Information recording medium rewritable by utilizing two metastable phases of a recording layer and method using the same
US4839861A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 6, 1987 |
| Grant date | Jun 13, 1989 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 6, 2007 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B2007/25713
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A rewritable information recording medium which has a recording layer containing a Group I transition element and a Group IV representative elements of the Periodic Table as two principal element and a support substrate for physically supporting the recording layer, and an information-write, -read, and erase method using this recording medium. When the recording layer is immediately cooled after it is heated up to near a eutectic temperature of the two principal elements, two metastable phases having different energy levels appear. A state in the first metastable phase of the higher energy level has a reflectivity sufficiently higher than that of a state of a mixed phase including the second metastable phase of the lower energy level, or that of the equilibrium state. The state in the first metastable phase can be obtained by heating a recording layer in another state by light beam irradiation. A portion in the first metastable state is cooled after it is heated to a temperature lower than that for obtaining the first metastable phase, so that it can be converted to a state of the low reflectivity, i.e., a state of a mixed phase including the second metastable phase or to the equil…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.