Annealing treatment for ion-implanted patterned media

A method for fabricating an ion-implanted bit-patterned medium comprising:

• providing a medium, the medium comprising a magnetic layer and a substrate, the magnetic layer comprising migrating components;
• forming a patterned mask layer on the surface of the magnetic layer;
• ion-implanting the medium through the patterned mask layer, wherein the exposed portions of the magnetic layer comprise trench regions, the covered portions of the magnetic layer comprise island regions, and the transition areas between the trench regions and the island regions comprise boundary regions, wherein the island regions have more favorable magnetic properties than the trench regions;
• applying a protective layer over the magnetic layer;
• and
• after applying the protective layer, annealing the medium, wherein the migrating components diffuse from inside the island regions towards the trench regions.

An ion-implanted bit-patterned magnetic medium comprising:

• a substrate;
• and
• a magnetic alloy layer comprising migrating components, wherein the magnetic alloy layer further comprises:
• island regions,
• trench regions, and
• boundary regions between the island regions and the trench regions,
• wherein the concentration of the migrating components in the island regions is lower than the concentration of the migrating components in the boundary regions.