Novel polymeric optical storage media

The high information density and robustness of optical data storage systems has stimulated the development of a wide variety of data recording materials. Many of these rely upon changes to the topography of a thin film, creating dots or pits which locally change the optical properties of the film and can thus be used to store digital information. The authors describe an alternative means of writing data in digital form onto an optically readable medium using an optically sensitive polymer coated as a thin film onto a low cost, transparent plastic substrate