Drive density breakthrough from century-old technology
Drive density breakthrough from century-old technology
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) claims it has made new advancements to a 100-year-old magnetic recording technology that will enable it to create microdrives that will more than double the storage capacity of mobile devices such as cell phones and MP3 players.
To achieve this, HGST has demonstrated data density at 230 gigabits per square inch on perpendicular recording. This feat, which represents a doubling of today's highest longitudinal recording densities, will be implemented in commercial hard drive products in 2007. Current microdrives, such as those featured in the iPod mini, are only available up to 6GB. This breakthrough will facilitate the release of a 20GB iPod mini, as well as a host of other applications.
When fully realised over the next 5-7 years, HGST claims that perpendicular recording could enable a 10-fold increase in data densities over longitudinal recording, paving the way for new heights in capacity such as a 60 GB one-inch drive.
Perpendicular recording has its roots in the late 19th century work of Danish scientist Valdemar Poulsen, who is generally considered the first person to magnetically record sound using perpendicular recording. The technology gets its name from the vertical alignment of data bits on the plane of the disk, which takes less room in contrast to the horizontal orientation of today's longitudinal recording technology. To be accurately recorded and read, the more closely-packed perpendicular bits also require a closer association between the read/write head and the recording media. Hitachi achieved the 230GB per square inch density by manipulating the head and media so that the distance between them is a mere 10 nanometers or 1/10,000th of a human hair.
While the hard drive industry has been using longitudinal recording successfully for five decades, it is now within two product generations of reaching its practical limit. Researchers are finding that longitudinal recording is losing its ability to maintain data integrity at areal densities much beyond 120GB per square inch.
"We are at the cusp of the most significant hard drive technology transition of the past decade, and it's one that holds so much promise for the hard drive and consumer electronics industries," said Jun Naruse, CEO, HGST. "Demand for storing more data on smaller devices has provided a strong impetus for us to pursue perpendicular recording with a greater sense of urgency."
While the transition to perpendicular recording will start as early as the next product generation, Hitachi believes the true potential will be realised in the 200+ GB per square inch range – the point of technology maturation when it claims meaningful advancements in storage capacity will ensure full-scale adoption of perpendicular recording technology.
HGST has been conducting field tests with the 230 GB per square inch drives since the end of last year, test which it says have revealed encouraging data about future mass-market adoption of the new technology.
Professor Shun-ichi Iwasaki, president and chief director of Japan's Tohoku Institute of Technology is considered to be the father of modern perpendicular recording. He expressed his delight that the method of storage which has been in the pipeline for many years is finally coming to fruition.
"I have been engaged in magnetic recording research since 1951 and found that the most important subject in this field is high-density recording. Around 1975, I began to feel that the vertical direction was the right way to go to attain high-density recording, and began leading the activities to make perpendicular recording a practical technology. I am very glad to see that the technology will come into use soon."
"The health of this industry over the next 5-10 years is critically tied to the successful implementation and transition to perpendicular recording technology," said Jim Porter, hard drive industry analyst and historian, owner of DISK/TREND. "Hitachi is taking a responsible approach in assuring that it proceeds smoothly with extensive testing programs."
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