Abstract
The track-edge effect in perpendicular magnetic recording was investigated. Dc-erased tracks were used to clarify the characteristics of track-edge noise for various perpendicular media. The slope of the hysteresis loop at coercivity, (slope parameter, α), was used as a measure of the intergranular exchange coupling, and the magnetic cluster sizes were estimated by comparison with Voronoi cell calculations using auto-covariance functions. It was found that media with a large slope parameter showed large track-edge noise, and thus a clear positive correlation between track-edge noise and magnetic cluster size was observed. It is concluded that reduction of the magnetic cluster size is necessary not only for improvement of the transition jitter but also for reduction of track-edge noise.
