An MR film head minimum feature perspective on future area density growth rates

This paper discusses processing limitations for future thin film head structures and describes the observation that the formation of the thin film head minimum feature, the MR sensor width, will determine future areal density growth rates independent of the physics and the magnetics of the recording system. With the convergence of thin film head and integrated circuit processing, annual areal density growth rates of 70% to 100% will be constrained to 30% levels based simply on the integrated circuit (IC) industry lithography road map which reduces minimum feature at 12% annually. The 20 nm minimum features required for 1 Tbit/in² recording will not be realized in semiconductor processing until 2010 at the earliest.