Western Digital is set to introduce its first hard drives featuring heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) technology, and around 2030, this technology will enable the company to build 80TB–100TB HDDs. At that point, FePt-based granular media will start reaching its limits in terms of areal density. But Western Digital is already working on the next step for its hard drives: heat dot magnetic recording (HDMR) technology.
The HDMR is a next-generation recording technology that involves heat-assisted writing and bit-patterned media (BPM) that promises to achieve areal densities of around 8 Tb/inch^2 and beyond (according to Seagate) and to enable 10-platter HDDs with capacities of 120TB or higher. This technology is projected to be quite expensive as bit-patterned disks must be physically patterned using lithography or etching equipment in cleanrooms. Let us talk about this development in more detail.
