Recording member for laser beam and process for recording

Claim 2

A laser beam recording member which consists essentially of a recording layer disposed on a surface of a support and which has information in said recording layer in the form of a groove which extends at least to said surface of said support and which is formed directly therein by evaporation of the recording layer by means of the radiation energy of a laser beam in those portions exposed to the laser beam without application of further means, wherein said recording layer is from 10 microns 10 millimicrons in thickness and is composed of a non-metallic layer composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the chalcogen elements S, Se and Te, mixtures thereof and a chalcogenide compound of at least one of S, Se and Te with at least one of As, Bi, Sb, Ge, Si, Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag, Ni, Al, V and Pb.

Claim 3

A laser beam recording member according to claim 1, in which the non-metallic layer is composed of a chalcogenide compound of S with at least one of Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag, Ni, Ge and Si.

Claim 4

A laser beam recording member which consists essentially of a recording layer disposed on a surface of a support and which has information in said recording layer in the form of a groove which extends at least to said surface of said support and which is formed directly therein by evaporation of the recording layer by means of the radiation energy of a laser beam in those portions exposed to the laser beam without application of further means, wherein said recording layer is composed of a laminate of a non-metallic layer and a metal layer, said non-metallic layer being from 10 microns to 10 millimicrons in thickness and being composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the chalocogen elements S, Se and Te, mixtures thereof and a chalcogenide compound of at least one of S, Se and Te with at least one of As, Bi, Sb, Ge, Si, Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag, Ni, Al, V and Pb, said metal layer being from 5 millimicrons to 200 millimicrons in thickness and being composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the metal elements Ag and Cu, and alloys containing at least one of Ag and Cu, wherein said Ag and Cu melts in said metal layer are capable of diffusing into said non-metallic layer when exposed to light to thereby expand the absorption range of said non-metallic layer to a long wavelength side of the visible light region or near the infrared region.

Claim 5

A laser beam recording member which consists essentially of a recording layer disposed on a surface of a support and which has information in said recording layer in the form of a groove which extends at least to said surface of said support and which is formed directly therein by evaporation of the recording layer by means of the radiation energy of a laser beam in those portions exposed to the laser beam without application of further means, wherein said recording layer is composed of a laminate of a non-metallic layer and a metal layer, said non-metallic layer being from 10 microns to 10 millimicrons in thickness and being composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the chalocogen elements S, Se and Te, mixtures thereof and a chalcogenide compound of at least one of S, Se and Te with at least one of As, Bi, Sb, Ge, Si, Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag, Ni, Al, V and Pb, said metal layer being from 5 millimicrons to 200 millimicrons in thickness and being composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the metal elements Ag and Cu, and alloys containing at least one of Ag and Cu, wherein said Ag and Cu melts in said metal layer are capable of diffusing into said non-metallic layer when exposed to light to thereby expand the absorption range of said non-metallic layer to a long wavelength side of the visible light region or near the infrared region.

Claim 6

A process for laser beam recording which comprises exposing a recording member to a modulated laser beam, said recording member comprising a recording layer which is disposed on a surface of a support and which comprises a non-metallic layer which is from 10 microns to 10 millimicrons in thickness and is composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the chalcogen elements, S, Se and Te, mixtures thereof and a chalcogenide compound of at least one of S, Se and Te with at least one of As, Bi, Sb, Ge, Si, Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag, Ni, Al, V and Pb to thereby record information in the recording layer in the form of a groove which extends at least to said surface of said support and which is formed directly therein by evaporation of the recording layer by means of the radiation energy of said modulated laser beam in accordance with the pattern formed thereon by the modulated laser beam without application of further means.

Claim 7

A process for laser beam recording which comprises exposing a recording member to a modulated laser beam, said recording member comprising a recording layer which is disposed on a surface of a support and which comprises a non-metallic layer which is from 10 microns to 10 millimicrons in thickness and is composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the chalcogen elements, S, Se and Te, mixtures thereof and a chalcogenide compound of at least one of S, Se and Te with at least one of As, Bi, Sb, Ge, Si, Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag, Ni, Al, V and Pb to thereby record information in the recording layer in the form of a groove which extends at least to said surface of said support and which is formed directly therein by evaporation of the recording layer by means of the radiation energy of said modulated laser beam in accordance with the pattern formed thereon by the modulated laser beam without application of further means.

Claim 8

A process for laser beam recording according to claim 4, in which the recording layer is composed of a chalcogenide compound of S with at least one of Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag Ni, Ge and Si.

Claim 9

A process for laser beam recording according to claim 4, in which the thermally formed groove is in a form which can be observed by scattering of visible light.

Claim 10

A process for laser beam recording with comprises exposing a recording member to a modulated laser beam, said recording member comprising a recording layer disposed on a surface of a support and composed of a laminate of a non-metallic layer and a metal layer, said non-metallic layer being from 10 millimicrons in thickness and being composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the chalcogen elements S, Se and Te, mixtures thereof and a chalcogenide compound of at least one of S, Se and Te with at least one of As, Bi, Sb, Ge, Si, Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag, Ni, Al, V and Pb said metal layer being from 5 millimicrons to 200 millimicrons in thickness and being composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the metal elements Ag and Cu, and alloys containing at least one of Ag and Cu, wherein said Ag and Cu in said metal layer are capable of diffusing into said non-metallic layer when exposed to light to thereby expand the absorption range of said non-metallic layer to a long wavelength side of the viible light region or near the infrared region to thereby record information in the recording layer in the form of a groove which extends at least to said surface of said support and which is formed directly therein by evaporation of the recording layer by means of the radiation energy of said modulated laser beam in accordance with the pattern fromed thereon by the modulated laser beam without application of further means.

Claim 11

A process for laser beam recording with comprises exposing a recording member to a modulated laser beam, said recording member comprising a recording layer disposed on a surface of a support and composed of a laminate of a non-metallic layer and a metal layer, said non-metallic layer being from 10 millimicrons in thickness and being composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the chalcogen elements S, Se and Te, mixtures thereof and a chalcogenide compound of at least one of S, Se and Te with at least one of As, Bi, Sb, Ge, Si, Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag, Ni, Al, V and Pb said metal layer being from 5 millimicrons to 200 millimicrons in thickness and being composed of a member selected from the group consisting of the metal elements Ag and Cu, and alloys containing at least one of Ag and Cu, wherein said Ag and Cu in said metal layer are capable of diffusing into said non-metallic layer when exposed to light to thereby expand the absorption range of said non-metallic layer to a long wavelength side of the viible light region or near the infrared region to thereby record information in the recording layer in the form of a groove which extends at least to said surface of said support and which is formed directly therein by evaporation of the recording layer by means of the radiation energy of said modulated laser beam in accordance with the pattern fromed thereon by the modulated laser beam without application of further means.

Claim 12

A process for laser beam recording according to claim 7, further comprising the step of subjecting the recording layer to a blanket irradiation of a radiation energy capable of diffusing said metal into said non-metallic layer prior to exposing the recording layer to said modulated laser beam .

Claim 13

A process for laser beam recording according to claim 7, in which the recording layer is composed of a chalcogenide compound of S with at least one of Sn, In, Zn, Fe, Cu, Ag, Ni, Ge and Si.

Claim 14

A process for laser beam recording according to claim 7, in which the thermally formed groove is in a form which can be observed by scattering of visible light.