Metal alloys for the reflective or the semi-reflective layer of an optical storage medium
A silver-based alloy thin film is provided for the highly reflective or semi-reflective layer of optical discs. Alloy additions to silver include gold, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium, platinum, palladium, copper, silicon, cadmium, tin, lithium, nickel, cobalt, indium, chromium, antimony, gallium, boron, molybdenum, zirconium, beryllium, titanium, magnesium, and zinc. These alloys have moderate to high reflective and reasonable corrosion resistance in the ambient environment.
1. An optical storage medium, comprising:
a first layer having a pattern of features in at least one major surface;
a semi-reflective layer adjacent the pattern of features in said first layer, the semi-reflective layer including a metal alloy, said metal alloy including silver, tin and indium, wherein the relationship between the amounts of silver, tin and indium in said metal alloy is defined by Ag x Sn y In z , wherein 0.9<x<0.9998, 0.0001<y<0.5 and 0.0001<z<0.5;
a second layer having a pattern of features in at least one major surface; and
a reflective layer adjacent the pattern of features in said second layer.