Optical disk media research discussed

A review of the current status of the research and development on various optical disk media is presented. It is noted that research around the world on the media for the nonerasable optical disk is almost over, and that the nonerasable optical disk has been successfully used for CD, LD player and DRAW devices. On the other hand, great efforts are now being made to search the more suitable media for erasable optical disks. Extensive experiments on various material systems including optical characteristic change, phase transition and magneto-optical recording media are under way. It is expected that fruitful results will appear in the next 2 or 3 years.