Magnetic recording head and media overcoat

Abstract

A method for forming a protective bilayer on a substrate that is a magnetic read/write head or a magnetic recording medium. The bilayer is formed as an adhesion enhancing and corrosion resistant underlayer and a protective diamond-like carbon (DLC) overlayer. The underlayer is formed of silicon oxynitride, having the general formula SiOxNy, where x can be within the range between 0.02 and 2.0 and y is in the range between approximately 0.01 and 1.5. By adjusting the values of x and y the underlayer contributes to such qualities as strong chemical bonding between the substrate and the DLC, wear and corrosion resistance, chemical and mechanical stability and low electrical conductivity. The underlayer may be formed by various methods such as reactive ion sputtering, plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition, reactive pulsed laser deposition, plasma surface treatment and plasma immersion ion implantation.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.