Fujitsu Announces Breakthrough for Next-Generation HDD With Patterned Media

Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., one of the world's leading suppliers of innovative computer products, today announced the results of a joint collaboration by Yamagata Fujitsu Limited, Fujitsu Laboratories Limited, and Kanagawa Academy of Science and Technology (KAST) to create ideally "ordered" alumina nanohole patterned media. In a world first, Fujitsu has achieved the basic read/write capability of ideally ordered alumina nanoholes on a 2.5" magnetic disk with a flying head.

In January 2007, Fujitsu announced one Terabit/in(2) technology, a breakthrough for future HDD capacity expansion. At that time, one-dimensionally aligned alumina nanohole patterns with 25nm pitch were produced to support one Terabit/in(2) bit recording density. Now for the first time, Fujitsu has successfully created ideally "ordered" alumina nanohole patterns for isolated bit-by-bit recording on a large disk area by establishing an innovative fabrication process, and confirmed the basic read/write capability in each individual nanohole of the patterned media using a flying head on a rotating disk. Using Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR) processes, the patterned alumina nanohole media was fabricated using nano-imprint lithography, anodic oxidation, and cobalt electrodeposition at a density of 100nm pitch nanoholes that was suitable to currently available head technology.

"This technology achievement is a major leap for the industry and confirms Fujitsu's position as a research leader on the path to one Terabit/in(2)," said David James, vice president, advanced product engineering, Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. "Fujitsu is the first company to demonstrate read/write signals in individual ideally ordered alumina nanohole using a flying head for measurement. With the growing demand for hard drives with high capacities, especially in small form factors, one Terabit/in(2) would enable potential storage capacities of up to 1.2TB on a 2-platter 2.5" drive. We expect this breakthrough to provide revolutionary changes for various IT and consumer applications."

This achievement has been published in the July online version of the eminent technology journal, "Applied Physics Letters. Volume 91 Issue 2, July 9th 2007."

The work on nanohole patterned media is supported by the "Research Program on Development of Innovative Technology" of the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

Related Websites:

Fujitsu Laboratories: http://jp.fujitsu.com/group/labs/en/

Japan Science and Technology Agency: http://www.jst.go.jp/EN/index.html

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of customer-focused IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace. Pace-setting device technologies, highly reliable computing and communications products, and a worldwide corps of systems and services experts uniquely position Fujitsu to deliver comprehensive solutions that open up infinite possibilities for its customers' success. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 5.1 trillion yen (US$43.2 billion) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2007. See http://www.fujitsu.com for further information.

About Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc.

Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc. conducts engineering and marketing activities in Sunnyvale, CA and sales operations throughout the United States. Fujitsu Computer Products of America currently offers products and services including scanners and scanner maintenance, hard disk drives, palm vein recognition technology and 10Gb Ethernet switches. Fujitsu Computer Products of America is located at 1255 East Arques Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA, 94085. For more information about Fujitsu products and services, call us at 800-626-4686 or 408-746-7000. For more information, please see: http://us.fujitsu.com/fcpa.