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Magnetoresistance - Fodder for Micro Hard Drives
Researchers at SUNY, Buffalo, NY, have revealed the potential of an effect known
as "ballistic magnetoresistance," whereby applying atomic-dimension "nanocontacts"
to magnetic media resulted in a 3,000% change in magnetoresistance at low switching
fields of a few hundred oersted. This has the potential to increase hard drive storage
densities from GBits/in² to TBits/in². Interior magnetic-domain walls measure about
1 nm vs. 100 to 200 nm for a normal conductor. Electrons forced through such a small
conduit literally do not have space to bounce around inside the conductor and producing
heat. With a nanocontact's 1 nm wide domain walls, electrons stream through, creating
a draft-like effect that prompted the label "ballistic." Look for thumbnail-size
hard drives in about a decade.
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