Recording material

A recording material possessing a high sensitivity and a high S/N ratio for making an information recording in a metallic recording layer comprising:

• (a) a substrate;
• (b) a metallic recording layer supported by said substrate, said metallic recording layer comprising at least one member selected from the group consisting of In, Bi, Sn, Zn, Pb, Mg, Au, Ge, Ga, Tl, Cd, Sb, Rh, Se, Te, Al and alloys thereof;
• and
• (c) at least one mixture layer comprising at least one metallic compound selected from the group consisting of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, ZrO.sub.2, Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3, GeO.sub.2, SiO.sub.2, SnO.sub.2, Bi.sub.2 O.sub.3, As.sub.2 O.sub.3, Sb.sub.2 O.sub.3, Ta.sub.2 O.sub.3, Sm.sub.2 O.sub.3, TiO.sub.2, CeO.sub.2, La.sub.2 O.sub.3 and Dy.sub.2 O.sub.3 and at least one metal selected from the group consisting of Al, Si, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Ge, As, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, In, Sn, Sb, La, Hf, Ta, Re, Ir, Tl, Pb, Bi, Dy, Er, Gd, Nd, Pr, Sm, Mo, Au, Pt, W, Se and Te, wherein the volume percentage of said metal in said mixture layer is in the range of 10 to 80%, said mixture layer being provided on at least one side of said metallic recording layer,
• but if said mixture layer is provided only on the side of said metallic recording layer adjacent said substrate, then said recording material is further provided with at least one stabilizing layer of a metallic compound on at least the side of said metallic recording layer remote from said substrate,
• said metallic recording layer and said mixture layer having a positional relationship such that said information is recorded in said metallic recording layer with irradiation from a laser beam through said mixture layer,
• thereby causing only said metallic recording layer to be adapted to be imaged upon irradiation with said laser beam.