AbstractThin film processing is a key technology for the production of all types of data storage disks. Planar magnetron technology, DC‐, DC‐reactive‐ and RF sputter processes are today industrially available for an economical mass production of all these formats.Data storage disks such as the CDs, the CD‐ROMs, CD‐Rs, MO disks or hard disks have found many applications in our information technology society. Thin‐film deposition is a key technology for the production of all these media. This article discusses the markets for the different formats, the structure of these disks, the challenges for thin film processing and presents the current state of front‐end producti