Electrostatic microactuator for future hard disk drive

Hard disk drives are the most widely used data-storage medium. The TPI (track per inch) limit is related to mechanical resonances of the positioning arm and to low frequency bearing effects. A secondary actuator must be able to precisely position the R/W head, with high bandwidth, with respect to the magnetic track, without any interference with the magnetic data recorded on the disk. MEMS technology allows the fabrication of such electrostatic microactuators for the secondary stage in HDDs.