Thin Film Disks With Transient Metal Underlayers

A new technique for fabricating thin film disk media with controlled surface roughness and bulk magnetic properties is described. This technique uses a low melting point metal as an underlayer which is deposited onto a nonwetting substrate to form isolated spherical features. The magnetic layer deposited onto this underlayer is associated with a fine and controllable surface roughness which is desirable for tribological performance. The magnetic and mechanical performances of thin film disks fabricated with this technique are presented. © 1992 IEEE