Reduction of edge noise in thin film metal media using discrete tracks

Discrete tracks of magnetic media can be formed using lithographic techniques by etching the surface of thin-film disks. Previous studies have emphasized the scaling of signal and media noise with track width, and have shown greatly reduced values of edge noise for discrete tracks, consistent with the absence of media between tracks. We have now characterized the performance of discrete tracks of width comparable to the recording head width, and have compared the error rate as a function of distance off-track for a conventional and discrete track on the same disk. We find that the variation of the error rate is nearly the same in these two cases, consistent with our estimation that noise from a written edge contributes about 5% of the total noise power in the recording system investigated. © 1989 IEEE