A composition of matter for a recording medium in atomic force data storage devices. The composition includes polyimide oligomers having covalently bonded monomers forming a backbone, the oligomer thermally stable to at least 400° C.; one or more covalent bonding cross-linking moieties incorporated into the polyimide oligomer; and one or more hydrogen bonding cross-linking moieties incorporated into the polyimide oligomer. The covalent and hydrogen bonding cross-linking of the polyimide oligomers may be tuned to match thermal and force parameters required in read-write-erase cycles.