ABSTRACT
The proposal of exchange-coupled composite (ECC) media dates
back to 2005 [1, 2], when two different papers independently
proposed to exploit the old concept of exchange-spring magnet to improve the writability of perpendicular recording media [3]. These
papers suggested adding a soft magnetic layer to hard magnetic
media, thus exploiting the hard-to-soft exchange coupling to reduce
the media writing field and keep high thermal stability.
