Maxell Super DLT II Manual

By Rich D’Ambrise
New SDLT 600 tape drive
technology has imposed
new capacity and per-
formance demands on media
manufacturing processes. As
tape technology evolves, new
higher-performing magnetic
particles and tighter tolerances
must be developed to keep
pace with industry growth and
end user data management
needs.
To achieve the required
capacity and performance
targets, SDLT II media incor-
porates a broad range of
enhancements. The result is a
tape cartridge with vastly
improved magnetic perform-
ance and enhanced durability
to handle the demands of
Quantum’s SDLTtape 600
drive technology.
SDLTtape II media is a
dual-coated media that
employs a highly precise coat-
ing process to achieve a dura-
bility requirement of one mil-
lion head passes. This formu-
lation is based on a new ultra-
fine ceramic armor metal par-
ticle that is 40% smaller than
first-generation SDLTtape
media and possesses a higher
magnetic power of 2600 oer-
sted with superior archival
properties. The particles, uni-
form in shape and size, are less
than 60 nanometers long. By
contrast, the technology used
in Super DLTtape I media has
a particle size of 100nm. Each
metal particle is coated with a
thin ceramic layer to protect it
from corrosion and oxidation,
and provide advanced archival
storage durability.
To maximize the magnetic
performance of the particles,
new binder and base film com-
ponents were developed by
double-coating a base film
layer, wet on wet, with a thick
nonmagnetic protective layer
and an extremely thin magnet-
ic outer layer. The high-per-
formance binder system com-
bines two different binders
mixed with cross-linked mate-
rial, allowing for a strong con-
nection of metal particle and
increased durability.
The recording layer is a
mixture of 80% magnetic par-
ticle and 20% binder materials.
The recording layer coating
includes head-cleaning agents
and two classes of lubricants to
minimize friction between the
tape and the read/write heads.
The combination of two lubri-
cants meet high-duty cycle
demands of SDLT 600 drives
by reducing tape and head
wear, and repelling airborne
debris that can clog the heads
and affect read/write perform-
ance.
The advanced tape coat-
ing technology is supported by
a new Super polyethylene
terephthalate (S-PET) base
film, a super-tensilized (pre-
stretched) version of the PET
base film used in SDLTtape I
media. S-PET’s formulation
reduces the overall thickness
by 10% and contributes to
capacity improvement by
enabling an additional 200 feet
of tape inside SDLTtape II car-
tridges. The combination of
higher-performance metal par-
ticles, an enhanced binding
system, the ultra-smooth coat-
ing surface, and S-PET base
film allows Super DLTtape II
media to accept shorter wave-
length recording. This
achieves higher data density
and performance with better
signal response and improved
signal strength than Super
DLTtape I media or other tech-
nologies.
SDLT II media relies on
an extremely thin, smooth
backcoating layer to support
one of the SDLT’s optical
servo positioning systems. The
common method of creating
servo-positioning tracks on the
tape is to embed magnetic
servo tracks between the data
tracks on the recording sur-
face, reducing the physical
space available to write data.
SDLTtape II’s servo design
leverages the Pivoting Optical
Servo (POS) technology intro-
duced with the first-generation
SDLTtape.
Instead of using conven-
tional magnetic servo technol-
ogy that is the norm with other
tape technologies, the back-
coat layer of Super DLTtape II
media is embedded with
microscopic optical servo
tracks which are read by a laser
to provide highly accurate
head positioning. This is a
necessity with the extreme
density of SDLT 600 drives.
Because of this unique design,
Super DLTtape II media is not
susceptible to high magnetic
fields that can impact tape car-
tridges with magnetic servo
positioning tracks. In fact,
media that rely on servo tracks
that have to be magnetically
preformatted at the factory can
be rendered inoperable, and
critical data lost forever by
such exposures.
The Future: Beyond
SDLTtape II
The enhancements represent-
ed by Super DLTtape II media
provide the technology base to
enable the next generation of
SDLT technology, expected to
provide a native capacity of
800GB and 1.6TB com-
pressed capacity per cartridge.
Figure 2 shows the next two
stops on the SDLT roadmap,
from SDLTII through to
SuperDLTS-5. Reaching these
capacities with yesterday’s
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TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS FOR SYSTEMS INTEGRATORS, VARS & OEMS
High Performance Media for High
Performance Drives
Figure 1: Media composite

magnetic particle technology
could prove problematic
around the one-terabyte mark,
as there are physical limita-
tions to the particles them-
selves that will inhibit further
capacity improvements.
To reach native terabyte-
class tape cartridge capacities
and beyond, Maxell has devel-
oped Neo Super Maximum-
capacity Advanced Reliability
Tape (NeoSMART)—a collec-
tion of advanced technologies
and production methodologies
designed to support native
capacities of up to 10TB per
cartridge and beyond.
NeoSMART technology is
built around a new magnetic
particle—NanoComposite
Advanced Particles
(NanoCAP)—which solves
some of the fundamental prob-
lems that limit the capacity
potential of current acicular
(needle-shaped) magnetic par-
ticles.
To date, the push for high-
er capacities has focused on the
development of smaller acicu-
lar particles that can be packed
more densely on the tape—the
approach used with the parti-
cles for SDLTtape II media.
However, as the needle-like
magnetic particles become
smaller, both coercivity (ability
to retain magnetic energy) and
saturation magnetization
(amount of magnetic energy)
that are essential for increasing
recording capacity and density
tend to decrease. This trade-off
between coercivity/magnetiza-
tion and particle size has been
the primary impediment to
major capacity increases. It is
theoretically difficult to contin-
ue to engineer needle-like par-
ticles for advanced magnetic
tapes that require higher
recording densities.
NanoCAP technology
resolves these issues with a
magnetic particle that enables
improvements in magnetic
energy not simply by downsiz-
ing the needle-like magnetic
particles, but by the evolution
of the individual particle itself.
NanoCAP particles are pro-
duced through advanced minia-
turization to create ultra-fine
spherical-shaped particles with
excellent coercivity and satura-
tion magnetization for
advanced magnetic recording
performance.
NanoCAP particles have a
diameter of about 20nm, about
one-third the size of SDLT II
particles and one-fifth the size
of needle-like metal magnetic
particles such as those
employed in earlier generations
of DLT, SDLT and LTO.
This delivers extraordinary
magnetic performance, coer-
civity exceeding 3000 oersted,
and extremely high saturation
magnetization of over
120emu/g. NanoCAP offers a
200% improvement over
Barium-Ferrite magnetic parti-
cles, well known for high coer-
civity and long considered one
of the more promising candi-
dates for future high-density
magnetic recording media.
The innovative spherical
shape of NanoCAP particles
allows the closest possible
packing structure, enabling
higher recording densities and
allowing the use of a thinner
magnetic layer coating that can
boost output levels. NanoCAP
particles are also well suited
for vertical magnetic recording
in future recording methods.
SDLT II drives and media,
and the development of the
NanoCAP and NeoSMART
technology platforms are just
the latest examples that demon-
strate that tape is still an evolv-
ing and vital storage technolo-
gy. As data requirements scale
into hundreds of terabytes or
petabytes, and vast amounts of
corporate data must be main-
tained and archived, the role of
tape may change, but the need
for tape will not.
Rich D’Ambrise is director of
technology for Maxell Corp. of
America (Fair Lawn, NJ)
Maxell Corporation
22-08 Route 208
Fair Lawn, NJ 07410-0900
Toll Free: [phone]
Tel: [phone]
Figure 2: SDLT roadmap
www.maxell-data.com
CP-05044