This PFI: AIR Technology Translation project focuses on translating the research discovery of acoustically assisted magnetic recording (AAMR) towards application in magnetic hard disk drives for greater data storage densities. AAMR exploits strain effected by surface acoustic waves to temporarily reduce the magnetic field required to write on the disk and enable higher data density. The project will establish proof-of-concept of a non-contact transducer for generating focused surface acoustic waves in the storage medium for selectively addressing individual data bits.
In comparison to other competing strategies presently being considered, namely bit-patterned media recording, heat-assisted magnetic recording and microwave-assisted magnetic recording, AAMR (1) does not require expensive patterning of the storage media, (2) precludes thermal loading and cycling issues, and (3) provides the possibility of simpler sub-system integration. The basic principles of AAMR have been proven in previous work. The technology gap to be addressed in this project is the demonstration of an acoustic transducer suitable for integration with a commercial recording head, an important and necessary step towards establishing the technical feasibility and commercial reality of AAMR.
Magnetic hard disk drives have long been the mainstay for data storage, and, despite threat from solid-state memory technologies, are expected to continue to dominate the market due to their cost-competitiveness ($0.05-$0.10 per gigabyte versus solid-state storage at $1.20-$2.00 per gigabyte). Currently hard disk drives constitute a $40 billion industry with nearly 90% of the market share held by two U.S. companies. Demand for storage is further predicted to grow exponentially, spurred by the needs of big data, cloud and supercomputing technologies. These statistics underscore the likely significant economic impact and pay-off of successfully translating AAMR to the marketplace.
