Measurement of the thermal coefficients of rewritable phase-change optical recording media

We describe a method to estimate the heat capacity of the substrate, the dielectric layer, and the phase–change layer of phase-change optical recording media as well as the thermal conductivity of the phase–change layer in its crystalline state. Measurements were carried out on spinning disks with the beam of light focused and locked onto the groove track. The method relies on the identification of the solid-to-liquid phase transition that occurs in the phase-change layer and takes advantage of the dependence of thermal diffusion on track velocity and irradiation time.