Thermally induced error: density limit for magnetic data storage

TL;DR

This paper investigates the fundamental thermal limits of magnetic data storage density, revealing that current technology restricts achievable densities to 15-20 TBit/in^2 due to thermal stability and write field constraints.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of 'thermal writability' and models the density limit considering thermodynamic processes in magnetic recording.

Findings

Storage density limited to 15-20 TBit/in^2 with current technology

Thermal stability and write field magnitude are critical factors

Thermal writability is a key parameter in density limits

Abstract

Magnetic data storage is pervasive in the preservation of digital information and the rapid pace of computer development requires ever more capacity. Increasing the storage density for magnetic hard disk drives requires a reduced bit size, previously thought to be limited by the thermal stability of the constituent magnetic grains. The limiting storage density in magnetic recording is investigated treating the writing of bits as a thermodynamic process. A 'thermal writability' factor is introduced and it is shown that storage densities will be limited to 15 to 20 TBit/in^2 unless technology can move beyond the currently available write field magnitudes.