| | Erasable optical data storage medium - Patent 4719615 (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14) |
 | | The dual layer is susceptible to expansion and contraction, to writing data thermally, to erasing data thermally and mechanically, and to reading data optically, the first material and the second material, respectively, being bonded together and remaining in the same physical state upon the expansion and relaxation of the dual layer. |
 | | One type of optical recording that has the highest potential is an optical recording apparatus or system which uses, in lieu of the magnetic recording head, a highly focused laser beam as an ultra-fine recording stylus to write and read data at a very high data rate and recording density, and to erase the data. |
 | | The bottom layer of material is a relatively inextensible metal or polymer having a high coefficient of thermal expansion, and the top layer is a metal alloy which is in a martensitic phase at ambient temperature and has a low coefficient of thermal expansion. |
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