The world’s largest independent maker of hard drive platters, SDK, has confirmed it has developed media featuring MAS-MAMR that will allow Toshiba, one of its key customers, to build HDDs with capacities of 30TB and more. 
The progress in Digital Transformation (DX), including the spread of teleworking, 5th generation (5G) mobile communication services, and the Internet of Things (IoT), has increased the amount of data generated and communicated. So, it has become more critical for HDD manufacturers to develop large-capacity near-line HDDs for use in data centers, which record and store a large amount of data.
To respond to the demand for increased HDD storage capacities, Japanese company SDK (Showa Denko KK) will accelerate the two-way development of HD media supporting MAS-MAMR and HAMR.
The company has recently confirmed developing HD media for HDDs, supporting data recording with MAS-MAMR technology, according to its motto of “Best in Class,” thereby creating the best HD media in the world.
MAS-MAMR (Microwave Assisted Switching-Microwave Assisted Magnetic Recording) is a next-generation data recording technology based on an innovative principle suggested by Toshiba. This method can realize a further increase in the data-storage capacity of HDDs.
The MAMR is already into practical use as leading-edge data-recording technology. SDK has begun supplying Toshiba, the third hard drive manufacturer, with HD media supporting MAMR in February 2021. These media are mainly installed in 18TB HDDs for near-line use in data centers.
Up to date, Toshiba has only released 18TB models. However, large capacity near-line hard disk drives, popular in data centers in web hosting, cloud backup, or cloud storage applications, have stalled at around 20TB with nine and ten platter designs from Seagate and Western Digital.
So, while SDK will accelerate the development of HD media supporting MAS-MAMR, Toshiba aims to put it to practical use as the second generation MAMR.
The newly developed MAS-MAMR technology will utilize a strong magnetic oscillation effect of Microwave-Assisted Switching (MAS effect). Therefore, it will realize data-recording track on the surface of HD media much narrower than that of MAMR technology-based HD media, thereby increasing the data-storage capacity of HDDs.
SDK has been developing HD media supporting MAS-MAMR in collaboration with Toshiba and TDK Corporation (TDK), a read/write heads manufacturer for HDDs. The Japanese technology trio aims to put this new data-recording technology into practical use. According to its press release, they claim that MAS-MAMR can substantially increase HDD data storage capacity by “more than 30TB.”
Furthermore, SDK commits to accelerating the development of MAS-MAMR, which Toshiba aims to put to practical use as the second generation of MAMR.
With this joint development program, the trio has proven the world the following. HDD as a combination of read/write head equipped with dual spin-injection-layer and HD media equipped with new-type magnetic layer can substantially increase HDD’s data-storage capacity through manifestations of the MAS effect.
