Abstract: A heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) medium includes a substrate, a bi-layer, a heat-sink layer, and a magnetic-recording layer. The bi-layer includes a seed layer disposed on the substrate, and a thermal-transport-control layer (TTCL) disposed on seed layer. The heat-sink layer is disposed on the TTCL; and the magnetic-recording layer is disposed on the heat-sink layer. The bi-layer is configured to enable use of a 50% thinner heat-sink layer that allows use of a reduced operating current of a laser in HAMR write operations while maintaining about the same write performance parameters as a HAMR medium that includes a thermal-barrier layer (TBL) and twice as thick heat-sink layer. A HAMR data-storage device that incorporates the HAMR medium within a HAMR disk, and a method for making the HAMR medium are also described.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, a mask material is formed on a processing layer, a mask pattern with a top surface and a bottom surface is formed on the mask material, a protective film is formed on the top surface of the mask pattern, and after the formation of the protective film, the bottom surface of the mask pattern is etched in a depth direction.

Abstract: A method of protecting a magnetic information storage medium is described. The method includes fabricating a film over a surface of the magnetic information storage medium. The film includes an amorphous, uniform, homogeneous solid solution of carbon, hydrogen, silicon, and oxygen. A magnetic storage medium with such a protective film is described.

Abstract: The embodiments disclose a continuous thin film magnetic layer and a patterned hard mask layer configured to be deposited onto the continuous thin film magnetic layer and to have plural ion implantations, wherein the ion implantations are configured to create chemically and structurally altered localized magnetic regions unprotected by the patterned hard mask layer.

Abstract: A magnetic data storage medium comprising: an ion doped magnetic recording layer having a continuous grading of coercivity or anisotropy, wherein the coercivity or anisotropy is at a minimum substantially at one side of the magnetic recording layer, and having substantial portion of maximum coercivity or anisotropy at the other side of the magnetic recording layer. Also, a method of fabricating a magnetic data storage medium is included.

Abstract: According to one embodiment, there is provided a method for producing a magnetic recording medium which includes forming a mask layer on a magnetic recording layer, applying metal fine particles on the mask layer, covering the metal fine particles with an overcoat layer, irradiating with energy beams through the overcoat layer so as to deactivate a protective coating of the metal fine particles, transferring a metal fine particle pattern from the mask layer to the magnetic recording layer, and removing the mask layer from the magnetic recording layer.

Abstract: A substrate having a carbon-deuterium protective overcoat layer, and method for making the same. In some embodiments, the substrate includes a recording structure having a magnetic recording layer. A protective overcoat layer is Formed on the recording structure, the protective overcoat layer composed of carbon-carbon (C—C) and carbon-deuterium (C-D) bonds and having no carbon-hydrogen (C—H) bonds.

Abstract: Apparatus for recording data and method for making the same. In accordance with some embodiments, a magnetic recording layer is adapted to store data along perpendicular magnetic domains. A protective overcoat layer is formed on the magnetic recording layer to substantially protect the magnetic recording layer from environmental effects. The protective overcoat layer is made of carbon intermixed with at least one transition metal, such as but not limited to chromium.

Abstract: Fabrication methods for magnetic recording media that use a plasma polish are disclosed. For one exemplary method, a film of a magnetic recording medium is deposited, and a top surface of the film is polished utilizing a plasma formed by a noble gas to smoothen the top surface of the film. A subsequent layer is then deposited onto the polished top surface of the film. A top surface of the subsequent layer has a reduced roughness by being deposited on the polished top surface of the film.

Abstract: A substrate having a carbon-deuterium protective overcoat layer, and method for making the same. In some embodiments, the substrate includes a recording structure having a magnetic recording layer. A protective overcoat layer is Formed on the recording structure, the protective overcoat layer composed of carbon-carbon (C—C) and carbon-deuterium (C—D) bonds and having no carbon-hydrogen (C—H) bonds.

Abstract: In a magnetic recording medium, there are realized an improvement in surface planarity and a reduction in characteristic degradation. The magnetic recording medium is fabricated so that the upper layer of a recording layer and a refill layer are formed of the same material.

Abstract: A magnetic recording medium and a method of manufacturing a magnetic recording medium are provided, in which degradation of wear resistance against a magnetic head and performances of the medium is restrained, and metal dissolving out of the magnetic recording layer and degradation of corrosion resistance due to low coverage of a protective layer are suppressed. The method of manufacturing provides a magnetic recording medium having a convex portion of a magnetic recording layer for recording information and a concave portion without a recording function on a disk substrate. An ALD protective layer is formed on the magnetic recording medium using an ALD method. The magnetic recording medium has a convex portion of a magnetic recording layer for recording information and a concave portion without a recording function on a disk substrate, and has a protective layer formed by an ALD method on the concavo-convex pattern.

Abstract: Compositions for promoting growth and/or differentiation of a stem cell are disclosed. The composition comprises: a) a diamond film; b) a stem cell cultured on the diamond film; and c) a medium bathing the stem cell. The stem cell may be a mammalian neural stem cell and the diamond film may comprise a hydrogen-terminated or an oxygen-terminated surface. The hydrogen-terminated surface promotes proliferation and differentiation of a neural stem cell into neurons, and the oxygen-terminated surface promotes a neural stem cell to proliferate and differentiate into oligodendrocytes.

Abstract: An apparatus includes a substrate, a recording layer on the substrate, and a nanocomposite layer on the recording layer, the nanocomposite layer including a wear-resistant material and a solid lubricant material, wherein the atomic percentage of the solid lubricant material in the nanocomposite layer is in a range from about 5% to about 99%. A method of making the apparatus is also provided.

Abstract: The invention is a method for growing a critical adherent diamond layer on a substrate by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and the article produced by the method. The substrate can be a compound semiconductor coated with an adhesion layer. The adhesion layer is preferably a dielectric, such as silicon nitride, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride or amorphous silicon, to name some primary examples. The typical thickness of the adhesion layer is one micrometer or less. The resulting stack of layers, (e.g. substrate layer, adhesion layer and diamond layer) is structurally free of plastic deformation and the diamond layer is well adherent to the dielectric adhesion layer such that it can be processed further, such as by increasing the thickness of the diamond layer to a desired level, or by subjecting it to additional thin film fabrication process steps. In addition to preventing plastic deformation of the layer stack, the process also reduces the formation of soot during the CVD process.

Abstract: The object of the present invention is to obtain a high quality single crystalline diamond that has less distortion and large area suitable for semiconductor device substrates or an optical component material. The present invention is a single crystalline diamond produced by chemical vapor deposition, wherein, when a linear polarized light which is composed of two linear polarized lights perpendicular to each other is introduced into one main face of the single crystalline diamond, a maximum value of a retardation between the two linear polarized lights perpendicular to each other which come out from an opposite main face is not more than 50 ?m at maximum per a thickness of 100 ?m across an entire of the single crystalline diamond, and also a method for producing the diamond.

Abstract: The invention provides systems and methods for the deposition of an improved diamond-like carbon material, particularly for the production of magnetic recording media. The diamond-like carbon material of the present invention is highly tetrahedral, that is, it features a large number of the sp3 carbon-carbon bonds which are found within a diamond crystal lattice. The material is also amorphous, providing a combination of short-range order with long-range disorder, and can be deposited as films which are ultrasmooth and continuous at thicknesses substantially lower than known amorphous carbon coating materials. The carbon protective coatings of the present invention will often be hydrogenated. In a preferred method for depositing of these materials, capacitive coupling forms a highly uniform, selectively energized stream of ions from a dense, inductively ionized plasma.

Abstract: A method of producing alloy nanoparticles includes the steps of: adding a metallic salt, a reducing agent, a stabilizing ligand, and an organic iron complex to an organic solvent selected from the group consisting of 2-20C hydrocarbon, alcohol, ether, and ester in an inert gas atmosphere to obtain a reaction liquid; and stirring the reaction liquid while heating the reaction liquid to a predetermined temperature. The grain diameter of the alloy nanoparticle is controlled by regulating the amount of the stabilizing ligand.

Abstract: A magnetic recording medium is provided that includes a recording layer having recording elements formed as convex portions and a filling material filled within the concave portions between the recording elements. The medium is highly reliable and has a surface less liable to damages when a magnetic head contacts the surface, so that good recording/reproducing characteristics are ensured. The magnetic recording medium includes a recording layer formed in a predetermined concavo-convex pattern over a substrate and having recording elements formed as convex portions in the concavo-convex pattern and a filling material filled within the concave portions between the recording elements. The filling material is substantially composed of Si and O, and the ratio of the number of O atoms to the number of Si atoms is equal to or more than 1.5 and less than 2.

Abstract: The recording layer (to-be-etched layer), a main mask layer, and a sub mask layer are formed in this order over a substrate, and the sub mask layer is processed into a predetermined concavo-convex pattern. Next, parts of the main mask layer under the concave portions are removed by reactive ion etching using oxygen or ozone as the reactive gas. Parts of the recording layer under the concave portions are also removed by dry etching, whereby the recording layer is shaped into the concavo-convex pattern. The main mask layer is chiefly made of carbon. The sub mask layer is made of a material having an etching rate lower than that of carbon with respect to the reactive ion etching in the step of processing the main mask layer.

Abstract: A magnetic recording tape configured for increased surface lubricity includes an elongated substrate and a magnetic side disposed on the substrate. The magnetic side includes a magnetic recording layer defining an exposed magnetic recording surface opposite the substrate, and a support layer deposited on the substrate between the substrate and the magnetic recording layer. The support layer includes nano-particles configured to release lubrication to the exposed magnetic recording surface. In this regard, the support layer configures the exposed magnetic recording surface to have a surface lubrication to total lubrication ratio (SL ratio) of greater than about 5%.

Abstract: A magnetic recording medium having a diamond-like carbon (DLC) film added therein a Group IV element of the periodic table such as silicon, particularly in the vicinity of the boundary between the magnetic material and the formed DLC film. Since a DLC having low friction coefficient can be formed, the centerline average roughness can be reduced to 30 nm or even less. Accordingly, a magnetic recording medium improved in magnetic properties and in lubricity can be obtained.

Abstract: A magnetic recording medium which allows high density recording and has excellent durability can be obtained. A magnetic recording medium includes: a plurality of ferromagnetic material dots arranged on a soft magnetic layer formed on a non-magnetic substrate so as to be separated from one another; and carbon films which are formed on the respective ferromagnetic material dots, each carbon film having a smooth film face shape in a section passing through the center of each ferromagnetic material dot and a film thickness gradually decreasing from the center of the ferromagnetic material dot toward an outer edge thereof.

Abstract: A magnetic recording medium and a manufacturing method for making it are disclosed. The method facilitates preventing the lubricant deposited on the end face of the magnetic recording medium from migrating onto the major surfaces thereof. The lubricant deposited on an end face of a magnetic disk, which may migrate onto the major surfaces of the magnetic disk, is wiped off by the rotating magnetic disk with the lubricant deposited thereon, by spraying a solvent onto a wiping tape while feeding the wiping tape, and by pressing the wet wiping tape containing the solvent to the end face of the magnetic disk with a pad while the feeding of the wiping tape is discontinued. Alternatively, the lubricant deposited on the end face of a magnetic disk is solidified to deprive the lubricant of its fluidity by rotating the magnetic disk with the lubricant deposited thereon while irradiating it with ultraviolet radiation from a UV lamp through a slit opened in a shield on the lamp to the end face of the magnetic disk.

Abstract: This magnetic recording medium is characterized in that in the magnetic recording medium having a magnetic layer on a non-magnetic substrate by intercalating at least an under layer, the proportion of functional groups per 100 carbon atoms in a diamond-like carbon protective layer mainly composed of carbon for protecting the magnetic layer exceeds 20%. The bonding force between the protective layer and the lubricating layer of the magnetic recording medium is increased so that under high speed rotation, a decrease in the lubricating layer is not caused so as to provide a magnetic recording apparatus having high reliability.

Abstract: A magnetic recording medium having a diamond-like carbon (DLC) film added therein a Group IV element of the periodic table such as silicon, particularly in the vicinity of the boundary between the magnetic material and the formed DLC film. Since a DLC having low friction coefficient can be formed, the centerline average roughness can be reduced to 30 nm or even less. Accordingly, a magnetic recording medium improved in magnetic properties and in lubricity can be obtained.

Abstract: The fabrication of the overcoat layer starts with a low energy ion beam to avoid magnetic layer implantation problems, followed by higher deposition energies where the higher energy atoms are implanted into the previously formed lower energy overcoat layer, rather than the magnetic layer. The energy gradient ion beam deposition process therefore results in a thin overcoat layer that is denser than a comparable layer formed by low energy magnetron sputtering, and which overcoat layer provides good mechanical and corrosion protection to the magnetic layer, without degrading the magnetic properties of the magnetic layer.

Abstract: A lagging material for application to the surface of a pulley, said material being integrally formed in elongate strip form and having an upper surface including a plurality of discrete nodules extending therefrom and arranged regularly or randomly according to a predetermined pattern and including a plurality of longitudinally spaced apart elongate and transversely extending cutting sipes laterally defined by the nodules so as to form a partial or complete boundary wall of each sipe; wherein said nodules are arranged over the upper surface of said material so as to allow cutting of a predetermined size of lagging from a larger sheet or strip of said lagging by effecting cuts along or across said cutting sipes and between said nodules.