Latest data storage superhero power: sound.

Those crazy Oregon State Beavers…they’ve come up with a cool way to make any magnetic media store more data.  It’s not heat like the HAMR technology Seagate is working on.  It’s sound.

Check out this great write-up on Extreme Tech by Grant Brunner titled “Researchers use ultrasound to improve SSD storage density.” In a nutshell, “Dubbed acoustic-assisted magnetic recording (AAMR), this process actually stretches the magnetic medium itself to allow more data to be written in a given area…ultrasonic sound waves are directed at a small section of the magnetic material. This bends the desired area enough so that more data can fit. When the sound waves stop, the material snaps back to its original shape.”

Sounds awful superhero-ish.  A superhero that bends material by yelling at it.  Maybe not as cool as as a superhero with lasers that shoot out of his/her eyes (they’re used in HAMR technology to heat the magnetic surface), but still very cool technology.  Don’t get your hopes up too fast.  Like HAMR, AAMR technology is far from market ready — HAMR is probably nearer given Seagate’s been working on it for years and has a working HAMR-based hard drive.

All competitive technology banter aside, it’s always cool to learn of the latest and greatest discoveries in the world of superhero data storage.

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2024-01-29T16:42:47+00:00

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