropy media for microwave assisted magnetic recording

Microwave-assisted magnetic recording using media containing cubic anisotropy materials was investigated. A comparison of grains with either uniaxial or cubic anisotropy showed larger coercivity reductions could be obtained when using cubic anisotropy grains. Composite recording media consisting of a hard layer with cubic anisotropy and a soft layer with uniaxial anisotropy gave higher SNR than composite media in which the hard and soft layers both had uniaxial anisotropy. One possible drawback was the lower energy barrier of media containing cubic anisotropy material.