The ability to control the dynamics of magnetic materials is critical to high-performance electronic devices such as magnetic field sensors and magnetic recording media. In a computer’s magnetic storage—like a hard disk—a logical bit is represented by a group of atoms whose electron “spins” all are oriented in a particular direction, creating a minute magnetic field. To change the bit from, say, a one to a zero, the drive’s write head imposes a field in a different direction at that point, causing the electrons to become magnetically excited. Their magnetic poles begin precessing—the same motion seen in a child’s spinning top when it’s tilted to one side and begins rotating around a vertical axis. Damping is what siphons off this energy, allowing the electron spins to settle into a new orientation. For fast write speeds—magnetization reversals in a nanosecond or faster—a hard disk wants strong damping.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/nios-ctr080307.php