Images: New hard drive technologies

A graphic demonstrating the difference between conventional drives and patterned media drives. \r\n\r\n

In conventional drives, the bits, which store data in a drive and are magnetized in a particular direction, touch each other. Reducing the size of the magnetic grains inside the bits and the bits could lead to bit flipping, or data corruption. \r\n\r\n

In patterned media, the bits are isolated from each other and smaller, reducing cross talk and data corruption. The dot pattern, however, needs to be drawn through lithography, which is often expensive.

Heat ’em up. There are two big differences from a conventional drive and a drive with heat-assisted magnetic recording technology. \r\n\r\n

First, there is a\r\nlaser in the heat drive, which heats up the bits on the platter to record\r\ndata. The bits won?t record or erase data without being heated. That?s\r\nbecause of the second big difference: the magnetic grains inside the bits are\r\nmade from a different material.

Microscopic images of patterned media. The smaller dots in the left-hand\r\nimage measure 50 nanometers across, while the larger dots in the right image\r\nmeasure 500 nanometers. Hitachi is looking at the 50 nanometer dots. \r\n\r\n

The two\r\ndifferent colors of the dots indicate whether the dots are magnetized in one\r\ndirection or another.