Patents by Inventor Akira Sakawaki

Akira Sakawaki has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20080057348
    Abstract: A soft magnetic undercoat film, a first undercoat film, a second undercoat film, a perpendicular magnetic recording film, and a protective film are provided on a non-magnetic substrate, and the first undercoat film consists of Pt, Pd, or an alloy including at least one among these, and the second undercoat film consists of Ru or an Ru alloy.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 14, 2004
    Publication date: March 6, 2008
    Inventors: Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki, Kazuo Kobayashi, Nguyen Tien Duong, Hiroshi Sakai, Takashi Hikosaka, Soichi Oikawa, Tomoyuki Maeda, Futoshi Nakamura
  • Patent number: 7289298
    Abstract: Disclosed is a magnetic recording medium which includes a substrate, an underlayer, and a perpendicular magnetic recording layer, and in which this perpendicular magnetic recording layer contains magnetic crystal grains and a matrix surrounding the magnetic crystal grains, and the matrix contains an element selected from Zn, Cd, Al, Ga, and In, and a component selected from P, As, Sb, S, Se, and Te.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: October 30, 2007
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Showa Denko K.K.
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Maeda, Takashi Hikosaka, Futoshi Nakamura, Takeshi Iwasaki, Hiroshi Sakai, Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki
  • Publication number: 20070217067
    Abstract: The magnetic recording medium of the present invention has a substrate, a perpendicular magnetic recording layer, and a soft magnetic layer formed therebetween, having a thickness of less than 100 nm, the soft magnetic layer having a magnetic anisotropy in a surface direction, and product Bs·Hc, which is a production of a saturation magnetic flux density Bs and a coercive force Hc, of not less than 79 T·A/m (10 kG·Oe). By making the thickness of the soft magnetic layer into the above-mentioned range, the magnetic anisotropy in surface direction can be stabilized. magnetostatic energy can be increased sufficiently by making the Bs·Hc the above-mentioned range. Therefore, generating of the magnetic wall in the soft magnetic layer can be suppressed, the noise generating from the soft magnetic layer can be suppressed, and a high-density recording is enabled.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 24, 2005
    Publication date: September 20, 2007
    Inventors: Futoshi Nakamura, Tsutomu Tanaka, Yuka Aoyagi, Kenji Shimizu, Hiroshi Sakai, Akira Sakawaki
  • Patent number: 7252896
    Abstract: An orientation control layer having a granular structure is formed between a substrate and magnetic recording layer, contains a base material and grains dispersed in the base material, and having a thickness smaller than a grain size of the grains.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: August 7, 2007
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Showa Denko K.K.
    Inventors: Futoshi Nakamura, Takashi Hikosaka, Soichi Oikawa, Takeshi Iwasaki, Tomoyuki Maeda, Hiroshi Sakai, Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki
  • Publication number: 20070148500
    Abstract: A magnetic recording medium 62 wherein a substrate 11, undercoating layers 13 and 14 formed on the substrate 11, and a magnetic recording layer 15, which include the magnetic crystal grain and the grain boundary field which encloses magnetic crystal grains, are included. The grain boundary field includes Ti oxide, and the ratio of the substance amount of the Ti oxide in the magnetic recording layer 15 is 5 mol % or more and 15 mol % or less, and the Ti oxide includes at least TiO and/or Ti2O3s.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 24, 2004
    Publication date: June 28, 2007
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Maeda, Soichi Oikawa, Takeshi Iwasaki, Futoshi Nakamura, Hiroshi Sakai, Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki
  • Publication number: 20070065955
    Abstract: A perpendicular magnetic recording medium includes: a substrate; at least one underlayer formed above the substrate; and a perpendicular magnetic recording layer formed above the at least one underlayer, an easy magnetization axis of the perpendicular magnetic recording layer being oriented perpendicular to the substrate, the perpendicular magnetic recording layer including magnetic crystal particles and grain boundaries surrounding the magnetic crystal particles, wherein the grain boundaries contain an oxide of silicon and at least one element selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Ca, Sr, and Ba, and the ratio of a total amount of substance of Si, Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Ca, Sr, and Ba in the perpendicular magnetic recording layer is no less than 1 mol % and no more than 20 mol %.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 5, 2004
    Publication date: March 22, 2007
    Applicants: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, SHOWA DENKO K.K.
    Inventors: Tomoyuki Maeda, Soichi Okawa, Takeshi Iwasaki, Futoshi Nakamura, Hiroshi Sakai, Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki
  • Publication number: 20070042227
    Abstract: To make possible high density recording by making the structure of the perpendicular magnetic recording layer finer. A perpendicular magnetic recording medium 10 includes at least a nonmagnetic under layer 2, a perpendicular magnetic layer 3, and a protective layer which are stacked on a nonmagnetic substrate 1, wherein the perpendicular magnetic layer includes ferromagnetic crystal grains and nonmagnetic crystal grain boundary regions, wherein the crystal grain boundary region includes at least two kinds of oxide.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 22, 2004
    Publication date: February 22, 2007
    Inventors: Takeshi Iwasaki, Soichi Oikawa, Futoshi Nakamura, Tomoyuki Maeda, Hiroshi Sakai, Akira Sakawaki, Kenji Shimizu
  • Patent number: 7166376
    Abstract: A multi-layer including a magnetic recording layer and a high-magnetostriction layer having a magnetostriction constant larger than that of the magnetic recording layer is formed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2004
    Date of Patent: January 23, 2007
    Assignees: Showa Denko K.K., Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Takashi Hikosaka, Futoshi Nakamura, Soichi Oikawa, Takeshi Iwasaki, Tomoyuki Maeda, Hiroshi Sakai, Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki
  • Patent number: 7141315
    Abstract: A magnetic recording medium includes a nonmagnetic substrate on which is provided at least a soft magnetic under-film, an orientation control film that controls an orientation of a film directly above, a perpendicular magnetic recording film having an axis of easy magnetization oriented to be mainly perpendicular to the substrate and a protective film, wherein the orientation control film is alloy containing at least Cr and C. The magnetic recording medium is manufactured by a method including carrying out, in order, at least a step of forming a soft magnetic under-film on a nonmagnetic substrate, a step of forming an orientation control film that controls an orientation of a film directly above, a step of forming a perpendicular magnetic recording film having an axis of easy magnetization oriented to be mainly perpendicular to the substrate, and a step of forming a protective film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2006
    Assignees: Showa Denko K.K., Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki, Hiroshi Sakai, Takashi Hikosaka, Futoshi Nakamura
  • Patent number: 7141316
    Abstract: Disclosed is a perpendicular magnetic recording medium in which an undercoating layer having crystal grains and a grain boundary material containing a carbide or boride is formed below a perpendicular magnetic recording layer, and another undercoating layer containing one of elements forming the crystal grains is formed below the aforementioned undercoating layer, and which can perform high?density recording by further decreasing the grain size of the perpendicular magnetic recording layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2004
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2006
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Showa Denko K. K.
    Inventors: Takeshi Iwasaki, Takashi Hikosaka, Soichi Oikawa, Futoshi Nakamura, Tomoyuki Maeda, Hiroshi Sakai, Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki
  • Patent number: 7138194
    Abstract: The magnetic recording medium comprises a soft magnetic undercoat film, an orientation control film that controls the orientation of a film provided directly above, a perpendicular magnetic film of which axis of easy magnetization is generally oriented perpendicular to a non-magnetic substrate, and a protective film, that are provided on the non-magnetic substrate, wherein the orientation control film is made of a Co alloy which contains one or more elements selected from Ti, V, Sr, Y, Nb, Mo, Hf, Ta, Ni and W.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 21, 2006
    Assignees: Showa Denko K.K., Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki, Hiroshi Sakai, Takashi Hikosaka, Soichi Oikawa
  • Patent number: 7132176
    Abstract: A perpendicular magnetic recording medium includes a magnetic recording layer stacked on a substrate and having a first perpendicular magnetic recording layer containing cobalt, and a second perpendicular magnetic recording layer mainly containing a crystalline alloy which contains a rare earth element and a transition metal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 25, 2003
    Date of Patent: November 7, 2006
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Showa Denko K.K.
    Inventors: Takeshi Iwasaki, Takashi Hikosaka, Soichi Oikawa, Futoshi Nakamura, Hiroshi Sakai, Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki
  • Publication number: 20060204791
    Abstract: A magnetic recording medium which is provided on a nonmagnetic substrate 1 with at least an orientation-controlling layer 3 for controlling the orientation of a layer formed directly thereon, a perpendicularly magnetic layer 4 having an easily magnetizing axis oriented mainly perpendicularly relative to the nonmagnetic substrate 1, and a protective layer 5 and characterized in that the perpendicularly magnetic layer 4 includes two or more magnetic layers, that at least one of the magnetic layers is a layer 4a having Co as a main component and containing Pt as well and containing an oxide and that at least another of the magnetic layers is a layer 4b having Co as a main component and containing Cr as well and containing no oxide.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 7, 2004
    Publication date: September 14, 2006
    Inventors: Akira Sakawaki, Kenji Shimizu, Kazuo Kobayashi, Hiroshi Sakai, Soichi Oikawa, Takeshi Iwasaki, Tomoyuki Maeda, Futoshi Nakamura
  • Patent number: 7105239
    Abstract: In a magnetic recording medium, a longitudinal hard magnetic layer, interlayer, longitudinal soft magnetic layer, and magnetic recording layer are multilayered on a substrate. The interlayer is one of a magnetic layer having saturation magnetization smaller than that of the longitudinal hard magnetic layer, a nonmagnetic layer mainly containing cobalt or ruthenium or having a thickness of 0.5 nm or less, and an oxide layer of the longitudinal hard magnetic layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2002
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2006
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Showa Denko K.K.
    Inventors: Soichi Oikawa, Takashi Hikosaka, Futoshi Nakamura, Takeshi Iwasaki, Hiroshi Sakai, Akira Sakawaki, Kenji Shimizu
  • Patent number: 7106539
    Abstract: A perpendicular magnetic recording apparatus includes a perpendicular double-layered media having a substrate, a soft underlayer including a soft magnetic layer, an intermediate layer, and another soft magnetic layer in which the two soft magnetic layers are antiferromagnetically coupled with each other, and a perpendicular recording layer, and a magnetic head including a main pole, a return yoke, and an exciting coil. A relationship between an antiferromagnetic coupling force Hex_afc of the two soft magnetic layers included in the soft underlayer and a full width at half maximum MWW in a cross track direction when a low-frequency signal is recorded on the perpendicular recording layer by the magnetic head satisfies the following formula: Hex—afc>1.6*ln((0.23?MWW)2*100))+25.6.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2006
    Assignees: Showa Denko K.K., Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Yuka Aoyagi, Tsutomu Tanaka, Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki
  • Patent number: 7083870
    Abstract: A magnetic recording medium includes a nonmagnetic substrate on which is provided at least a soft magnetic under-film, an orientation control film that controls an orientation of a film directly above, a perpendicular magnetic recording film having an axis of easy magnetization oriented to be mainly perpendicular to the substrate and a protective film, wherein the orientation control film has a material composition forming a C11b structure. The magnetic recording medium is manufactured by a method including carrying out, in order, at least a step of forming a soft magnetic under-film on a nonmagnetic substrate, a step of forming an orientation control film that controls an orientation of a film directly above, a step of forming a perpendicular magnetic recording film having an axis of easy magnetization oriented to be mainly perpendicular to the substrate, and a step of forming a protective film.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2006
    Assignees: Showa Denko K. K., Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki, Hiroshi Sakai, Takashi Hikosaka, Takeshi Iwasaki
  • Patent number: 7056606
    Abstract: A magnetic recording medium comprising: on a non-magnetic substrate, at least a soft magnetic undercoat film comprising a soft magnetic material; an orientation control film for controlling an orientation of a film directly above; a perpendicular magnetic film in which an axis of easy magnetization is oriented mainly perpendicularly with respect to the substrate; and a protection film, wherein the perpendicular magnetic film has a structure in which a large number of magnetic grains are separated by a grain boundary layer, and an average separating distance between the magnetic grains along a straight line which connects centers of gravity of mutually neighboring magnetic grains is 1 nm or greater.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2004
    Date of Patent: June 6, 2006
    Assignees: Showa Denko K.K., Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki, Hiroshi Sakai, Takashi Hikosaka, Soichi Oikawa
  • Patent number: 7033684
    Abstract: A magnetic recording medium comprising at least a soft magnetic layer, an orientation control film that controls the orientation of a film provided directly thereabove, an intermediate film, a perpendicular magnetic recording film of which the axis of easy magnetization is generally oriented perpendicular to a non-magnetic substrate, and a protective film, that are provided on said substrate, wherein the intermediate film has saturation magnetization Ms of at least 20 (emu/cc) and equal to or less than 200 (emu/cc), a method of manufacture thereof, and a magnetic read/write apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: April 25, 2006
    Assignees: Showa Denko K.K., Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki, Hiroshi Sakai, Takashi Hikosaka, Soichi Oikawa
  • Publication number: 20060001996
    Abstract: A perpendicular magnetic recording apparatus includes a perpendicular double-layered media having a substrate, a soft underlayer including a soft magnetic layer, an intermediate layer, and another soft magnetic layer in which the two soft magnetic layers are antiferromagnetically coupled with each other, and a perpendicular recording layer, and a magnetic head including a main pole, a return yoke, and an exciting coil. A relationship between an antiferromagnetic coupling force Hex_afc of the two soft magnetic layers included in the soft underlayer and a full width at half maximum MWW in a cross track direction when a low-frequency signal is recorded on the perpendicular recording layer by the magnetic head satisfies the following formula: Hex_afc>1.6*ln((0.23?MWW)2*100))+25.6.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2005
    Publication date: January 5, 2006
    Applicants: KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOSHIBA, SHOWA DENKO K.K.
    Inventors: Yuka Aoyagi, Tsutomu Tanaka, Kenji Shimizu, Akira Sakawaki
  • Patent number: 6942936
    Abstract: A medium having at least a nonmagnetic substrate, soft magnetic backing layer, soft magnetic underlayer, and perpendicular magnetic recording layer, and An oxidized layer of the soft magnetic backing layer is also formed on the soft magnetic backing layer, and the soft magnetic underlayer has a three-layered structure including a first soft magnetic layer, interlayer, and second soft magnetic layer, a crystalline orientation control layer, e.g., an Ni orientation control layer is formed between the soft magnetic underlayer and the perpendicular magnetic recording layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2003
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2005
    Assignees: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Showa Denko K.K.
    Inventors: Soichi Oikawa, Takashi Hikosaka, Hiroshi Sakai, Akira Sakawaki, Kenji Shimizu