Challenges of patterned media

Hard disk drive industry has been looking at a successor for the granular perpendicular recording media technology for more than 5 years. Patterned media technology, in the form of discrete tracks and subsequently in discrete bits, was believed to be one of the potential candidates. However, the interest in patterned media. has been declining because of certain challenges. This paper discusses the technological and economical challenges associated with patterned media and some potential solutions.