JP3026327B2 - Write-once optical disc and optical recording medium - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an optical disc,
More specifically, it relates to a write-once optical disc and an optical recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, write-once optical disks can be used to record electronic publications and multimedia data in the form of audio CDs or CD-ROMs. The demand for write-once optical disks is increasing due to the convenience and wide range of applications of the optical disks.

Referring to FIG. 1, a typical write-once optical disc structure includes a substrate 10, a reaction layer 20, a reflection layer 30, and a protection layer 40. In this structure, a main part for recording a signal is a reaction layer. A layer 20 and a reflective layer 30. When the optical disk reads the signal, the laser beam applied to the reaction layer 20 emits another signal that is identifiable after being reflected by the reflection layer 30 due to various optical characteristics such as the thickness of the reaction layer 20.

At present, the reaction layer 20 of a write-once optical disc is mostly made of an organic dye. While the reaction layer 20 records an optical disk, when irradiated with a laser beam, a thermal reaction occurs in the irradiated portion, and the optical characteristics are different from those of the non-irradiated portion, so that the optical disk is modulated.

[0005]

However, when an organic dye is used as a recording medium, it has the following disadvantages.

[0006] 1. Organic dyes, due to the nature of their materials, have poor thermal conductivity and low transition points (i.e., transition points such as dissolution that occur during heating). Thus, organic dyes are extremely sensitive and respond to low power lasers. In this way, the organic dye easily degrades when irradiated with light. Therefore, it is difficult to control the reliability of the optical disk.

[0007] 2. Further, since the wavelength region that can be absorbed by the dye is narrow due to the characteristics of the organic dye material, the optical disk cannot be used with a short wavelength laser beam. Therefore, another organic dye compatible with the short wavelength of the laser must be used, and the manufacturing process must be redesigned. This wastes money and time. Conversely, inorganic materials can absorb a wide range of wavelengths. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the manufacturing process even if the wavelength of the laser beam is changed,
Research time and initial costs are extremely low.

[0008] 3. Organic dyes must use organic solvents that can cause environmental pollution. For example,
The organic dye, cyanine, generally uses cellosolve or chlorhydrin. These organic solvents pollute the environment. Therefore, reducing the amount of organic dye used or not using it at all is important for optical disk processing.

4. Since the organic dye can absorb only a narrow wavelength range, the change in the reaction layer 20 is not clear, and it is difficult to identify the signal of the optical disk. Therefore, in order to improve the identification process and provide an acceptable tracking signal to the optical disk, it is necessary to make the pits on the substrate of the optical disk deep so that the signal can be easily identified. However, if the pits on the substrate are deepened, injection molding of the substrate becomes difficult, and the complexity of the manufacturing process increases.

The prior art, that is, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-171
No. 236 uses Au or Al as the reflective layer and Ge as the reaction layer during the manufacturing process.
It discloses that two layers diffuse together to change the reflectivity on the optical disk while being heated. Since the reflectivity of Ge is small before heating and large after heating, the optical characteristics of the reaction layer change, and as a result, the optical characteristics of the reaction layer 20 change. While this technique can increase reflectivity to 70%, it is not compatible with the modulation process of CDs on the market today. That is, the modulation process of widely used optical discs such as audio CDs or CD-ROMs involves changing the reflectivity from high to low by heating for recording, which is described in the prior art. The opposite is true.

Other prior art, such as US Pat. Nos. 5,238,722 and 4,899,168, use optically sensitive sulfides as the reactive layer and Au or Al as the reflective layer. I'm using With such technology,
The sulfide absorption characteristics change with heating. The change in reflectance by such a technique is compatible with the widely used modulation process of optical discs. However, sulfides have similar disadvantages as organic dyes. Since sulfides can only absorb laser beams in a narrow area, it is difficult to control the reliability. Moreover, sulfides are poisonous and may cause environmental pollution.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a high-density, high-capacity optical disk that can absorb light of a wide wavelength range and record by using light of a short wavelength. An object of the present invention is to provide a material for a write-once optical disc and an optical recording medium, which does not require replacement or redesign of a manufacturing process.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a general material for write-once optical discs and optical recording media, which does not need to use organic dyes and solvents and thus does not pollute the environment.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a write-once optical disc and optical disc which can absorb light over a wide area and increase the signal discrimination performance of the optical disc, so that the optical disc can be easily tracked and manufactured. It is to provide a material for a recording medium.

Another object of the present invention is an inorganic material having a low optical sensitivity. An optical disk made of this material is hardly deteriorated, and therefore has a high reliability for a write-once optical disk and an optical recording medium. To provide.

Yet another object of the present invention is to be compatible with the widely used modulation of optical discs, ie, the reflectivity is higher when the optical disc is unrecorded, and conversely when the optical disc is recorded. Is to provide a material for a write-once optical disc and an optical recording medium having a lower reflectance.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above object, a write-once optical disc according to the present invention comprises at least a substrate,
A reaction layer and a reflective layer, where the reaction layer is
Made from i, has a thickness of over 100 ° and is formed on a substrate. This reflective layer also has a thickness of over 100 ° and is formed on the reaction layer. Since diffusion and segregation occur at an interface formed by a reaction layer made of Si and a reflective layer made of a metal or alloy capable of reflecting light such as Au, Au alloy, Al or Al alloy,
Modulation can be achieved by lowering the reflectivity at certain points on the optical disc. The reflectance before the reaction can exceed 70%, but is less than 30% after the reaction. Therefore, S
Using i as the reaction layer and no longer using organic dyes, it can absorb radiation over a wide area. The material of the present invention is suitable for producing a high-density and high-capacity optical disk by using a short wavelength beam. Therefore, the present invention does not require redesign of the manufacturing process and change of the dye to be used, and can reduce environmental pollution by eliminating the use of organic dyes and solvents.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the present invention, a reaction layer made of Si and a reflective layer made of a metal or alloy such as Au, Au alloy, Al or Al alloy and capable of reflecting light are formed. Since diffusion and segregation occur at the interface, the present invention can achieve modulation by lowering the reflectivity at certain points on the optical disc. This is because the reaction layer is made of a metal contact induced crystallization (MCIC) material, ie, a semiconductor that crystallizes while in contact with a metal. For a detailed description, see Surface Science (Surf, 1982).
ace Science). G. Lelay's dissertation; Hiraki (AH
iraki) "Semiconductor Engineering"("Semicond
actor Technology "). Roughly speaking, if the semiconductor is 2.5
With a bandgap energy of less than eV or a relatively high dielectric constant, the semiconductor tends to crystallize at the interface when in contact with a metal such as Au or Al. For example, a sputtered Si film is typically
It is an amorphous structure. In order to crystallize the sputtered Si layer, the temperature of the substrate needs to be raised to 600 ° C. However, if the Si film is covered with the Al film, the Si film is approximately 180 at the interface with the Al film.
Crystallizes at ~ 200 ° C. The same goes for Au, Cu,
This also applies to Ni and the like. Si, G for reaction layer
e, InSb, GaAs, InP or GaP is chosen, while the reflective layer is made of a metal or alloy such as Al, Au, Cu, In, Ga or Sn or an alloy containing at least one of said metals.

In FIG. 1, the positions of the reaction layer 20 and the reflection layer 30 can be interchanged depending on what material is used for the reflection layer. The manufacturing method of the present invention includes providing a substrate for an optical disc; coating a metal or alloy by sputtering to form a reflective layer;
forming a reaction layer by coating i; and then forming a protective layer by a spin-on method. Both the reflective layer and the reaction layer are more than 100 ° thick.
The protective layer has a thickness of 3 to 10 μm. Depending on the properties of the materials used, the reaction temperature does not need to be too high, usually below 200 ° C. The wavelength range to be applied is 5000
Å is preferable, and depends on appropriate reflection modulation.
It is best if it exceeds 500 °.

The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the following two preferred embodiments: (Embodiment 1) In FIG. 1, an optical disk of the present invention comprises a substrate 10 and a reaction layer 2 formed on the substrate 10.
0, a reflective layer 30 formed on the reaction layer 20, and a protective layer 40 formed on the reflective layer 30. In this disk, the reaction layer 20 is made by coating Si on the substrate by applying a power of 1 kW for 8 minutes to form a layer having a thickness of more than 100 °. The reflective layer 30 is an alloy of Au or Al and Si or Tb, in which Au is coated with a power of 0.6 kW and Si is 1
Coated with sputtering for 2 minutes at a power of 1 W
An alloy of Au and Si with a thickness exceeding 00 ° is produced.
In order to make the layer about 3 to 10 μm thick, the protective layer 4
0 is coated by a spin-on method at 2000 rpm. The preferred thickness of the reflective layer 30 is about 1000 °, and the preferred thickness of the reaction layer 20 is about 600-800 °.

A static test for the change in reflectance around the reaction point is performed on a transparent glass plate. FIG. 2 shows the relationship between the wavelength of the recording light and the reflectance. In the figure, curve A represents the reflectance before the reaction, and curve B represents the reflectance after the reaction.
At a wavelength of 780 nm, the reflectance is 72.5% before the reaction, but 11.3% after the reaction. The results of a dynamic test performed under the same conditions as in FIG. 2 are shown in FIG. 3, where the carrier to noise ratio (CNR, which is used to evaluate the quality of the signal recorded on the optical disc). ) And the power of the laser beam used for recording. The recording conditions are as follows. The radius of the optical disk is 4
4 mm, the rotation speed of the optical disk is 10 rps, and the recording track to be recorded is a half cycle of 720 kHz. According to the above conditions, about 47 dB at 9 mW and about 53 at 12 mW
A signal quality of dB can be obtained, which is close to 47-50 dB for an optical disc made with an organic dye such as cyanine dissolved in an organic solvent.

(Embodiment 2) Reaction layer 20 and reflection layer 30
The optical disk according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention can be formed by exchanging the positions. That is, the optical disk includes a substrate 10, a reflective layer 30 formed on the substrate 10, and a reaction layer 2 formed on the reflective layer 30.
0 and a protective layer 40 formed on the reaction layer 20.
Further, in this embodiment, the preferred thickness of the reflective layer 30 is between about 700 and 1000 degrees, and the preferred thickness of the reaction layer 20 is between about 400 and 800 degrees.

A static test for the change in reflectivity around the reaction point is performed on a transparent glass plate. FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the wavelength of the recording light and the reflectance. In the figure, curve A ′ represents the reflectance before the reaction, and curve B ′ represents the reflectance after the reaction. At a wavelength of 780 nm, the reflectance is 65.
9%, but 27% after the reaction. FIG. 5 shows the results of a dynamic test performed under the same conditions as in FIG. 4, and shows the relationship between the carrier-to-noise ratio and the power of the laser beam used for recording. The recording conditions are as follows. The radius of the optical disk is 44 mm, the rotation speed of the optical disk is 10 rps, and the recording track to be recorded is 72.
This is a half cycle of 0 kHz. According to the above conditions, 17m
With W, a signal quality of about 51 dB can be obtained.

The present invention is not limited to write-once optical disks, but various modifications and alterations may be made by those skilled in the art for application to other heated recording devices or widely known optical recording media such as optical cards or optical disks. It is possible.

Therefore, the following effects are exhibited by the present invention. 1. The material of the present invention can absorb a wide range of radiation,
Different from organic dyes or sulfides used in the prior art. This is suitable for forming high-density and high-capacity optical discs by recording with short-wavelength light, and there is no need to change the dye used, and there is no need to redesign the manufacturing process. Absent.

2. In the present invention, because a thin film alloy is used,
Since the thermal conductivity of the thin film can be reduced to increase the thermal efficiency and the speed of the segregation reaction can be increased, the recording of the optical disk can be performed without requiring a high temperature or high power laser beam.

3. The present invention uses inorganic materials that are less expensive than the organic materials used in the prior art and that do not cause environmental pollution, such as organic materials.

4. Since the inorganic material used in the present invention has low optical sensitivity, an optical disk made from the material is stable and hardly deteriorates. This guarantees reliability.

5. The materials used in the present invention are compatible with the widely used optical disk modulation process. That is, the reflectance at the recording portion of the optical disk is smaller than the reflectance at the unrecorded portion.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described in detail in connection with the preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, but to embed the other layers between the reactive or reflective layer and the protective layer to enhance functionality. It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted as covering the disclosed embodiment, alterations in the foregoing claims, and all equivalents thereof.

The following detailed description is provided by way of example and is not intended to limit the invention only to the embodiments described herein, but will be best understood in connection with the accompanying drawings.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating the structure of an optical disc.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a relationship between reflectance and wavelength in the vicinity of a reaction point according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a dynamic test of the optical disc of the first preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between reflectance and wavelength in the vicinity of a reaction point according to a second preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a graph showing a dynamic test of the optical disc of the second preferred embodiment according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 substrate 20 reaction layer 30 reflection layer 40 protective layer

Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-6-171236 (JP, A) JP-A-61-40195 (JP, A) JP-A-53-46019 (JP, A) JP-A-62-246780 (JP, A) JP-A-58-16890 (JP, A) JP-A-63-161545 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B41M 5/26

Claims (20)

(57) [Claims] 1. A write-once optical disc having a substrate, a reaction layer, and a reflection layer, wherein the reaction layer is made of Si, and the reflection layer is made of an alloy of Au and Si or an alloy of Al and Tb. Write-once optical disc. 2. The write-once optical disc according to claim 1, wherein the reaction layer has a thickness of more than 100 °, and the reflective layer has a thickness of more than 100 °. 3. The write-once optical disc according to claim 1, wherein the reaction layer is formed on the substrate, and the reflection layer is formed on the reaction layer. 4. The write-once optical disc according to claim 3, wherein the reflective layer has a thickness of about 1000 °. 5. The write-once optical disc according to claim 3, wherein the reaction layer has a thickness of about 600-800 °. 6. The write-once optical disc according to claim 3, wherein a protective layer is formed on the reflective layer and has a thickness of about 3 to 10 μm. 7. The write-once optical disc according to claim 1, wherein the reflection layer is formed on the substrate, and the reaction layer is formed on the reflection layer. 8. The write-once optical disc according to claim 7, wherein the reaction layer has a thickness of about 400-800 °. 9. The write-once optical disc according to claim 7, wherein the reflective layer has a thickness of about 700-1000 °. 10. The write-once optical disc according to claim 7, wherein a protective layer is formed on the reaction layer and has a thickness of about 3 to 10 μm. 11. Recording is possible in at least a wavelength range of light wider than a wavelength range of visible light.
The write-once optical disc according to claim 1. 12. The write-once optical disc according to claim 1, wherein recording is possible in a wavelength range of light exceeding 3500 °. 13. An optical recording medium comprising a substrate, a reaction layer and a reflection layer, wherein the reaction layer is made of Si, and the reflection layer is made of an alloy of Au and Si or an alloy of Al and Tb. An optical recording medium. 14. The optical recording medium according to claim 13, wherein the reaction layer has a thickness of more than 100 ° and the reflective layer has a thickness of more than 100 °. 15. The reaction layer is formed on the substrate,
14. The optical recording medium according to claim 13, wherein the reflection layer is formed on the reaction layer. 16. The optical recording medium according to claim 15, wherein said reflective layer has a thickness of about 1000 ° and said reaction layer has a thickness of about 600 ° -800 °. 17. The optical recording medium according to claim 15, wherein a protective layer is formed on the reflective layer and has a thickness of about 3 to 10 μm. 18. The method according to claim 18, wherein the reflective layer is formed on the substrate.
14. The optical recording medium according to claim 13, wherein the reaction layer is formed on the reflection layer. 19. The reaction layer has a thickness of about 400-800 °, and the reflective layer has a thickness of about 700-1000 °.
The optical recording medium according to claim 18, having a thickness of: 20. The optical recording medium according to claim 18, wherein a protective layer is formed on the reaction layer and has a thickness of about 3 to 10 μm.