Project BriefOpen Competition 1 - Electronics and PhotonicsMulti-Terabyte Tape StorageDevelop the technologies to increase the data density of existing magnetic tape data systems by a factor of 250 and lay the foundation for even greater densities in future systems, leading to cost reductions in data archiving and improving the competitive position of the U.S. data storage industry. Sponsor: Imation Corp.1 Imation PlaceOakdale, MN 55128-3421
Explosive growth in stored digital data and images, the Internet, replacement of paper as a medium of long-term record retention, and the need for massive dense storage for reconnaissance and surveillance are accelerating the need for low-cost mass data storage. This need is presently met by storage on magnetic tape, but the current technology soon will not be able to meet the projected demands on storage density capability. Imation and its partners -- Accutronics, Inc. (Littleton, Colo.); Advanced Research Corporation (Minneapolis, Minn.); Peregrine Recording Technology, Inc. (Woodbury, Minn.), and Read-Rite Corporation (Milpitas, Calif.) -- plan to enable a massive increase in the "volumetric data density" (the number of bytes of data stored in a data cartridge) for linear magnetic tape systems through a number of technical innovations. The technical barriers to higher density are track misregistration, which limits track density, and SNR, which decreases as a function of magnetic film surface roughness. Large Angle Azimuth Recording and "shingle writing" produces an increase of more than 250 times the existing storage capacity: two recording system techniques where 1) the bits are written at a large positive angle in one direction and a large negative angle in the opposite, and 2) the write element is much wider than the data track width and overwrites a portion of the previously written track. These techniques enable increases in the track, linear, and layer densities through advances in the major components of the recording system -- the magnetic film, heads, tracking, and data channel. One key innovation of this project is the first sputtered metal film on flexible polymeric substrate for magnetic tape. The use of helix-coil write heads allows very narrow channel-to-channel spacing. The implementation of giant magneto-resistive read head designs provides the necessary increase in linear density, and an improved air bearing design will improve tracking and enable the increase in track density. In addition, the new hardware must integrate into a workable system with 625 MB per cubic millimeter data density; increase track density by a factor of 57, linear-bit density by a factor of 3 and improve layer density. More than $240 billion of U.S. industry is affected by digital data storage. Gains for consumers are estimated at $2.2 billion over five years. In addition to strengthening the $6 billion U.S. magnetic tape industry, government agencies whose strategic needs require data storage and distribution for tasks like mapping of terrain, weather, and physical resources would benefit. With the Internet, digital photography, and the introduction of HDTV, the digital imaging market is growing rapidly. Additional support for this project will come from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio), and the University of California at San Diego. ATP funds provide the catalyst to bring together a consortium of component manufacturers to jointly develop this advanced, high-risk technology. No single company has the resources to pursue this objective individually.
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