Phase-change wet-etching technology using GeSbTe phase-change films is developed. Selective etching between an amorphous and a crystalline phase can be carried out with an alkaline etchant of NaOH. Etching selectivity is dependent not only on the concentration of the alkaline etchant but also on the film structure. Specifically, metal films for heat control cause marked effects on the etching properties of GeSbTe film. Surviving amorphous pits can be obtained with Al metal layer, however etched amorphous pits are seen with Ag metal layer. An opposite selective etching behavior can be observed between samples with two different metal layers.

We report the readout stability improvement results of super-resolution near field structure (Super-RENS) writeonce read-many (WORM) disk at a blue laser optical system. (Laser wavelength 405nm, numerical aperture 0.85) By using diffusion barrier structure (GeSbTe sandwiched by GeN) and high transition temperature recording material (), material diffusion of phase change layer and recording mark degradation were greatly improved during high power (Pr=2.0mW) readout process up to times.

Boron nitride (BN) is a highly attractive material for wear resistant applications of mechanical components. BN is super hard and it is the second hardest of all known materials. It also has a high thermal stability, high abrasive wear resistance, and in contrast to diamond, BN does not react with ferrous materials. The motivation of this work is to investigate the tribological properties of BN for potential applications in ultra-precision components for data storage, printing, and other precision devices. In this work, the wear characteristics of BN thin films deposited on DLC or Ti buffer layer with silicon substrate using RF-magnetron sputtering technique were analyzed. Wear tests were conducted by using a pin-on-disk type tester and the wear tracks were measured with a surface profiler. Experimental results showed that wear characteristics were dependent on the sputtering conditions and buffer layer. Particularly, BN coated on DLC layer showed better wear resistant behavior. The range of the wear rates for the BN films tested in this work was about 20 to /cycle.

Using a Shack-Hartmann sensor and sub-wavelength sized pinhole point source, we develope an optical testing system that measures the wavefront error of high numerical aperture and small sized optical components. The subwavelength sized pinhole generates perfect spherical waves with large diffraction angle and this makes possible to test high numerical aperture optics. The Shack-Hartmann sensor reconstructs the wavefront and calculates the aberrations. We make a home-made reference plane wave source which generates nearly perfect plane waves and the calibration with this plane source gives the overall uncertainty of the optical testing system 0.010 rms.

In recent years new recording media and materials for head-disk interface (HDI) have been developed in order to increase the recording density of storage devices and decrease the cost of production. It is well known that HDI in hard disk drive (HDD) needs high durability and stability. The tribological characteristic of commercialized HDI systems is an important indicator of the HDD reliability. In this study, experimental investigation on the wear coefficient of commercialized hard disk slider pads was performed. The slider was placed on top of a hard disk and allowed to slide for a set distance. The wear of the pads was measured after the sliding tests. The result showed that the micro-bumps in commercialized HDD have extremely low wear coefficient of . The results of this work may be used for further development of the HDI technology for HDD.

In this paper, we analyzed the effect of the pattern height on the readback signal characteristics of the magnetic nanopillar tops and trench bottoms. In addition, we discuss the applicability of the present method to the production of patterned magnetic media, which can be obtained by depositing magnetic thin films on the molded nanopillars with passive heating. We found that the individual magnetic island deposited on each molded nanopillars with passive heating is a single magnetic domain and confirmed that its magnetization can be successfully reversed by applying an external magnetic field.

Perpendicular patterned magnetic media have been regarded as a prime candidate to achieve an ultra-high magnetic recording density of over 1 Tera-bits/. Patterned magnetic media with nanoscale patterns have been fabricated using various nanopatterning technologies. We focused on the two technical issues of nanoinjection molding technology. Firstly, we have investigated a cost-effective method to fabricate metallic stamps. Secondly, we focused on the analysis of nanoinjection molding with passive heating, where the replication of 50 nm nanopillar arrays was successful. The effect of the thermal insulation layer on the replication quality was examined by analytical and experimental methods. Finally, we deposited a magnetic layer on a injection molded nanopillars and measured. Our methodology can provide cost-effective mass-production for patterned magnetic media.