Stability Of Thin Te And Te-Alloy Films For Optical Data Storage

The stability of Te and Te-alloy films for optical data storage was studied both over a large area by using a uniformly illuminated light source and locally by using a scanning laser beam. These films are found to degrade uniformly, with limited localized degradation. The dominant degradation mechanism of thin Te films is the uniform oxidation of Te to an optically non-absorbing TeO2. Localized degradation occurs only at regions where initial defects on the film or when conditions leading to water condensation on the surface of the film are present. Promising Te-based optical recording media with both excellent archival stability and reasonable laser writing characteristics have been developed from this study.