Method and apparatus for recording on a disk supported deformable metallic film

Claim 2

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a substrate, a deformable metallic tellurium film deposited on said substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded, means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film, said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam; andd means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information.

Claim 3

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded, means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam wherein the redistribution of material in the metallic deformable film results in partial removal of the material in the film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant distribution is less than the original film thickness whereby the reflectance is changed with a low intensity of the modulated light beam; and further results in the removed material being redistributed by surface tension as a raised ridge surrounding the displaced concavity, the combination of concavity and surrounding ridge having enhanced readability; and means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information.

Claim 4

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded, means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam wherein the redistribution of material in the metallic deformable film results in partial removal of the material in the film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant distribution is less than the original film thickness whereby the reflectance is changed with a low intensity of the modulated light beam; and further results in the removed material being redistributed by surface tension as a raised ridge surrounding the displaced concavity, the combination of concavity and surrounding ridge having enhanced readability; and means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information.

Claim 5

Apparatus as recited in claims 1 or 2 wherein the metallic deformable film is between 100 and 500 Angstroms thick.

Claim 6

Apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film results in a void in the film in the region exposed to the modulated light beam.

Claim 7

Apparatus as recited in claim 1 including means for reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance to provide a signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam.

Claim 8

Apparatus as recited in claim 5 wherein the signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam is derived from portions of the recording which are independent of the information being recorded.

Claim 9

In a method for recording information as variations in reflectance the steps of: modulating a light beam with the information to be recorded; focusing the modulated light beam on a metallic tellurium deformable film deposited on a rotating disc; radially translating the modulated light beam with respect to the disc; and redistributing the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam to change its reflectance with the modulated light beam having sufficient energy to liquefy but not vaporize the material.

Claim 10

In a method for recording information as variations in reflectance the steps of: modulating a light beam with the information to be recorded; focusing the modulated light beam on a metallic tellurium deformable film deposited on a rotating disc; radially translating the modulated light beam with respect to the disc; and redistributing the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam to change its reflectance with the modulated light beam having sufficient energy to liquefy but not vaporize the material.

Claim 11

In a method for recording information as variations in reflectance the steps of: modulating a light beam with the information to be recorded; focusing the modulated light beam on a metallic deformable film deposited on a rotating disc; radially translating the modulated light beam with respect to the disc; and redistributing the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam to change its reflectance by removing only a part of the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant redistribution is less than the original film thickness, with the modulated light beam having sufficient energy to liquefy but not vaporize the material.

Claim 12

In a method for recording information as variations in reflectance the steps of: modulating a light beam with the information to be recorded; focusing the modulated light beam on a metallic deformable film deposited on a rotating disc; radially translating the modulated light beam with respect to the disc; and redistributing the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam to change its reflectance by removing only a part of the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant redistribution is less than the original film thickness, with the modulated light beam having sufficient energy to liquefy but not vaporize the material.

Claim 13

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam; means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information; and means for reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance to provide a signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam.

Claim 14

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam; means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information; and means for reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance to provide a signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam.

Claim 15

Apparatus for recording a linear data information stream as a linear array of discrete, minute variations in seriatim in the reflectance or transmission of light from a recorded sheet of material and for retrieving information therefrom comprising: a deformable metal film deposited on a substrate to form a recordable sheet and having a free surface away from said substrate, a laser source for generating a modulated laser light beam containing digital information to be recorded on said film as time spaced variations in intensity, means for focusing and modulating said laser beam onto the deformable film with a pulse of an intensity sufficient to liquefy the film at its free surface but less than that which would vaporize the material of the film so that momentary liquefaction of the film material is achieved in a region of the impinging modulated laser beam to form a depression in the center of a melted region about which the melted region reshapes to form a surrounding raised ridge thereafter frozen into the shape of a rim surrounding the depression to produce an individual pattern of recorded information which is readable by interaction with a readout light beam, means for moving the sheet with respect to the modulated laser beam to produce a retraceable pattern of recorded reflectivity information thereon in seriatim along a path of discrete impressions formed by the successive depressions and ridges, and laser beam means for recovering the recorded data and information by causing a read laser beam to impinge along said path so as to interact in seriatim with successive depressions and ridges, and means for sensing the transmission or reflectivity caused thereby to recover the one dimensioned array of information so recorded.

Claim 16

Apparatus for recording a linear data information stream as a linear array of discrete, minute variations in seriatim in the reflectance or transmission of light from a recorded sheet of material and for retrieving information therefrom comprising: a deformable metal film deposited on a substrate to form a recordable sheet and having a free surface away from said substrate, a laser source for generating a modulated laser light beam containing digital information to be recorded on said film as time spaced variations in intensity, means for focusing and modulating said laser beam onto the deformable film with a pulse of an intensity sufficient to liquefy the film at its free surface but less than that which would vaporize the material of the film so that momentary liquefaction of the film material is achieved in a region of the impinging modulated laser beam to form a depression in the center of a melted region about which the melted region reshapes to form a surrounding raised ridge thereafter frozen into the shape of a rim surrounding the depression to produce an individual pattern of recorded information which is readable by interaction with a readout light beam, means for moving the sheet with respect to the modulated laser beam to produce a retraceable pattern of recorded reflectivity information thereon in seriatim along a path of discrete impressions formed by the successive depressions and ridges, and laser beam means for recovering the recorded data and information by causing a read laser beam to impinge along said path so as to interact in seriatim with successive depressions and ridges, and means for sensing the transmission or reflectivity caused thereby to recover the one dimensioned array of information so recorded.

Claim 17

Apparatus as recited in claim 10 wherein the means for moving the modulated light beam includes means for optically tracking a previously recorded track on the sheet and moving the modulated light beam laterally with respect to the previously recorded track.

Claim 18

Apparatus as recited in claims 10 wherein the metallic film is tellurium.

Claim 19

Apparatus as recited in any one of claims 10, 11 or 12 wherein the metallic deformable film is between 100 and 500 Angstroms thick.

Claim 20

Apparatus as in claim 10 further including an antireflection coating on the illumination side of the metallic deformable film whereby the modulated light beam is efficiently coupled to the deformable film.

Claim 21

Apparatus as recited in claim 10 including an anti-reflection coating disposed on the illumination side of the deformable film which, at the wavelength of the read-out light beam, is better matched to the deformable film than the substrate so that there is an enhanced energy coupling to the film as distinguished from the substrate whereby the regions of the films containing deformations result in increased reflections therefrom.

Claim 22

Apparatus as recited in claim 10 including an anti-reflection coating disposed between the deformable film and substrate, which coating is better matched to the substrate than the deformable film itself, the anti-reflection coating defining an energy coupling state between the respective layers such that regions of the film containing deformations result in decreased reflections.

Claim 23

Apparatus as in claim 10 wherein the information used to modulate the light beam is derived by scanning a document and using the resultant scanned signal to produce a frequency modulated signal to control the modulated light beam.

Claim 24

Apparatus as in claim 10 further including means for reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded to provide a signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam.

Claim 25

Apparatus as in claim 18 wherein the signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam is derived from portions of the recording which are independent of the information being recorded.

Claim 28

The method of claim 20 wherein the step of moving the modulated light beam includes the step of tracking a previously recorded track and moving the modulated light beam with respect to the previously recorded track.

Claim 29

The method of claim 20 including the step of scanning a document and using the resultant scanned signal to produce a frequency modulated signal for the recording information.

Claim 30

The method of claim 20 including the steps of: reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded; and controlling the power of the light beam with a signal derived from the recently recorded information to establish the correct recording level.

Claim 31

The method of claim 20 or 23 wherein the step of redistributing the material of the metallic deformable film includes the step of redistributing only a part of the material from the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam.

Claim 32

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded, means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam wherein the redistribution of material in the metallic deformable film results in partial removal of the material in the film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant distribution is less than the original film thickness whereby the reflectance is changes with a low intensity of the modulated light beam; and further results in the removed material being redistributed by surface tension as a raised ridge surrounding the removed portion, the combination of a concavity and surrounding ridge having enhanced readability, means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information; and means for reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance to provide a signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam.

Claim 33

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded, means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam wherein the redistribution of material in the metallic deformable film results in partial removal of the material in the film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant distribution is less than the original film thickness whereby the reflectance is changes with a low intensity of the modulated light beam; and further results in the removed material being redistributed by surface tension as a raised ridge surrounding the removed portion, the combination of a concavity and surrounding ridge having enhanced readability, means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information; and means for reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance to provide a signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam.

Claim 34

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded, means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam wherein the redistribution of material in the metallic deformable film results in partial removal of the material in the film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant distribution is less than the original film thickness whereby the reflectance is changed with a low intensity of the modulated light beam; and further results in the removed material being redistributed by surface tension as a raised ridge surrounding the removed portion, the combination of a concavity and surrounding ridge having enhanced readability, means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information; and means for reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance to provide a signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam, the signal used to control the power of the modulated light beam being derived from portions of the recording which are independent of the information being recorded.

Claim 35

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded, means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam wherein the redistribution of material in the metallic deformable film results in partial removal of the material in the film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant distribution is less than the original film thickness whereby the reflectance is changed with a low intensity of the modulated light beam; and further results in the removed material being redistributed by surface tension as a raised ridge surrounding the removed portion, the combination of a concavity and surrounding ridge having enhanced readability, means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information; and means for reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance to provide a signal which is used to control the power of the modulated light beam, the signal used to control the power of the modulated light beam being derived from portions of the recording which are independent of the information being recorded.

Claim 36

In a method for recording information as variations in reflectance the steps of: modulating a light beam with the information to be recorded; focusing the modulated light beam on a metallic tellurium deformable film deposited on a rotating disc; radially translating the modulated light beam with respect to the disc, redistributing the material of the metallic tellurium deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam to change its reflectance by removing only a part of the material of the metallic tellurium deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant redistribution is less than the original film thickness, with the modulated light beam having sufficient energy to liquefy but not vaporize the material, and reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance; and controlling the power of the light beam with a signal derived from the recently recorded information to establish the correct recording level.

Claim 37

In a method for recording information as variations in reflectance the steps of: modulating a light beam with the information to be recorded; focusing the modulated light beam on a metallic tellurium deformable film deposited on a rotating disc; radially translating the modulated light beam with respect to the disc, redistributing the material of the metallic tellurium deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam to change its reflectance by removing only a part of the material of the metallic tellurium deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant redistribution is less than the original film thickness, with the modulated light beam having sufficient energy to liquefy but not vaporize the material, and reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance; and controlling the power of the light beam with a signal derived from the recently recorded information to establish the correct recording level.

Claim 38

In a method for recording information as variations in reflectance the steps of: modulating a light beam with the information to be recorded; focusing the modulated light beam on a metallic deformable film deposited on a rotating disc; radially translating the modulated light beam with respect to the disc, redistributing the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam to change its reflectance by removing only a part of the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant redistribution is less than the original film thickness, with the modulated light beam having sufficient energy to liquefy but not vaporize the material, and reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance; and controlling the power of the light beam with a signal derived from the recently recorded information to establish the correct recording level.

Claim 39

In a method for recording information as variations in reflectance the steps of: modulating a light beam with the information to be recorded; focusing the modulated light beam on a metallic deformable film deposited on a rotating disc; radially translating the modulated light beam with respect to the disc, redistributing the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam to change its reflectance by removing only a part of the material of the metallic deformable film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant redistribution is less than the original film thickness, with the modulated light beam having sufficient energy to liquefy but not vaporize the material, and reading the recorded information shortly after it is recorded using an additional light beam focused onto newly written variations in reflectance; and controlling the power of the light beam with a signal derived from the recently recorded information to establish the correct recording level.

Claim 40

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film of tellurium deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded, means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film, said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam wherein the redistribution of material in the metallic deformable film results in partial removal of the material in the film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant distribution is less than the original film thickness whereby the reflectance is changed with a low intensity of the modulated light beam; and further results in the removed material being redistributed by surface tension as a raised ridge surrounding the removed portion, the combination of a concavity and surrounding ridge having enhanced readability; and means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information.

Claim 41

Apparatus for recording information as variations in reflectance comprising: a metallic deformable film of tellurium deposited on a substrate in a disc format; a modulated light beam representing the information to be recorded, means for focusing the beam onto the metallic deformable film, said beam having an intensity which is sufficient to liquefy but not vaporize the material of the metallic deformable film resulting in a redistribution of the material of the metallic deformable film which changes the reflectance of a readout light beam wherein the redistribution of material in the metallic deformable film results in partial removal of the material in the film in the region of the focused modulated light beam so that the depth of the resultant distribution is less than the original film thickness whereby the reflectance is changed with a low intensity of the modulated light beam; and further results in the removed material being redistributed by surface tension as a raised ridge surrounding the removed portion, the combination of a concavity and surrounding ridge having enhanced readability; and means for rotating the disc with respect to the modulated light beam and radially translating the modulated light beam to produce a pattern of recorded reflectivity information.

Claim 42

Method for recording a linear data information stream as a one dimensional array of discrete, minute variations in the reflectance or transmission of light from a recorded sheet of material and for retrieving information therefrom comprising: a deformable metal film depositing on a substrate to form a recordable sheet and having a free surface away from said substrate, generating a modulated laser beam containing the data information to be recorded on said film as time spaced variations in intensity, focusing and modulating said laser beam onto the deformable film with a pulse of an intensity sufficient to liquefy the film at its free surface but less than that which would vaporize the material of the film so that momentary liquefaction of the film material is achieved in a region of the impinging modulated laser beam to form a depression in the center of a melted region about which the melted region reshapes to form a surrounding raised ridge thereafter frozen into the shape of a rim surrounding the depression to produce an individual pattern of recorded information which is readable by interaction with a readout light beam, moving the sheet with respect to the modulated laser beam to produce a retraceable pattern of recorded reflectivity information thereon in seriatim along a path of discrete impressions formed by the successive depressions and ridges, and recovering the recorded data and information by causing a read laser beam to impinge along said path so as to interact in seriatim with successive depressions and ridges, and sensing the transmission or reflectivity caused thereby to recover the one dimensional array of information so recorded.

Claim 43

Method for recording a linear data information stream as a one dimensional array of discrete, minute variations in the reflectance or transmission of light from a recorded sheet of material and for retrieving information therefrom comprising: a deformable metal film depositing on a substrate to form a recordable sheet and having a free surface away from said substrate, generating a modulated laser beam containing the data information to be recorded on said film as time spaced variations in intensity, focusing and modulating said laser beam onto the deformable film with a pulse of an intensity sufficient to liquefy the film at its free surface but less than that which would vaporize the material of the film so that momentary liquefaction of the film material is achieved in a region of the impinging modulated laser beam to form a depression in the center of a melted region about which the melted region reshapes to form a surrounding raised ridge thereafter frozen into the shape of a rim surrounding the depression to produce an individual pattern of recorded information which is readable by interaction with a readout light beam, moving the sheet with respect to the modulated laser beam to produce a retraceable pattern of recorded reflectivity information thereon in seriatim along a path of discrete impressions formed by the successive depressions and ridges, and recovering the recorded data and information by causing a read laser beam to impinge along said path so as to interact in seriatim with successive depressions and ridges, and sensing the transmission or reflectivity caused thereby to recover the one dimensional array of information so recorded.

Claim 44

The method of claim 30 wherein the step of moving the modulated light beam includes optically tracking a previously recorded track on the sheet and moving the modulated light beam laterally with respect to the previously recorded track.