Determination of grain size distributions in magnetic recording media by grazing incidence X-ray diffraction

The grain size distribution of magnetic recording media has been measured with in-plane grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), without using synchrotron radiation, via the Bertaut-Warren-Averbach (BWA) technique. Lognormal-like grain size distributions are observed in all recording media. The obtained distributions are consistent with the TEM observations. In addition, the relevant measurement issues are also discussed.