Abstract
A new optical information storage technique is described which operates by irreversibly altering the absorption properties of a microscopically textured surface. Reflectance changes of greater than a factor of 100 have been obtained by local melting of the surface. A random array of Si columns with cross-sectional dimensions less than 100 nm, formed on a Si film by reactive ion etching, has a visible reflectance of less than 0.01. By irradiation with a focused laser beam, at a power density of ≲8 mW/μm2, the columns melt to form a surface with a specular reflectance of ∼0.4. The applicability of this surface structure as a permanent optical storage medium is discussed. In general, this surface texturing can be applied to a wide variety of materials with the advantages of increased sensitivity to the writing beam, large contrast between the written and unwritten areas and reduced lateral energy flow.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 532-534 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Applied Physics Letters |
Volume | 39 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1981 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)