Perpendicular recording boosts hard-drive density

Toshiba has developed the world's first 1.8in hard drives to incorporate perpendicular recording.

Toshiba Europe Storage Device Division today further reinforced its manufacturing and technological leadership with the launch of the world's first 1.8in hard drives to incorporate perpendicular recording.

Through the use of this new breakthrough technology, Toshiba Storage Device Division will bring increased performance and storage capabilities to a wealth of portable digital computing and electronic devices.

The MK400GAL packs 40Gbyte into a drive only 5mm thick, and the 80Gbyte MK8008GAH sets news records for capacity in small form factor hard drives.

Toshiba Storage Device Division is the first company in the storage industry to commercialise perpendicular magnetic recording and develop a new magnetic disk structured to support perpendicular recording.

Conventional methods for recording data on a magnetic disk, where data is stored in a linear alignment, is fast approaching its limits.

Squeezing more bits on to a disk will eventually reach a point where crowding degrades recorded bit quality.

By standing the magnetic bits on end, perpendicular recording is able to achieve stable higher recording densities and improved storage capacity.

Toshiba's family of 1.8in hard disk drives have already become the storage device of choice for some of the hottest portable devices on the market.

The drives' combination of industry leading performance in light weight, small form factors has helped deliver unprecedented functionality to a wide variety of devices from MP3 players, handheld computers and ultraportable laptops.

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