The Production of magnetic and optical storage systems for consumer applications
(such as video tapes and audio CDs) and for data-processing applications (such
as magnetic hard drives and CD-ROMs) is currently an $80-billion industry,
growing at about 10% per year, with more than 80% of that in magnetic media. The
storage capacity of magnetic devices has increased enormously over the past few
years, with storage densities reaching on the order of 100 gigabytes per cubic
inch. Increasing these densities for faster access and greater capacity will
require materials with unprecedented smoothness, defect density, dimensional
stability, and mechanical reliability, as well as devices with greatly improved
mechanical stability, reduced