Disk pioneers win Nobel Prize
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Discoverers of 'giant magnetoresistance' honoured. ...
Two scientists that discovered the electromagnetic phenomenon that has made miniature hard-disk technology possible were yesterday awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
During the 1980s, Albert Fert and Peter Grunberg discovered and developed what is known as giant magnetoresistance (GMR), wherein small changes in magnetic fields have a disproportionately large effect on electrical resistance.
This allows tiny disks comprised of relatively weak magnetic components to store much more data than was previously possible. Disks that employ GMR have been described as an early example of nano-technology.
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