LECO Corporation

Compositional Depth Profile (CDP) using the LECO GDS950 rapidly provides analysis of various galvanized coatings on steel.

Hard disk manufacturing requires high levels of precision at nanometer scale for the production of a repeatable product with high memory density. Because hard disks are dependent upon magnetic properties to read and write to each memory unit, the disk has a layered structure comprised of magnetic and nonmagnetic materials. Over the last two decades, extensive work has been done by hard disk manufacturers to reduce grain size, which enables smaller, but consistent magnetic domain sizes and distinct boundaries. This movement toward tighter anufacturing tolerances requires advanced techniques for characterization. Compositional depth profiling with GD-AES enables precise characterization of the size of these thin layers of material.

Compositional depth profiles of hard disks were completed with the LECO GDS-850A. The first 50 nm revealed the elemental composition of the magnetic and nonmagnetic layers critical for their operation.