Measurement of the linear density dependence of thermal decay of square-wave recordings

Using a unique referencing technique, the signal decay of thin-film media is studied as a function of recorded linear density and temperature with great precision. It is found that the signal decay behavior as a function of linear density is very complex: the maximum decay does not always occur at the highest linear density as expected. Only for media with strong thermal decay is the signal decay found to increase monotonically with the recorded linear density. It is confirmed that increasing temperature generally accelerates signal decay.