Abstract
Hard disk drives (HDD : Hard Disk Drive) play an important role in advanced information society. They are widely used in various fields as external memory devices for personal computers, network computers, super technical servers, and so on. They are also used in the new applications, such as car navigation systems, video recorders, and removable devices. The series of three articles to be presented here focus on the structural aspect of HDDs. To help readers understand HDDs well, the history of HDDs, the uses and roles of HDDs, and the performance of currently manufactured HDDs are explained in Part 1. The structure of HDD and its elements will be shown in Part 2. Structural technology to achieve high-speed, high-accuracy head-positioning and future prospect will be described in Part 3.
