Mechanical property and dimensional stability of substrates for magnetic tapes

We have performed a comparative study on mechanical property and dimensional stability of substrates for magnetic tapes. The substrates include polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and aromatic polyamide (ARAMID), which could be used for linear-type magnetic tapes for computer data storage. We have demonstrated that ARAMID is the most attractive substrate and that PET has the advantage of considerably smaller irreversible creep deformation and lateral contraction caused by tension as compared to PEN film. In this paper, we also introduce recently developed PET (Advanced PET) with higher glass transition temperature compared to conventional PET; moreover, we discuss the relationship between film properties and polymeric structures of these substrates.