7.Summaryandconclusions
This paperhastouchedbrieflyontheremarkablehistorical
progressofmagneticrecordingandofharddiskdrivetechnology.
The recentspurtofrapidprogresshasbeenbroughtaboutbythe
introductionofperpendicularmagneticrecordingtogetherwith
verysensitiveTMRsensorsaswellasslider-basedthermal-
actuation thatenablesprecisecontrolofhead-mediumspacing
downtoverylowclearance.Itistheauthor’sopinionthatsuch
rapidprogressisunlikelytocontinueintothenextdecade
because offundamentallimitsonthephysicsunderlyingthe
technology.Weshouldexpectdemandtooutstripareal-density
growthoverthenextfewyearsandcostandsheerdrivecapacity
to beatapremiumcomparedtootherperformancemeasures.
Good engineeringandcontinuedimprovementsinwriterdesign,
head-media spacing,reader-sensitivity,track-followingaccuracy,
and signalprocessingwillundoubtedlypushusclosetothese
limits. Inparticular,mediathermalstabilityisthesourceofthis
fundamental limitationonarealdensity.Thereissomehopethata
‘conventional’mediumdesignedwithpropertiescleverlygraded
throughitsthicknessmayallowafinelygrainedmediumtobe
createdthatisboththermallystableandstill‘writable’.Beyond
conventionalrecordingliesaforkintheroadwherecritical
decisions needtobemadebetween‘patternedmedia’and‘energy
assist’—two verydifferentandverychallengingroutestothe
futureofstoragetechnology.