Optical information storage, video disk

Optical information storage, which has been a dream since the discovery of the laser, is now becoming a commercial reality. Read-only consumer products (video and digital audio disks) have provided a solid technological base for the development and introduction of the more sophisticated write-once and erasable recording systems. This chapter will review the current status of polymeric materials as substrates, protective layers, and active recording media in laser recording. 

Polymeric materials can be used for optical information storage, and some are ideally suited for the manufacture of optical video or digital audio disks. The information is normally transferred to the polymer using a monochromatic laser by one of four possible methods ... 

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