Novel aluminum near field transducer and highly integrated micro-nano-optics design for heat-assisted ultra-high-density magnetic recording.

Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) has attracted increasing attention as one of the most promising future techniques for ultra-high-density magnetic recording beyond the current limit of 1 Tb in−2. Localized surface plasmon resonance plays an important role in HAMR by providing a highly focused optical spot for heating the recording medium within a small volume. In this work, we report an aluminum near-field transducer (NFT) based on a novel bow-tie design. At an operating wavelength of 450 nm, the proposed transducer can generate a 35 nm spot size inside the magnetic recording medium, corresponding to a recording density of up to 2 Tb in−2. A highly integrated micro-nano-optics design is also proposed to ensure process compatibility and corrosion-resistance of the aluminum NFT. Our work has demonstrated the feasibility of using aluminum as a plasmonic material for HAMR, with advantages of reduced cost and improved efficiency compared to traditional noble metals.