Novel approach to fabrication of magnetic memory elements may lead to new generation of ultra-high-capacity hard drives
Information in most computer memories is stored in the form of bits represented by the polarization of tiny magnets on the surface of memory devices such as the computers hard drive. The capacities of these devices have increased exponentially over the last 30 years, a feat made possible by progressively reducing the area taken up by the magnets storing the information. In modern machines, these magnets are so small that reducing their size any further risks creating unstable data, due to random flipping of the direction of polarization of the magnets at higher densities. Now, Mojtaba Ranjbar and colleagues at the A*STAR Data Storage Institute have honed a key technology, called bit-patterned media, to overcome this problem and allow data to be stored at previously unattainable densities.