SNR and density limit estimates: A comparison of longitudinal and perpendicular recording

Simplified Néel-Arrhenius analysis is utilized to determine limiting densities versus SNR for longitudinal and keepered-perpendicular media. Dominant transition noise is assumed and the effects of grain size distribution and storage above room temperature are included. Perpendicular recording potentially exhibits a higher density than longitudinal; for example, at SNR = 20 dB, the limiting densities are approximately 500 and 100 Gbit/in2, respectively. © 2000 IEEE.