Assembly that enables reduction in disk to disk spacing

A method comprising:

• mounting a data storage foil having at least one data storage surface in a data storage system, wherein the data storage foil is an independent data storage medium having a total thickness that is greater than zero and less than or equal to 1 millimeter, and wherein at least a portion of the data storage foil is non-rigid;
• providing a head configured to interact with the at least one data storage surface to carry out at least one of data read or data write operations;
• and
• providing a foil support external to the data storage foil and configured to move from a first location to a second location to support the data storage foil during the at least one of the data read or the data write operations.

A system comprising:

• a rotatable spindle;
• a plurality of data storage foils mounted on the rotatable spindle, wherein each data storage foil of the plurality of data storage foils is an independent data storage medium having a total thickness that is greater than zero and less than or equal to 1 millimeter, and wherein at least a portion of each data storage foil of the plurality of data storage foils is non-rigid;
• an actuator mechanism with at least one actuator arm configured to translate, along a length of at least one axis, among the plurality of data storage foils;
• a head supported on the at least one actuator arm, the head configured to communicate with each data storage foil of the plurality of data storage foils;
• and
• a foil support configured to move from a first location to a second location to support a data storage foil of the plurality of data storage foils during the at least one of the data read or the data write operations.