RECORD CARRIER FOR THE OPTICAL STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION

摘要

The invention relates to a record carrier for the storage and retrieval of information, comprising: a substrate (1), an active layer (2) for retention of information, the active layer employing bit-position encoding for the storage and retrieval of information and an energy shielding layer for shielding the energy during writing of the information in the active layer. Preferably, the energy shielding layer comprises a patterned reflective mask layer (3) or a switchable mask layer. Preferably, the reflective mask layer comprises a material with a relatively high thermal conductivity. Preferably, the patterned reflective mask layer comprises a metal or a metal alloy, preferably comprising aluminum silver, gold or copper. Preferably, the switchable mask layer comprises a thermo-chromic layer and is substantially transparent during the retrieval of information from the active layer. According to the invention, the record carrier has a relatively high information density.