Styrene-acrylonitrile as a resist for making patterned media

A method for patterning magnetic medium, comprising the steps of:

• coating a thermoplastic polymer material on a magnetic medium to make a resist film, said thermoplastic polymer containing styrene;
• patterning said thermoplastic polymer layer according to a predetermined pattern;
• altering magnetic properties of said magnetic medium according to said pattern by exposing the thermoplastic polymer, after patterning, to ions which penetrate said thermoplastic polymer layer according to said pattern;
• and
• removing said thermoplastic polymer layer leaving said pattern on said magnetic medium.

A system for making patterned magnetic medium, comprising;

• a substrate;
• a magnetic layer deposited on said substrate for patterning according to a pattern;
• a thermoplastic polymer layer deposited over said magnetic layer, said thermoplastic polymer layer having said pattern acting as a mask that blocks incoming ions according to said pattern, and
• wherein said thermoplastic polymer contains styrene.

A method for patterning magnetic medium, comprising:

• means for coating a thermoplastic polymer layer material on a magnetic medium to make a resist film, said thermoplastic polymer containing styrene;
• means for patterning said thermoplastic polymer layer according to a predetermined pattern;
• means for altering magnetic properties of said magnetic medium according to said pattern by exposing a patterned polymer surface to a plurality of ions which penetrate said polymer layer according to said pattern;
• and
• means for removing said thermoplastic polymer layer leaving said pattern on said magnetic medium.