|
还有另一种技术:% C7 n# J' I8 C6 e - U2 r+ _8 i+ C& }( X Patterned Media: 8 E* U) A: n0 D/ G' E" ]% ~2 pAnother promising approach to circumvent the density limitations imposed by the super paramagnetic effect is the use of patterned media. Conventionally, the disk is coated with a thin layer of magnetic alloy. If the disk surface is examined at high magnification, it becomes apparent that within each bit cell there are many tiny magnetic grains. These grains are randomly created during the deposition of the magnetic film. Each grain behaves like an independent magnet whose magnetization can be flipped by the write head during the data writing process. In patterned media, the magnetic alloy is not coated on the entire disk surface. The layer is created as an ordered array of highly uniform tiny islands, each island capable of storing an individual bit. Each bit is stored in a single deliberately formed magnetic switching volume. This may be one grain, or several exchange coupled grains, rather than a collection of random decoupled grains. Single switching volume magnetic islands are formed along circular tracks with regular spacing. Magnetic transitions no longer meander between random grains, but form perfectly distinct oundaries between precisely located islands. Since each island is a single magnetic domain, patterned media is thermally stable, even at densities far higher than can be achieved with conventional media. Though the concept of patterned media looks simple, realization of this to achieve high recording density is immensely challenging. For an areal density of 100 Gbits/square inch, the center to center spacing between two islands need to be 86 nanometers. For 10 terrabits/square inch density, this spacing is only 9 nm. Creating islands of such dimension is beyond2 a9 i# t' i" @) }+ l+ m the capabilities of optical lithography. E-beam lithography and nano imprint replication are considered to be two approaches that can be used to realize patterned media commercially. : L4 g$ r8 z- N Y& U; I6 F( ]; m! M& ^( x: W% j- h- }9 P The HDD industry will soon embrace these and other technologies to manufacture commercially hard disk drives with extremely high areal density. This makes the design of the head positioning servomechanism more challenging. Shrinking bit size also means narrower track pitch. Many disturbances ignored today will ask for special attention at such high track density. Ultra high areal density will also require the head to fly very low such that occasional contact between head and disk will become inevitable. The servomechanism must be robust enough to withstand these unpredictable disturbances. |
|