pixie dust

- Pixie dust is the informal name that IBM is using for its antiferromagnetically-
coupled (AFC) media technology, which can increase the data capacity of hard drives to up to
four times the density possible with current drives. AFC overcomes limits of current hard drives
caused by a phenomenon called the superparamagnet effect (basically, alterations in magnetic
orientation). The "pixie dust" used is a 3-atom thick magnetic coating composed of the element
ruthenium sandwiched between two magnetic layers. The technology is expected to yield 400
GB (gigabyte) hard drives for desktop computers, and 200 GB hard drives for laptops by 2003.

In information technology, the term "pixie dust" is often used to refer to a technology that
seemingly does the impossible. IBM's use of AFC for hard drives overcomes what was
considered an insuperable problem for storage: the physical limit for data stored on hard drives.
Hard drive capacities have more or less doubled in each of the last five years, and it was assumed
in the storage industry that the upper limit would soon be reached. The superparamagnetic effect
has long been predicted to appear when densities reached 20 to 40 gigabits per square inch -
close to the data density of current products. AFC increases possible data density, so that
capacity is increased without using either more disks or more heads to read the data. Current
hard drives can store 20 gigabits of data per square inch. IBM began shipping Travelstar hard
drives in May 2001 that are capable of storing 25.7 gigabits per square inch. Drives shipped later
in the year are expected to be capable of 33% greater density. Because smaller drives will be able
to store more data and use less power, the new technology may also lead to smaller and quieter
devices.

IBM discovered a means of adding AFC to their standard production methods so that the
increased capacity costs little or nothing. The company, which plans to implement the process
across their entire line of products, chose not to publicize the technology in advance. Many
companies have focused research on the use of AFC in hard drives; a number of vendors, such as
Seagate Technology and Fujitsu, are expected to follow IBM's lead.

IBM's 'Pixie Dust' Breakthrough to

Quadruple Disk Drive Density
IBM is first to ship products with 'magical' new material
 San Jose, Calif., May 21, 2001 -- IBM today announced that it is using just a few atoms of "pixie dust" to
push back the data storage industry's most formidable barrier.

The company is first to mass-produce computer hard disk drives using a revolutionary new type of magnetic
coating that is eventually expected to quadruple the data density of current hard disk drive products -- a
level previously thought to be impossible, but crucial to continue feeding the information-hungry Internet
economy. For consumers, increased data density will help hasten the transition in home entertainment from
passive analog technologies to interactive digital formats.

The key to IBM's new data storage breakthrough is a three-atom-thick layer of the element ruthenium, a
precious metal similar to platinum, sandwiched between two magnetic layers. That only a few atoms could
have such a dramatic impact caused some IBM scientists to refer to the ruthenium layer informally as "pixie
dust."

Known technically as "antiferromagnetically-coupled (AFC) media," the new multilayer coating is expected to
permit hard disk drives to store 100 billion bits (gigabits) of data per square inch of disk area by 2003. AFC
media is now shipping in IBM's Travelstar notebook hard disk drive products with data densities up to 25.7
gigabits per square inch. In time, IBM plans to implement AFC media across all of its disk drive product
lines.

The increasing data densities enabled by AFC media are expected to simplify processes for storing
consumers' rapidly growing volumes of digital data (music, photographs, presentations and video);
accelerate an industry trend toward smaller disk-drive form factors that consume less energy; and stimulate
the creation of new and more capable digital-media and data-intensive applications.

In the past decade, the data density for magnetic hard disk drives has increased at a phenomenal pace:
doubling every 18 months and, since 1997, doubling every year, which is much faster than the vaunted
Moore's Law for integrated circuits. But the designers knew they were accelerating toward a barrier that
could suddenly halt further progress: When magnetic regions on the disk become too small, they cannot
retain their magnetic orientations -- the data -- over the typical lifetime of the product. This is called the
"superparamagnetic effect," and has long been predicted to appear when densities reached 20 to 40 billion
bits (gigabits) per square inch, which is near the data density of current products.

"AFC media is the first dramatic change in disk drive design made to avoid the high-density data decay due
to the superparamagnetic effect," said Currie Munce, who holds the dual positions of director, Advanced
Hard Disk Drive Technology at IBM's Storage Technology Division and director, Storage Systems and
Technology at IBM's Almaden Research Center. "Our deep understanding of the complex physical
phenomena of how the AFC media works enabled us to be first in the industry to ship AFC media in
products, and we're working to extend this technology to perform magnetic recording at 100 gigabits per
square inch and beyond."

The 100-gigabit density milestone was once thought to be unattainable due to the superparamagnetic effect.
A natural solution to this problem is to develop new magnetic alloys that resist more strongly any change in
magnetic orientation. But recording data on such materials becomes increasingly difficult.

AFC media solves this problem. The ultra-thin ruthenium layer forces the adjacent layers to orient
themselves magnetically in opposite directions. The opposing magnetic orientations make the entire
multilayer structure appear much thinner than it actually is. Thus small, high-density bits can be written
easily on AFC media, but they will retain their magnetization due to the media's overall thickness.

With AFC media, 100-gigabit data density could allow the following capacities within two years:

• Desktop drives -- 400 gigabytes (GB) or the information in 400,000 books;

• Notebook drives -- 200 GB, equivalent to 42 DVDs or more than 300 CDs;
• IBM's one-inch Microdrive -- 6 GB or 13 hours of MPEG-4 compressed digital video (about eight
complete movies) for handheld devices.

IBM is a pioneer in the research, development and manufacture of antiferromagnetically-coupled structures,

which have remarkable properties due to the "spintronic" interactions between the materials' electrons and
magnetic fields. In 1990, IBM scientists discovered that a thin layer of ruthenium atoms created the
strongest anti-parallel coupling between adjacent ferromagnetic layers of any nonmagnetic spacer-layer
element. The structure was used in the first giant magnetoresistive read element for disk drives, which was
introduced by IBM in 1997. GMR heads are now used in virtually all disk drives.

About IBM's Travelstar disk drives

The following IBM Travelstar (2.5-inch-disk form factor) products announced on March 27 are shipping with
AFC media:

Travelstar 48GH -- 48GByte capacity, 5,400 rpm; 21.7 gigabits/inch2 maximum areal density

Travelstar 30GN -- 30/20 GB, 4,200 rpm; 25.7/23.2 gigabits/inch2 maximum areal density

Travelstar 15GN -- 15/10/6 GB, 4,200 rpm; 25.7/21.2/21.2 gigabits/inch2 max. areal density

About IBM
IBM develops and manufactures the industry's most advanced information technologies, including computer
systems, software, networking systems, storage devices and microelectronics. The IBM Storage Technology
Division offers customers worldwide the most comprehensive range of industry-leading storage products
available today. These storage solutions are offered through IBM, as well as a large network of IBM Business
Partners and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Additional information on the Travelstar can be
found by calling 1-888-426-5214.

IBM developed the first commercial hard-disk drive in 1956 and has been the data storage industry's
technology leader ever since. Last year, IBM received the National Medal of Technology, the highest honor
the President can bestow on leading innovators, in recognition of its leadership in developing and
commercializing data-storage technologies.

IBM Research is the world's largest information technology research organization, with more than 3,000
scientists and engineers at eight labs in six countries. IBM Research labs are located in Yorktown Heights,
N.Y.; San Jose, Calif.; Austin, Tex.; Zurich, Switzerland; Haifa, Israel; Tokyo, Japan; Beijing, China, and
Delhi, India. For more information, please visit http://www.research.ibm.com.

AFC "pixie dust" media at a glance

• IBM's Travelstar laptop hard disk drive is the industry's first with a new
magnetic data storage media called antiferromagnetically-coupled
(AFC) media.
• AFC media is expected to increase current areal density limits by four-
fold, to surpass 100 gigabits/inch2, a level once thought impossible.
• Continued growth of data density is crucial to feed the information-
hungry Internet economy and help hasten the transition in home
entertainment from passive analog technologies to interactive digital
formats.
• AFC media breaks areal density records by employing multiple
magnetic layers that act in opposite directions, but "magically" stick
together through a thin layer of metal. The result: Thick, thermally
stable media that appear thin and are easy to write on.