Extendibility of traditional perpendicular magnetic recording for hard disk drives

We present an analysis of the extendability of traditional perpendicular recording based on micromagnetic recording simulation and channel cost/performance analysis. The analysis indicates that head field gradient is the single most important factor in realizing densities above 1.0 Tb/in(2). The conclusion of this analysis is that 1.5 Tb/in(2) may be possible with this technology, but 2 Tb/in(2) will be extremely challenging, perhaps impossible even with powerful channel chips. We also examine the extendibility of servo systems, and conclude that either actuator bandwidth must be increased by a factor of 2 from today's drives or integrated disturbance power spectrum must be decreased by a factor of 2 to reach densities of 2 Tb/in(2) and beyond. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3563095]