Fujitsu Teams on Patterned Media

SUNNYVALE, Calif. -- 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, oneTerabit/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."

Fujitsu Ltd. (Tokyo: 6702; London: FUJ; OTC: FJTSY)

Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.