Hard disk drive (HDD) recording density has increased at an annual rate of approximately 40% as a result of the commercialization of perpendicular magnetic recording technology, and in 2007, a 1 terabyte (TB) product in a 3.5-inch drive was released. The ability to realize this type of large capacity storage has given birth to new markets for commercial electronics (CE) applications such as hard disk recorders and so on in addition to the conventional PC applications, and the HDD market is anticipated to continue to grow at an annual percentage rate 10% or more. This paper presents an overview of high recording density technology for magnetic recording media that is likely to be realized in the near future.

With higher recording densities, the height at which a magnetic head flies over the recording media has dropped down to less than 10 nm level. In order to achieve stable read and write performance, a substrate surface that enables ultra-low flying excursion is required, and a smooth substrate surface on the sub-nanometer order and control of defects are important. Fuji Electric has developed new substrate technology that optimizes the application and processing of new materials in the polishing and precision cleaning processing of the aluminum substrate, and has developed an aluminum substrate for perpendicular recording media that realizes a capacity of 334 GBytes in a single 3.5-inch disk. This paper introduces the developed technology.

Aluminum perpendicular magnetic recording media is expanding the application area to a wider range of consumer markets, such as for use in video recorders and the like, from computer-related products such as PCs and servers in which magnetic recording media has been used. Fuji Electric has been developing perpendicular magnetic recording media since 1999, and having developed proprietary technology from the beginning, has continued to maintain its place as an industry leader. This paper describes the state of Fuji Electric's efforts in developing aluminum perpendicular magnetic recording media, and focuses on the development of sputtering technology.

In order to achieve higher recording density in CoPtCr-SiO₂ granular perpendicular magnetic recording media, which is presently themain type of perpendicular magnetic recording media, reduced media noise and improved thermal stability are strongly needed. This paper describes Fuji Electric's efforts in increasing recording density by optimizing the composition of the magnetic recording layer of the CoPtCr- SiO₂ granular perpendicular recording media, and also introduces readwrite evaluation technology, which is indispensible for the efficient development of perpendicular magnetic recording media.

Exchange-coupled composite (ECC) media is considered to be the most promising candidate that could balance competing goals for high recording density, long-term stability and good write-ability, and achieve close to 1 Tb/in2. Fuji Electric has developed a semi-ECC medium, in which a semi-hard or weak hard magnetic layer is used instead of a soft layer, and has demonstrated the principles of this medium through simulations and experiments. The magnetic properties and Read/Write performance have also been investigated, and the excellent performance of this media, as compared to normal media, has been confirmed.

The discrete track media (DTM), an advanced media capable of achieving recording densities in excess of 500 Gbits/in2, is developed. By forming grooves, having a width of not more than 100 nm and a depth of approximately 20 nm, in a magnetic layer, DTM reduces magnetic interference between adjacent tracks, and improves the recording density along the track direction by at least 30%. DTM having a track width of 60 nm was experimentally manufactured, and the results of observation using a magnetic force microscope (MFM) verified that each track is magnetically isolated. Fuji Electric plans to continue the process development for mass production.

We report the progress in the development of thermal assisted magnetic recording (TAMR) which is expected to achieve high recording densities of greater than 1 Tb/in2. A new simulator for TAMR was established by combining thermal distribution analysis and micro magnetic models. Experimental results of the recording media were obtained by controlling the temperature dependency of the magnetic properties of the recording layer with a relatively simple processing parameter and by using a spin-stand tester modified for the TAMR to demonstrate the heating effect during writing. A new lubricant was developed to improve thermostability.

Accompanying the growth of the market for electrophotographictype printers and copiers, the market for photoconductors is expected to grow at an annual rate of approximately 8% in the future. Anticipation of the performance improvements obtainable by using photoconductors, i.e., clearer picture quality and higher durability, is intensifying. Responding to such market requests by taking on the challenge of improving the material design and product design and by advancing production technology, Fuji Electric has brought to market products that are attractive to the customer. By continuing to concentrate the collective power of the Fuji Electric Group, we intend to enhance technical capability, and to provide high performance and highly reliable products that anticipate the needs of the customer.

As the trends of digitization and colorization are advanced for printers, copiers and other devices that use photoconductors, the number of manuscripts containing large quantities of information will increase and the output from these devices will also increase. This paper introduces Fuji Electric's material technology and chemical technology, which are fundamental to the commercialization of organic photoconductors used in such devices. Specifically, computer-assisted molecular design technology, technology for synthesizing the designed molecules and purification technology are reported. Also, safety engineering and environmental engineering, which correspond to the international heightened concern regarding the environment, are discussed and production that is friendly to the global environment and has low waste loss is also reported.

Devices that utilize electrophotographic technology, ranging from small-size low-cost machines to high-speed color machines, will continue to become more varied in the future. Due of these market trends, the performance and quality required for photoconductors tend to be diverse. In response to such demands, Fuji Electric has developed and commercialized an extensive lineup of photoconductors, which are being deployed in the market. This paper presents an overview and describes the features of negatively-charged and positively-charged organic photoconductors (OPC) for use in printers.

In equipment that uses electrophotographic technology, especially in the digital copier field, high durability and long service life are required. Furthermore, product variations incorporating colorization, multi-functionality and other such trends are increasing. Under the circumstances of these types of market trends, higher levels of performance and quality are being required of the photoconductors installed in digital copiers. Fuji Electric has developed and commercialized photoconductors that satisfy such customer requests, and is deploying these photoconductors in the market. This paper presents an overview and a description of the features of organic photoconductors for digital plain paper copiers.

Based on production technology of the industry's top level for organic photoconductors, in 2006, Fuji Electric aggregated all of its production capability into a plant in China and constructed an integrated line that combines all processes from the production of photoconductive tubes and photoconductive material to the coating, inspection and assembly of photoconductors. This paper presents an overview of the latest production technology for individual elemental processes in this integrated line.