HIGH THERMAL STABILITY LUBRICANTS

1 . A lubricant comprising:

a multidentate lubricant comprising an anchoring moiety R a attached to a plurality of sidechain moieties —(R b —R e ) according to the general formula:

R a —(R b —R e ) x ;

wherein R a is a multivalent radical of valance x;

wherein each Rb is, independently, a divalent moiety comprising the general formula:

—OCH 2 CF 2 O—(CF 2 CF 2 O) b —C(R # ) 2 CH 2 OH;

wherein each R # is, independently, a hydrogen or a fluorine atom;

wherein each b is, independently, from 1 to 10;

wherein x is greater than or equal to 2; and

wherein each R e is, independently, a hydroxyl (—OH) or a functional group including elements from Group 13-17 of the periodic table of the elements.

2 . The lubricant of claim 1 , wherein each functional group includes: a saturated C 1 -C 20 radical, an unsaturated C 1 -C 20 radical, an alicyclic C 3 -C 20 radical, a heterocyclic C 3 -C 20 radical, an aromatic C 5 -C 20 radical, a heteroaromatic C 5 -C 20 radical, a cyclotriphosphazine radical, a halogen, —NR*, —NR*—CO—R*, —OR*, —O—CO—R*, —CO—O—R*, —SeR*, —TeR*, —PR* 2 , —PO—(OR*) 2 , —O—PO—(OR*) 2 , —N═P(NR* 2 ) 3 , —AsR* 2 , —SR*, —SO 2 —(OR*) 2 , —BR* 2 , —SiR* 3 , —(CH 2 )q-SiR* 3 , —(CF 2 )q-SiR* 3 , or a combination thereof; wherein q is 1 to 10 and each R* is, independently a hydrogen, a halogen, a saturated, unsaturated, aromatic, and/or heterocyclic C 1 -C 20 radical, and wherein two or more R* may join together to form a ring structure, and wherein at least one functional group is selected to be attachable to a surface of a magnetic recording medium.

3 . The lubricant of claim 1 , wherein each R e is a hydroxyl.

4 . The lubricant of claim 1 , wherein a weight average molecular weight of two or more of the sidechains —(R b —R e ) is equal.

5 . The lubricant of claim 1 , wherein each of the sidechains —(R b —R e ) is chemically identical.

6 . The lubricant of claim 1 , wherein R a is a C 1 -C 20 radical, an unsaturated C 1 -C 20 radical, an alicyclic C 3 -C 20 radical, a heterocyclic C 2 -C 20 radical, an aromatic C 6 -C 20 radical, a heteroaromatic C 5 -C 20 radical, a cyclo-triphosphazine radical, or a combination thereof, and wherein x is greater than or equal to 3.

7 . The lubricant of claim 1 , comprising the general formula:

wherein each b is, independently, from 1 to 10 and x greater than or equal to 3.

8 . The lubricant of claim 1 , comprising the general formula:

R a O—CH 2 CF 2 O(CF 2 CF 2 O) b —CH 2 CH 2 OH) x

wherein each b is, independently, from 1 to 10 and x greater than or equal to 3.

9 . The lubricant of claim 1 , wherein R a is represented by the formula:

wherein each of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , and R 6 , is, independently, a hydrogen or a functional group including elements from Group 13-17 of the periodic table of the elements, subject to the proviso that two or more of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , and R 6 , are, independently, a sidechain comprising the formula —(R b —R e ).

10 . The lubricant of claim 9 , wherein two or more of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , and R 6 , include a functional group including: a saturated C 1 -C 20 radical, an unsaturated C 1 -C 20 radical, an alicyclic C 3 -C 20 radical, a heterocyclic C 3 -C 20 radical, an aromatic C 5 -C 20 radical, a heteroaromatic C5-C 20 radical, a cyclotriphosphazine radical, a halogen, —NR* 2 , —NR*—CO—R*, —OR*, —O—CO—R*, —CO—O—R*, —SeR*, —TeR*, —PR* 2 , —PO—(OR*) 2 , —O—PO—(OR*) 2 , —N═P(NR* 2 ) 3 , —AsR* 2 , —SR*, —SO 2 —(OR*) 2 , —BR* 2 , —SiR* 3 , —(CH 2 )q-SiR* 3 , —(CF 2 )q-SiR* 3 , or a combination thereof, wherein q is 1 to 10 and each R* is, independently a hydrogen, a halogen, a saturated, unsaturated, aromatic, and/or heterocyclic C 1 -C 20 radical, and wherein two or more R*, and/or two or more of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , and R 6 , may join together to form a ring structure, and wherein at least one functional group is selected to be attachable to a surface of a magnetic recording medium.

11 . The lubricant of claim 9 , wherein two or more of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , and R 6 join together to form a C 5 -C 20 aromatic ring structure, a C 5 -C 20 heteroaromatic ring structure, or a combination thereof.

12 . The lubricant of claim 9 , wherein each of the sidechains independently has the formula:

—OCH 2 CF 2 O—(CF 2 CF 2 O) b —C(R # ) 2 CH 2 OH;

wherein each R # is, independently, a hydrogen or a fluorine atom; and

wherein each b is, independently, from 1 to 10.

13 . The lubricant of claim 12 , wherein each R # is hydrogen.

14 . The lubricant of claim 1 , wherein R a is represented by the formula:

wherein each of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , and R 6 , is, independently, a hydrogen or a functional group including elements from Group 13-17 of the periodic table of the elements, subject to the proviso that three or more of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , and R 6 , are, independently, a sidechain comprising the formula —(R b —R e ).

15 . The lubricant of claim 14 , wherein each of the sidechains independently has the formula:

—OCH 2 CF 2 O—(CF 2 CF 2 O) b —C(R # ) 2 CH 2 OH;

wherein each R # is, independently, a hydrogen or a fluorine atom; and

wherein each b is, independently, from 1 to 10.

16 . The lubricant of claim 1 , comprising a weight average molecular weight from about 1 to 20 kiloDaltons (kDa) and a polydispersity of from about 1 to 2.

17 . A magnetic recording medium, comprising:

a magnetic recording layer on a substrate;

a protective overcoat on the magnetic recording layer; and

a lubricant layer on the protective overcoat and including the lubricant according to claim 1 .

18 . The magnetic recording medium of claim 17 , wherein the lubricant layer includes an average thickness of less than about 3 nanometers.

19 . The magnetic recording medium of claim 17 , wherein the lubricant includes a bonding percentage of at least 70%, corresponding to a degree of bonding of the lubricant to the total area of an upper surface of the protective overcoat.

20 . A data storage system, comprising:

at least one magnetic head;

a magnetic recording medium including a lubricant according to claim 1 ;

a drive mechanism for positioning the at least one magnetic head over the magnetic recording medium; and

a controller electrically coupled to the at least one magnetic head for controlling operation of the at least one magnetic head.

21 . A data storage system, comprising:

a slider comprising at least one magnetic head and an air bearing surface (ABS), wherein a lubricant according to claim 1 is disposed on the ABS; and

a magnetic recording medium including a magnetic recording layer;

wherein the slider is configured to write information to the magnetic recording layer using heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR).