Bit-array alignment effect of perpendicular SOMA media

One effective way to overcome the superparamagnetic limit of magnetic recording system is to reduce the grain number per bit at given signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) level by using uniformed media grains. The self organized magnetic array (SOMA) is designed to have uniform grains with perfect grain array structure. It is believed that high enough SNR with small number of grains per bit can be acheived. But in the engineering application, the recorded bit on SOMA media may align with the regular array at different locations and angles due to non-grain synchronized writing, skew angle, and circular track. This induces the bit-array alignment effect and degrades system performance of SOMA media. In this paper, the micromagnetic simulation results show that the bit array alignment effect causes large level SNR fluctuation on the same media. The SOMA media is not preferred to be used in the conventional recording configuration. It is only suitable for the configuration of patterned media.