Naoki KOBAYASHI, Chikara EGAMI and Yoshimasa KAWATA

Faculty of Engineering, Shizuoka University, 3-5-1 Johoku, Hamamatsu 432-8561, Japan

(Received January 31, 2003; Accepted June 3, 2003)

We have fabricated a new optical storage media using minute spheres arranged on a surface relief grating (SRG). Using minute spheres as recording bits, we can limit recordable regions by sphere size, and can realize high resolution reproduction in the plane direction. Surface relief structures were made on a polymer thin film on which we performed diffusion arrangement and adsorptive fixation of minute spheres. The stability of the arranged spheres was confirmed for heating and washing. Furthermore, we used a dipping method for a more simple arrangement of minute spheres on a large area of the substrate and made a monolayer sample of the spheres. We were able to realize a highly sensitive reconstruction of the medium using a confocal optical system as a record and readout system.

Key words: sphere, memory, photon mode, confocal, dipping