Abstract: A perpendicular magnetic recording head includes a write pole designed to reduce or eliminate problems caused by stray magnetic fields. By positioning a write coil close to the air bearing surface of the recording head, and controlling the geometry of the write pole, the necessity of a return pole to provide a closed magnetic flux path through the write pole and the magnetic recording media is eliminated. The use of an open magnetic path produced by a single write pole reduces or eliminates problems caused by stray magnetic fields which, in conventional perpendicular magnetic recording head designs, travel through the soft magnetic underlayer of the recording media and enter the recording head through the return pole.

Abstract: Materials including alternating magnetic layers and spacer layers for use as a hard magnetic recording layer of a magnetic recording media are disclosed. The spacer layers as well as the magnetic layers are exchange decoupled. The spacer and magnetic layers include additives which are present in grain boundary regions throughout the layers. In a particular embodiment, the magnetic layers comprise Co, the spacer layers comprise Pd, and the additives comprise Cr, Pt, B, Ta, Nb or combinations thereof. In addition to forming grain boundaries that exchange decouple the magnetic and spacer layers, the additives may act as grain refiners.