Abstract
The storage density of magnetic hard disk drives has been increasing at a rate of 2.0 times a year, and 10Gb/in^2 magnetic recording density has been put into practical use. Recently, air bearing sliders' spacing in magnetic hard disk drives has been decreased to as low as 20nm. In order to achieve ultra-high magnetic recording density more than 100Gb/in^2 in the near future, it is necessary to develop ultra-low head flying height or contact recording technology. This paper describes recent advances of such ultra-low head-disk- interface spacing technology in magnetic hard disk drives. Reviewing various challenging new concept technologies that open and process the nano-spacing region until now, it discusses the ability to realize head disk interface spacing less than 10nm.
