Optical Data Storage: Phase-Change Media and Recording by Erwin R. Meinders, Matthias Wuttig, Liesbeth Van Pieterson

Introduction     1
A brief overview of optical storage systems     1
The basics of optical storage     3
Optical drive layout     3
Basic principles of optical data storage     4
Optical storage roadmap     15
Optical media     16
Phase-change media     18
Scope of this book     20
References Chapter 1     21
Theoretical aspects of phase-change alloys     23
Introduction     23
Glass formation and the amorphous phase     26
Crystallization     30
Crystallization theory     30
Crystallization of amorphous marks in a phase-change disc     32
Classes of phase-change materials     34
Class I: Crystallization by nucleation and growth     35
Class II: Crystallization dominated by crystal growth     38
Emerging directions in phase-change research     40
References of chapter 2     46
Thermal modelling of phase-change recording     51
Multi-layer thermal model     51
Heat diffusion in thin layers     53
Heat conduction at microscale     52
Modelling of heat diffusion in multi-layer recording stacks     53
Mark-formation and erasure model     56
Optical parameters of phase-change recording films     58
Optical properties of thin films     59
Stack design     63
Thermal conductivity of thin films     64
In situ laser methods     65
Melt-threshold method     65
Thermal conductivity results     66
Determination of crystallization parameters     71
Isothermal measurements     71
Time-resolved static tester measurements     73
Mark formation and erasure results     75
Effect of groove shape on direct heating     80
Groove structure of phase-change discs     80
Land versus groove recording     84
Groove-only recording     85
References of chapter 3     88
Data recording characteristics     93
Data recording     93
Recording, erasing and direct-overwriting of marks     93
Pulse trains     95
Erase of marks     97
Write-erase sequence     106
Write strategy types     110
Quality of recorded data     110
Material-limited run-length jitter     110
Overwrite stability      112
Repeated read stability     116
Effect of multi-track recording     120
Thermal cross-write     120
Optical cross-talk     122
Recording media     123
Dual-layer media and recording     123
Data capacity increase     123
Layout of dual-layer media     124
Optical design of dual-layer media     126
Mark formation     128
Transmittance difference     140
Media for high-speed phase-change recording     145
Introduction to speed race     145
Materials for high-speed recording     146
Optical and thermal design of high-speed recording media     148
Characterization of high-speed discs     150
Mark formation in ultra-high speed recording stacks     156
Influence of laser spot orientation on mark formation     166
References of chapter 5     171