IBM introduced the world's highest capacity mobile hard disk drive at 80GB, made possible by enhancements to the company's patented "pixie dust" technology, boosting storage density by 100 percent. IBM also announced plans for a new 7200RPM performance category, offering workstation performance with freedom of mobility.

The new Travelstar 80GN breaks current areal density records by allowing up to 70 billion bits (or a little more than 80GB) of data to be written on each square inch of disk space. IBM achieved this by adding another coating of "pixie dust", or an additional ruthenium/magnetic layer to create a five-layer sandwich called laminated "pixie dust." The additional layers bring about an even higher signal-to-noise ratio which allows data recording at ultra high densities while maintaining data integrity. With this new data density record, IBM is quickly approaching the 100 gigabits/square inch the company predicted "Pixie Dust" would achieve in 2003.

Announced last year, "pixie dust" is an IBM data storage breakthrough achieved by sandwiching a three-atom-thick layer of the element ruthenium, a precious metal similar to platinum, between two magnetic layers, technically called antiferromagnetically, coupled media. That only a few atoms could have such a dramatic impact caused some IBM scientists to refer to the ruthenium layer informally as "pixie dust."

The Travelstar 80GN is based on proven reliability and a mature design with high shock robustness and low power consumption. A new 8MB cache contributes to making the 80GN the world's highest performing 4200RPM mobile hard drive. In addition, IBM reduced drive operating acoustics by as much as four decibels.

No word about pricing and availability for system integrators.