Ridge waveguide as a near field aperture for high density data storage

The performance of the ridge waveguide as a near-field aperture in data storage systems is investigated. Finite element method (FEM) and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) based software are used in the numerical simulations. To verify their accuracy at optical frequencies, the FEM and FDTD are first compared to analytical results. The accuracy of these techniques for modeling ridge waveguides at optical frequencies is also evaluated by comparing their results with each other for a plane wave illumination. The FEM, which is capable of modeling focused beams, is then used to simulate various geometries involving ridge waveguides. Near-field radiation from ridge waveguide transducer is expressed in terms of power density quantities. Previous studies in the literature consider the performance of the transducer in free space, rather than in the presence of a recording magnetic medium. The effect of the recording magnetic medium on the transmission efficiency and spot size is discussed using numerical simulations. The effect of various geometric parameters on the optical spot size and transmission efficiency is investigated and discussed. Based on our numerical simulations, a promising transducer design is suggested to obtain intense optical spots well below the diffraction limit. Numerical simulations suggest that a full width at half maximum spot diameter of 31 nm in the recording magnetic medium can be obtained. The maximum value of the absorbed optical power density in the recording medium is about 1.67x10(-4) mW/nm(3) for a 100 mW input power. In-track and cross-track profiles for this design are compared with Gaussian distributions. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.