IBM is claiming a breakthrough in disk storage technology using a new type of magnetic coating it calls "pixie dust" that could allow even the smallest computers to store large amounts of audio and video.
The company said the new coating could quadruple the data density of hard disk drive products.
IBM's new data storage breakthrough is a three-atom-thick layer of the element ruthenium, a precious metal similar to platinum, sandwiched between two magnetic layers.
The new multilayer coating, which IBM researchers have called "pixie dust," is expected to allow hard-disk drives to store 100 billion bits, or 100 gigabits, of data per square inch of disk area by 2003.
The highest density in current products is about 25 gigabits per square inch - that means in every square inch of disk space you could store five music CDs.
Within two years, IBM expects that the technology would allow for desktop computer hard drives with the ability to store 400 gigabytes, or the information in 400,000 books.
IBM is already shipping its Travelstar notebook hard disk drive products with data densities up to 25.7 gigabits per square inch. In time, IBM plans to implement the technology across all of its disk drive product lines.
