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PC-Compatible Boards and Assemblies
News Release from: Toshiba Europe Storage Device Division
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 19 May 2003
Blue-laser rewritable optical disk
demonstrated
Toshiba has developed a working prototype of a high capacity dual-layer single-sided blue-laser rewritable optical disk.
Toshiba has developed a working prototype of a high capacity dual-layer single-sided blue-laser rewritable optical disk The new disk enjoys key advantages in that it can easily be brought to mass production with only minimal adjustments to current DVD production facilities, and that its current capacity can be increased significantly
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 17 Oct 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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In August 2002, Toshiba and NEC jointly proposed to the forum a format for a next generation high-definition system based on a high-capacity, blue-laser DVD.
This is now under discussion.
That format covers a 15Gbyte single-layer, single-sided read-only disk, a 30Gbyte dual-layer, single-sided, read-only disk, and a 20Gbyte single-layer, single-sided read-and-write disk.
These capacities significantly improve on the 8.5Gbyte capacity of current dual-layer, single-sided read-only DVD disks and 4.7Gbyte single-layer, single- sided read-and-write DVD disks.
The proposed format uses a short wavelength blue laser and the same disk structure used in current DVDs - back-to-back bonding of two 0.6mm-thick 120mm disks.
This approach not only supports continued use of today's DVD disk manufacturing equipment, it also delivers higher production yields than alternative disk structures based on stacked disks.
The Toshiba-NEC format also employs an objective lens with a numerical aperture of 0.65 - very close to that of current DVD.
Since proposing the format, Toshiba has continued development work and has now achieved and demonstrated the practicality of a high capacity 36Gbyte dual-layer, single-sided read-and-write disk that can be applied to both consumer electronic and computer applications.
Toshiba's new high-capacity dual layer disk employs germanium-tellurium-rich germanium-antimony-tellurium-bismuth (GeSbTeBi) alloy recording layers that support improved signal processing and erasability.
The disk's dual-layer structure has a high level of manufacturability and a capacity that can be pushed to higher levels.
In summing up the advantages of the new disk, Toshiba noted pluses in the manufacturing process from maximising similarities with current DVD.
The working prototype allows use of the same manufacturing infrastructure as current DVD, supporting manufacturers' by limiting the need for new investments, while also minimising disk production costs and delivering high yields.
The new disk also assures backward compatibility with current CDs and DVDs, and supports fabrication of disks that do not need a cartridge - an essential feature for slim drives that can be integrated into portable equipment.
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