MiniScribe Corp, Longmont, Colorado will be getting its 3.5 and 5.25 thin-film sputtered disk platters from Komag Inc, Milpitas, California, under two one-year agreements totalling $8m. The larger contract, $5m, is for Komag’s new K3950 advanced performance 950 Oersted 3.5 platters for use in the two platter 42Mb 8051 Kestrel drive. MiniScribe will use the balance, $3m of the K5800 5.25 platters inthe 9230 and 9380 203Mb and 347Mb high-speed Clamshell Winchesters, which come with high-speed ESDI interfaces, and operate at average access times of 16mS. Deliveries under the two contracts have already started.The disks are based on a polished aluminum substrate and store data in a Cobalt-alloy magnetic layer less than 3 microinches thick. To protect data and to cut down surface wear while reducing static friction, each disk also receives a 1-microinch diamond-hard protective overcoating. Both the magnetic layer and the protective overcoating are laid down on the substrate by sputtering machines similar to those used by the semiconductor industry to coat wafers with thin metallic films. In addition to mechanical characteristics that permit flying heights to be re.cw 8 duced to as low as 8 microinches, the new disks offer the superior electrical characteristics needed for high areal storage densities, Komag says.
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