R&D of the High Density Recording Magnetic Heads and Materials

Abstract

The development of magnetic heads used in the VTR's has been studied for over 30 years. The development coincided with the sharp rise and the present stagnant growth of our industry, electric and electronic market in Japan. The prominent growth has been observed at the time of a newly launched compact home use VTR just after the first oil shock. This rapid growth had been realized by the intense R&D of heads and tapes with never ending endeavor and eagerness for the very high density recording. One of the key technologies was the intrigued application and combination of anisotropic properties of crystalline materials, besides the drastic improvement of magnetic tapes and the steady advancement of a tape/head interface. Although the markets is slow these days, the technologies are still advancing to realize even higher densities. The DVC with ME tape is here and renewed efforts have been intensively paid for a drastic improvement of HDD technologies. A new materials, GMR, has been recently introduced. The renewed effort will be expected to open new gigantic AV & C markets over the next century.