Photosensitive medium for optical information storage
AssigneeCorning Glass Works
InventorsNicholas F. Borrelli, Peter L. Young
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Abstract
A photosensitive medium for storing optical information relating to the intensity and polarization of incident light, consisting of an inorganic multilayer film comprising multiple thin layers of silver chloride to which additive coloration has been imparted by chemical means, is described.
Claims19
A photosensitive optical information storage medium for storing optical information relating to the intensity and polarization of incident light which consists of an inorganic multilayer film having a total thickness not exceeding 2 microns and comprising at least 3 polycrystalline photosensitive layers containing additively colored silver halide crystals, each of said layers being produced by:
- (a) depositing a polycrystalline silver halide layer on a suitable substrate;
- and
- (b) introducing one or more inorganic chemical agents into the silver halide layer in an amount effective to impart additive coloration thereto by the partial reduction of some of the silver halide in the layer to metallic silver, said inorganic chemical agents being selected from the group consisting of:
- (i) oxygen-deficient metal oxides;
- (ii) metallic reducing agents;
- (iii) immobile hole-trapping dopants;
- and
- (iv) hole-trapping metal oxides.
A process for producing a photosensitive optical information storage medium for storing optical information relating to the intensity and polarization of incident light which comprises the steps of:
- (a) depositing a polycrystalline silver halide layer on a chemically inert substrate;
- (b) introducing one or more inorganic chemical agents into the layer to impart additive coloration thereto by the partial reduction of some of the silver halide therein to silver metal, said inorganic chemical agents being selected from the group consisting of:
- (i) oxygen-deficient metal oxides;
- (ii) metallic reducing agents;
- (iii) immobile hole-trapping dopants;
- and
- (iv) hole-trapping metal oxides;
- and
- (c) repeating steps (a) and (b) until a multilayer film having a total thickness not exceeding 2 microns, comprising at least 3 silver halide layers exhibiting additive coloration, is provided on the substrate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.