SYNTHESIS OF NEW HIGH SENSITIVITY PHASE CHANGE ERASABLE OPTICAL DATA STORAGE MATERIALS

COMPUTING SYSTEMS THAT USE COMPLEX GRAPHIC AND IMAGE-BASED INFORMATION REQUIRE THE STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL OF VERY LARGE DATA FILES. OPTICAL DISK SYSTEMS OFFER THE LARGEST STORAGE CAPACITY OF ANY RANDOM ACCESS STORAGE SYSTEM. A MAJOR COST ITEM IN THESE DRIVES IS THE HIGH POWR LASER DIODE REQUIRED. THIS COST CAN BE REDUCED BY DEVELOPING MORE SENSITIVE OPTICAL RECORDING MEDIA SO THAT LOWER POWER, LESS EXPENSIVE LASER DIODES CAN BE USED. RESEARCHERS ARE APPLYING MATERIALS AND DEVICE DESIGN CONCEPTS TO DEVELOP ERASABLE OPTICAL RECORDING MEDIA SUITABLE FOR USE WITH LOWR POWER, LESS EXPENSIVE LASER DIODES. THE MATERIALS HAVE RAPID CRYSTALLIZATION KINETICS AND STABILITY IN BOTH STRUCTURAL PHASES.