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Published online 9 October 2007 | Nature | doi:10.1038/449643a
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The physics prize inside the iPod
Giant magnetoresistance secures Nobel.
Two researchers who discovered an effect that has dramatically shrunk the size of magnetic storage devices have won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Albert Fert of the University of Paris-South in France and Peter Grünberg of Jülich Research Centre in Germany split the prize for their 1988 discovery of an effect called giant magnetoresistance (GMR).
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Dual-element magnetoresistive (MR) heads (not GMR) began replacing single-element inductive coils for the read-sensor function in commercial hard-disk drive heads in 1991. (A 1-gigabit/inch**2 demonstration of an MR head was made public by IBM Reseeach in late 1988.) Making the MR element smaller -- to achieve higher data-storage densities -- began to reach practical limitations at about 5 gigbits/inch**2, and multilayer GMR elements began replacing the MR sensor in late 1997. The GMR head has enabled the tremendous increases in data-storage capacities that we enjoy today -- many gigabytes (and beyond) rather than mere megabytes. The creativity and doggedness of Stuart Parkin and his many IBM colleagues turned Fert and Gruenberg's wonderful discovery from a cryogenic, high-field, slow-and-expensive-to-make (i.e. molecular beam epitaxy) lab phenomenon into the room-temperature, low-field, rapidly made (i.e. sputtering) that commercial use demands. Hail to them all for their critical roles in helping to creating today's digital wonderland!
Peter Grünberg conducted part of his groundbreaking research on magnetoresistive materials at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago in 1984 and 1985. Grünberg visited Argonne for a year and a half as part of an exchange program between the laboratory and Research Centre Jülich in Germany. For additional information, please visit http://www.anl.gov/Media_Center/News/2007/news071009.html.
Why not title this story "The physics behind the cruise missle"? or would that be too controversial?