THERMALLY-INDUCED COLLOID FORMATION OF AU ON A POLYSILANE FILM PREEXPOSED TO UV-LIGHT AND ITS APPLICATION TO NOVEL OPTICAL-RECORDING MEDIA

A novel write once optical recording medium is one application of a ph enomenon reported here: when a thin layer of gold on PMPS-a typical po lysilane-is pre-exposed to UV radiation before being heated, a gold co lloid is formed in the PMPS in those areas which were exposed to the r adiation. The accompanying reduction in reflectance due to the gold-to -magenta color change can be used as an optical memory that is compati ble with the current CD reading system. Details of the observation and follow-up studies are reported.