Method and apparatus for degaussing heat-assisted magnetic recording media

1. An apparatus, comprising:

a magnet housing dimensioned to receive a heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) medium or a hard disk drive comprising at least one HAMR medium; and

a degausser disposed in the magnet housing and configured to generate at least one field sufficient to erase the HAMR medium, wherein at least one field is a magnetic field and the degausser comprises a superconducting magnet arrangement configured to generate a magnetic field higher than about 50 kOe, and the HAMR medium has a coercivity of between about 20 and 100 kOe at room temperature.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the degausser is configured to generate the field sufficient to erase the HAMR medium, the HAMR medium having a coercivity of between about 20 and 60 kOe at room temperature.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting magnet arrangement comprises a DC dipole magnet or solenoid.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting magnet arrangement comprises a DC dipole magnet comprising superconducting coils.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the superconducting magnet arrangement has a field strength of greater than about 7 Tesla.

6. An apparatus, comprising:

a magnet housing dimensioned to receive a heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) medium or a hard disk drive comprising at least one HAMR medium; and

a degausser disposed in the magnet housing and configured to generate at least one field sufficient to erase the HAMR medium, wherein at least one field is a temperature field and the degausser comprises an oven, and the HAMR medium has a coercivity of between about 20 and 100 kOe at room temperature.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the degausser comprises a laser.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the degausser is configured to heat the HAMR medium to a temperature of between about 300 and 500° C.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the at least one field further comprises a magnetic field and the degausser comprises a heat-assisted degausser comprising a conventional electromagnet or permanent magnets.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the electromagnet or permanent magnets have a field strength of up to about 20 kOe.

11. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the degausser is configured to erase a portion of the HAMR medium, the portion being less than the entire HAMR medium.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the temperature field and magnetic field are applied concurrently.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the magnet housing comprises a transport mechanism configured to move the HAMR medium or drive relative to the degausser and into and out of the housing.

14. A method comprising:

introducing a heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) medium or a hard disk drive comprising at least one HAMR medium into a magnet housing comprising a degausser, wherein the degausser comprises an oven, and the HAMR medium has a coercivity of between about 30 and 100 kOe at room temperature;

generating a temperature field sufficient to erase the HAMR medium; and

erasing at least a portion of the HAMR medium.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein erasing the HAMR medium comprises erasing the entire HAMR medium.

16. The method of claim 14 , further comprising:

heating the HAMR medium to a temperature of at least about 200° C.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

transporting the HAMR medium to the magnet housing in response to heating the HAMR medium.

18. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the magnet housing comprises a transport mechanism configured to move the HAMR medium or drive relative to the degausser and into and out of the housing.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

generating a magnetic field sufficient to erase the HAMR medium.