Magnetic recording — Pushing back the superparamagnetic barrier

Abstract Magnetic recording storage densities have increased by a factor of five million since the first disk drive was introduced. The history of this dramatic increase has been based on the timely discovery of new magnetic materials and magnetic phenomena. The most important developments will be highlighted. The way also has been marked by predictions of limitations on recording densities. The most recent suggests that superparamagnetism will become a limiting factor at about 40 Gbits/in 2 . This paper also describes the prospects for going beyond 100 Gbits/in 2 .