Hard Drive Technology Pioneers Win Nobel Physics Prize
Two physicists, a German and a French researcher, who independently discovered an effect that makes today's tiny hard drives possible, were awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics today.
In 1988, Albert Fert and the German Peter GrÃÃâ€Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ÃƒÆ’‚¼nberg separately discovered a process now called Giant Magnetoresistance, or GMR, in which very weak magnetic changes can produce major differences in electrical current.
On traditional hard drives, information is stored in the form of tiny areas magnetized in different directions. A read-out head scans the disc, registers the differences, and converts them into electrical current. However, the smaller the disc, the weaker the differences, and thus the more sensitive the readout head must be.
The GMR effect discovered by Fert and GrÃÃâ€Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ÃƒÆ’‚¼nberg has made today's tiny hard drives, such as those in iPods and even smaller devices, possible. So take out those earbuds for a moment and hoist a frothy beer (or a glass of champagne) to the two pioneers.
Two physicists, a German and a French researcher, who independently discovered an effect that makes today's tiny hard drives possible, were awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics today.
In 1988, Albert Fert and the German Peter GrÃÃâ€Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ÃƒÆ’‚¼nberg separately discovered a process now called Giant Magnetoresistance, or GMR, in which very weak magnetic changes can produce major differences in electrical current.
On traditional hard drives, information is stored in the form of tiny areas magnetized in different directions. A read-out head scans the disc, registers the differences, and converts them into electrical current. However, the smaller the disc, the weaker the differences, and thus the more sensitive the readout head must be.
The GMR effect discovered by Fert and GrÃÃâ€Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ÃƒÆ’‚¼nberg has made today's tiny hard drives, such as those in iPods and even smaller devices, possible. So take out those earbuds for a moment and hoist a frothy beer (or a glass of champagne) to the two pioneers.