Thermochromism of silver oxide for optical switching layers in volumetric optical disks

Abstract

For reading and writing on a lower targeted recording layer of volumetric optical disks, transmitted laser power is decreased by absorption and reflection of the upper layers. Thus, a layer of thermo-chromatic material, such as silver oxide, has been added as an optical switching layer next to the recording layers to modulate the optical characteristics of the recording layers by the diffraction limited laser beam during writing. The optical switching structure can reduce peak writing laser energy by 42%. Consequently, optical switching layer is promising for volumetric recording to optimize R/W performance.