Enhancement of Hard Disk Drive Performance by Using Thin Titanium Foil Disk Substrates

In this paper an experimental study is reported to reduce the rotating inertia in a 2½″ HDD by replacing thick hard disk platters with thin, CP (commercially pure) titanium substrates in the range of 25 microns to 152 microns in thickness. The results of this work can be extended to other disk form factors [1]. The low inertia and thinness of the titanium foil platter can be exploited to allow disk drive products to be powered on/off rapidly, decreasing energy consumption. In addition, significantly faster rpms and data thru-put can be achieved. Also, many more disk platters can be housed in each unit, increasing storage capacity; while slimmer products that operate with low voltage battery power can be developed.