Phase change record carries having crystalline nuclei and/or which produce crystallization structures when information is written thereon enabling that information to be more easily erased
US5479392A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 4, 1994 |
| Grant date | Dec 26, 1995 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Aug 4, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B7/006
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Information storage system, device and record carriers for improved erasing of information written on a record carrier. A radiation beam is focused on a recording layer of a record carrier containing phase-change material. Crystalline information areas are written on initially amorphous portions of the recording layer by means of the radiation beam having its intensity modulated in accordance with write pulses. The information areas are erased (and changed back into amorphous portions) by means of the radiation beam having its intensity modulated in accordance with erase pulses. The time duration of each of the erase pulses (and, therefore, the intensity of the radiation beam being modulated in accordance therewith to heat the recording layer) and the cooling time of the recording layer thereafter is short enough that areas of the recording layer which are heated during erasing to a temperature above the crystallization temperature of the recording layer but lower than the melting point of the recording layer remain above the crystallization temperature for a period of time which is shorter than the crystallization time for the recording layer. The recording layer may contain a tra…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.