Hitachi has announced that it has demonstrated the technical feasibility of magnetic recording at 610 Gbit/in2. While heads and media with an ultra-narrow track pitch of 65nm are still in development, these results indicate that current hard drive capacities can be increased by 2.5x.
Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT / TSE: 6501) and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST), announced today that they have demonstrated the technical feasibility of magnetic recording at 610 Gbit/in2. This considerably exceeds the previously demonstrated capabilities of current perpendicular recording technology found in mass-production hard disk drive (HDD) products. These results hold the potential for a 2.5x increase in the storage capacities of current-generation HDDs.
Hitachi and Hitachi GST have together successfully verified an areal recording density of 610 Gbit/in2, using conventional perpendicular magnetic recording with continuous recording media and a software detection model. This achievement provides further evidence that hard drive capacities have the potential to advance at a rate of 40% annually. Application of this technology to future HDD products is expected to result in products that deliver larger capacities, smaller sizes and greater energy efficiency.
If you'd like to read more, Hitachi's entire press release can be found here.
