MULTIPLE DOMAIN ORIENTATION

Abstract:
Due to the omnipresent nature of computers, the necessity
for an efficient and larger storage has been drastically on the rise.
The more the complex the system is, the more the storage
requirements become. Hard disks have a major role in satisfying
the needs of the computer users. Since storage density of hard
disk is increasing at rate of 60% per year [1] and is approaching its
atomic level saturation, there is a need for adapting some other
technique to make maximum utilization of the available space.
With not many solutions in hand, this paper is a novel approach.
The basis of this idea is that when an external magnetic field is
applied to an Elongated Single Domain (ESD), the domains get
oriented in the direction of the external field. This specific
property can account for the existence of more than two states.
The domains are oriented in different directions each
representing a new state unlike the conventional hard disks where
only two directions are made use of. Thus each individual bit
field* of the memory is capable of representing more than one
state thus allowing octal, decimal, hexadecimal etc.
representations instead of binary representation. The merits and
demerits of this technology have also been discussed.
Synopsis

 Introduction

 Conventional technology

o Interpretation of Data

o Disadvantages

 Multiple Domain Orientation

o Domain theory

o Effect of External field

o Domain Walls

 Proposed Technology

 Technical feasibility:

o Accuracy of orientation

o Effect of neighbouring domains

o Devising a suitable Read/Write Head

o Size of the Read/Write Head

 Analysis of various implementation techniques:

o Tackling domain-domain interaction

o Structure of Read/Write Head

 Challenges to be faced

 Intrinsic Compression Technique

  Extension of Similar Technology to Optical Storage

 Conclusion

Introduction

In the today’s cyber world, we are largely dependent on computers. With the
advancement of technology and complexity of computers, the need for massive storage
is mandatory. Hard disks have been a major storage media for the past several years.
Hard disks continue to shrink in size, gain increased storage capacity and increased
transfer speeds. The focus of development has been on increasing the density. But this
may ultimately lead to saturation to atomic levels one day. Hence in this paper, on the
basis of domain theory, different states have been given to an individual bit field making
it possible to store more information on a single bit field without modifying its density.

Conventional technology

The parts of a hard disk include platters, spindle motor, heads, and head actuator sealed
from the outside. This chamber is often called the head disk assembly (HDA). Platters
are usually made of an aluminum alloy or glass/ceramic coated with magnetically
sensitive substance. The read/write heads read and write to the platters. There is usually
one head per platter side, and each head is attached to a single actuator shaft so that all
the heads move in unison. Each head is spring loaded to force it into the platter it reads.
Each head rests on the platter surface when off. When the drive is running, the spinning
of the platters causes air pressure that lifts the heads ever-so-slightly off the platter
surface. In modern hard disks they float between 11nm above the disk. The spindle motor
is responsible for spinning the platters. They are set to spin the platters at a set rate,
ranging from 3600 RPM to 7200 RPM.
When the disk rotates under the read/write head, it can either read existing data or write
new ones:
If a current is applied to the coil, the head will become magnetic. This magnetism will
orient the micro magnets in the track. This is write mode.
If the head moves along the track without current applied to the coil, it will sense the
micro magnets in the track. This magnetism will induce a current in the coil. These
flashes of current represent the data on the disk. This is read mode.
• Interpretation of Data:
The bits are stored in microscopic magnets (called domains) on the disk. Domains are small (1-
100’s microns), but much larger than atomic distances. Before recording data, the drive
uses the read/write heads to orient the domains in a small region so that the magnetic
poles all point in the same direction. Then:A reversal of polarity is interpreted as a digit
one.Unchanged polarity is interpreted as a digit zero

• Disadvantages:

The hard disks don’t make complete utilization of the properties of magnetic
materials. They don’t give importance to the fact that the domains can be
oriented in any direction by the use of a suitable external field. Hence their
efficiency remains comparatively low.
Current disk drive products have an area density of 6 Gbit/in2. This is achieved
partly by reducing the grain size in the current granular magnetic media. As bit
cell sizes decreases, the energy required to reverse the magnetization of a bit
approaches the magnitude of the bit’s thermal energy, causing a magnetic
instability. This behavior is called superparamagnetism. At this point, the
magnetization direction is unstable to thermal fluctuations and the
magnetization direction can spontaneously reverse. This puts a question mark to
the future extendibility of magnetic storage .
As the head fly height approaches the sub-10 nanometers, the implication of disk
topography (asperity defects, micro waviness) on how low the slider can safely fly
is critical . It is necessary to protect the disk magnetic film from damage during
operation. So a thin layer (3-7 nm) of a hard protective overcoat, usually carbon-
based, is deposited onto the disk. A monolayer of functionalized lubricant 0.5-2
nm thick is topically applied on the overcoat as an added protection. The physics
and chemistry of this nanometer thin layer of lubricant under extremely high
shear rate is very difficult to achieve.

Multiple Domain Orientation

 • Domain theory: This theory was put forth to explain the nature of the
magnetic substances and the concept behind their inherent magnetic properties.
The ferromagnetic substances have intrinsic magnetic property viz. have
spontaneous magnetization. The reason is attributed to the spin exchange
interaction of atoms in those materials. Their magnetization can be influenced by
the application of very low magnetic fields. Even the earth’s field (50 mT) can
cause magnetization changes even though the inter-atomic exchange forces
responsible for the spontaneous magnetization are equivalent to a field of about
1000 T

• Effect of External field: According to the domain theory,

When a weak external magnetic field is applied over a ferromagnetic substance,
the domain in the direction of the external field expands at the cost of other
domains.
When a strong external magnetic field is applied, the domains adjust such that all
the domains reorient themselves in the direction of the external field.

• Domain Walls: Domain walls are interfaces between regions in which the
magnetization has different directions. Within the wall, the magnetization must
change direction from that in one domain to that in the other domain. Domain
walls have a finite width that is determined principally by exchange and magneto
crystalline energy. The exchange energy acts to keep spins parallel and is
generally large if an abrupt change of direction takes place within the
neighbouring domains. ESD is used in storage as they are magnetically hard and
have high coercivities and remanence

Proposed Technology

The effect of a strong external field can be made use of to produce many states by
giving the read/write head, the capability to orient the bit fields in various directions.

The head is assumed to have the capacity to orient the bit fields in eight
directions. Hence there are eight different states each denoting a specific direction. This
implies that 3 binary digits can represented by a single bit field viz. octal number system
is used for storage. Thus thrice the amount of information stored in a normal hard disk
can be stored in the same by using this new technology. This is one of the most
important reasons why the orientation theory can be proposed, since in the present
technique it is not possible to go on reducing the density of bit fields due certain
restrictions as we mentioned before.
Technical feasibility

• Accuracy of orientation: The more the number of orientations the head is capable
of making, the more the information stored in a single bit field. If the precision can be
extended up to one degree then there can be 360 possible states implying that storage
devices can hold as much as 8 times more data when compared to existing hard disks. So
using high precision technologies it is possible to design hard disks that would contain
data that is several times higher than at present.

• Effect of neighbouring domains: A domain can affect the neighbouring domains

to certain extent, changing their orientations leading to corruption of data. This occurs
even in a conventional hard disk. But the effect is lower as the orientations are
perpendicular to each other. But this factor has more significance effect in this
technology

• Devising a suitable Read/Write Head: Most of the read/write head structure

existing now has to be changed. The need for such a change is obvious viz. the head
should have the capability to orient the domains in various directions. Also the head
should be devised such that it does no change to the neighbouring domains other than
the one specified

• Size of the Read/Write Head: The size of the head, integrating in it, the above
mentioned facilities is an important factor. It should be small enough to remain between
two platters. Also its weight must be so low such that it can remain just above the
 rotating platters. These things can be overcome by the use of advanced light weight
polymers.

• Analysis of various implementation techniques

. Tackling domain-domain interaction:

The inter-domain interaction can be avoided by imposing a three dimensional pattern on
the surface that leaves each magnetic cell magnetically isolated from its neighbors [7].
Building media with multiple layers of material having different magnetic
characteristics also helps to isolate the magnetic domains and increase achievable
density [7].. Using magnetic materials requiring more energy to magnetize also helps
stability and improves density, but may cause difficulties for recording head designers
[7]. Arrays of magnetic dots and wires can be fabricated with great precision with
dimensions on the order of 100 nanometers or less.

Structure of Read/Write Head: The head can contain a single linear strip that can be
rotated in any direction. This strip gets magnetized when current passes through it thus
magnetizing the domain below in its own direction. Thus it is possible to orient the domain
in any particular direction by rotating the strip in that particular direction and passing
current.

Challenges to be faced

• A motor capable of spinning at more than 7200*360*(No. of bit fields in a track) rpm is still
a great technical challenge.Even if such a motor is found, the possibility of it to remain small
is still a mightier challenge.The head is semicircular / rectangular having many linear strips
at various angles. A fast switching circuit is included in order to magnetize the proper linear
strip. Thus this switching helps in magnetizing the domain in the proper direction. Also
there must be a facility provided to make horizontal adjustment of the head so that the
domain to be affected comes exactly under the required strip. This can be accomplished by
using oscillator that can move the head horizontally. The polarity can be reversed to
magnetize in opposite direction.
The arrangement of oscillator is little difficult. The oscillator has to be fast enough as well as
controllable.
Writing:
To perform writing, a decoder is used as the switching circuit. The inputs are in binary form.
Hence they should be converted into the required numbering system. The decoder
establishes a connection to the required strip. When any strip is magnetized it will make the
bit field present beneath it to be oriented towards the direction of the strip. Thus a state is
stored in the form of magnetic orientation from the given set of inputs. For instance,
consider a bit field can represent up to eight possible states viz. from 0-7, then the three
input bits can be represented by a single bit field. So a 3-to-8 line decoder can be used.
Similarly this concept can be extended for any number of inputs and any number of states.
Reading:
The same head can be used for reading. This is implemented by considering the current
induced in a single central strip. The strip is made to pass over the particular bit field and
the induced current is measured. The intensity of current is directly proportional to the
offset of the domain field from the strip and its direction is given by the direction of the
induced current which can be got by Fleming’s Right Hand Rule. This information can be
processed to get the required data. After the state is recognized, an encoder is used to get the
binary value.

Intrinsic Compression Technique

This is a revolutionary technique that can be used for data compression. Unlike other
compression techniques, this is implemented within the hard disk itself. This technique is
better explained by an example rather than theoretical explanation. For instance consider
that 10 states can be represented by a single bit field. 8 states are used for the octal system
and the remaining 2 extra states can be used for compression. Like Huffman coding, a
sequence of bits can be represented by the 9th state and some other frequently occurring
sequence by the 10th state. In this example only 2 extra states are considered but when the
no. of these extra states increases achieved compression is high.

Extension of Similar Technology to Optical Storage : The idea of having multiple

states of the same bit field can be extended to optical storage. The storing material is multi-
layered, whose reflectivity can be varied. By changing the intensity of the laser beam
multiple states can be produced. The states vary in their property of reflecting the read
signal back during the reading process. Similar idea can be extended to any storage device
where existence of multiple states is feasible.

Conclusion:

Time delay is one of the main shortcomings of this technology. The reading and writing
processes consume a bit more time because of the presence of switching circuits. This can be
minimized by using available techniques like banking.
The whole system is little more complicated. As the world enters an abrupt computerization
phase, the need for larger storage has become the need of the hour. The hard disks are
approaching their near saturation. The proposed technology can change the future of hard
disks. By changing the way the information is stored in a hard disk, the capacity of hard
disks can be increased several times. Similar technology can also be extended to other types
of storage devices like optical storage that may bring about a great revolution in the storage
technology.