WFU Physics Colloquium

TITLE: A little bit is a big achievement: overcoming barriers in nano-scale magnetic recording

SPEAKER: Dr. Thomas W. Clinton,

TIME: Thursday Feb. 5, 2009 at 4:00 PM

PLACE: Room 101 in Olin Physical Laboratory

The $100-billion data-storage market is driven by, arguably, the fastest moving technology in high-tech industry, where the nano-scale is already commonplace in products. Not only are bits measured in nanometers, but data rates (> GHz) have driven timescales sub nanosecond. Instruments that aid in the research and development of novel materials and devices on this time and size scale are critical to sustaining advances in this field. For the magnetics that underpin hard disk drives, in particular, there are many physical barriers we need to overcome as we reduce bit dimensions and increase data rates with each generation of the technology. For example, smaller bits are more susceptible to thermal agitation, while data rates are limited by the relaxation rates of magnetic excitations. In this talk, I explore the magnetism of shrinking bits and short timescales. In particular, I will highlight two instruments of choice that aid my research: a dualbeam Focused Ion Beam & Scanning Electron Microscope (FIB/SEM) and a FerroMagnetic Resonance (FMR) probe.