Abstract: A patterned disk for a hard disk drive. The patterned disk includes an anti-ferromagnetic layer of FexNi1-xO over a substrate. The disk also includes a magnetic layer that is adjacent to the anti-ferromagnetic layer of FexNi1-xO, and is formed into a plurality of dots separated by a non-magnetic material. The anti-ferromagnetic layer of FexNi1-xO with the magnetic layer create an exchange-spring system that has a relatively low switching field. The anti-ferromagnetic layer of FexNi1-xO has a Neel temperature that maintains thermal stability. The low switching field improves reliability when the disk is a bit pattern media used in perpendicular recording.

Abstract: A patterned disk for a hard disk drive. The patterned disk includes a hard magnetic layer over a substrate. The disk further includes an exchange control layer adjacent to the hard magnetic layer and a soft magnetic layer adjacent to the exchange control layer. The hard and soft magnetic layers are arranged into a plurality of dots that are separated by a non-magnetic material. The soft and hard magnetic layers combined with the exchange control layer creates an exchange coupled composite that has a relatively low switching field and favorable thermal stability. The low switching field improves reliability when the disk is used in perpendicular recording.