Ferroelectric Data Storage Disk

CoreTek Inc proposes a rewritable ferroelectric thin film disk drive (Ferro-Disk), which is addressed optically and read out electronically. The Ferro-Disk stores data in the form of electric remnant polarization in a ferroelectric film. Because ferroelectric materials are radiation hardened, the Ferro-Disk is specially suitable for reliable data storage during space missions. The architecture a Ferro-Disk data storage system makes innovative use of ferroelectric thin film technology and optical data storage technology. The data storage density of a single layer Ferro-Disk is compatible or higher than that of a magneto-optical drive, limited only by the spot size of the writing laser beam. Because of the thin film nature of the ferroelectric recording media, multilayer data storage can easily be realized to further increase the data storage density. CoreTek's design of electric readout leads to a robust drive with much simpler optical configuration than a conventional optical drive. The simplicity of system design ensures the Ferro Drive to be reliable and compact with very low power consumption. Phase I will fabricate the proposed Ferro-Disk by using sputtering thin film deposition technique. We will evaluate the data storage characteristics of the Ferro-Disk by examine reading and writing process. Phase II will optimize the device performance to achieve specifications better than the present day disk-drives. Compared with conventional data storage systems (tape system, magnetic hard disk, optical disk), the Ferro-Disk has the following advantages: high read/write speed, high data storage density, simple and compact system design, low power consumption, resistant to radiation damage, and extremely robust. This new and revolutionary data instrumentation scheme will be of considerable importance for military as well as commercial applications.