A physics effect called extraordinary magnetoresistance (EMR) may be harnessed to create computer disk drives that can store and access at least 40 times as much data as today's disk drives can, according to scientists who discovered the effect and are working hard to commercialize it. Scientists led by Stuart Solin, a professor of physics at Washington University (St. Louis, Mo.), reported last spring that they had made prototype read heads for disk drives that are 10 times as sensitive as the best commercial disk drive heads. Now the team has managed to quadruple that factor, in work to be reported early this year, says Solin.
Of course, it is a long road from a prototype to a consumer product, and experts guess it may take anywhere from a few years to a decade or more. But the economic and technical advantages of EMR look very promising, and the day may not be far off when one could easily store the information content of a million novels on one's laptop computer. A single 3.5-inch disk that can hold a few feature-length films today could have the capacity to hold a personal library of a thousand films if the computer storage industry achieves terabit-per-square-inch densities.
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