Method and system for laser writing microscopic data spots on cards and labels readable with a CCD array

A method of creating digital data pixels readable with CCD arrays from laser-written, microscopic data spots comprising,

• providing a laser capable of recording microscopic data spots on a DRAW (direct-read-after-write) optical data storage medium,
• pre-formatting said medium with tracks for recording said data spots where the track is wide enough to accommodate two to six said data spots if they were arranged in close proximity to one another in a column across said track width,
• laser recording a row of said data spots along and within a first track such that said spots form a first laser-recorded data bar which has the width of said data spots and a length of approximately two to four times the track width,
• laser recording one to five more data bars parallel and adjacent to said first data bar within the width of the same first track and having a length similar to that of the first data bar,
• laser recording in a second track adjacent to the first track two to six data bars of similar widths and lengths to those in the first track, and
• identifying one data pixel among many data pixels as a region whose smallest dimension is at least seven microns on said optical storage medium and which encompasses four to twelve of said data bars in the first and second tracks and that portion of the two tracks containing said data bars.

A method of creating digital data pixels readable with CCD arrays from laser-written, microscopic data spots comprising,

• providing a laser capable of recording microscopic data spots on a DRAW (direct-read-after-write) optical data storage medium,
• pre-formatting said medium with tracks for recording said data spots where the track is wide enough to accommodate two to six said data spots if they were arranged in close proximity to one another in a column across said track width,
• laser recording a row of said data spots along and within a first track such that said spots form a first laser-recorded data bar which has the width of said data spots and a length of approximately three to six times the track width,
• laser recording one to five more data bars parallel and adjacent to said first data bar within the width of the same first track and having a length similar to that of the first data bar,
• laser recording two to six data bars of similar widths and lengths to those in a second track adjacent to the first track and two to six data bars in a third track which is adjacent to either the first or second track, and
• identifying one data pixel among many data pixels as a region whose smallest dimension is at least seven microns on said optical storage medium and which encompasses six to eighteen of said data bars in the three tracks and that portion of the three tracks containing said data bars.

A method of creating digital data pixels readable with CCD arrays from laser-written, microscopic data spots comprising,

• providing a laser capable of recording microscopic data spots on a DRAW (direct-read-after-write) optical data storage medium,
• pre-formatting said medium with tracks for recording said data spots where the track is wide enough to accommodate two to six said data spots if they were arranged in close proximity to one another in a column across said track width,
• laser recording a row of said data spots along and within a first track such that said spots form a first laser-recorded data bar which has the width of said data spots and a length of approximately four to eight times the track width,
• laser recording one to five more data bars parallel and adjacent to said first data bar within the width of the same first track and having a length similar to that of the first data bar,
• laser recording two to six data bars of similar widths and lengths in each of a second track, third track, and fourth track, which form a group of four adjacent tracks, and
• identifying one data pixel among many data pixels as a region whose smallest dimension is at least seven microns on said optical storage medium and which encompasses eight to twenty-four of said data bars in the four tracks and that portion of the four tracks containing said data bars.

A method of creating digital data pixels readable with CCD arrays from laser-written, microscopic data spots comprising,

• providing a laser capable of recording microscopic data spots on a DRAW (direct-read-after-write) optical data storage medium,
• pre-formatting said medium with tracks for recording said data spots where the track is wide enough to accommodate two to six said data spots if they were arranged in close proximity to one another in a column across said track width,
• laser recording a row of said data spots along and within a first track such that said spots are either in close proximity, contiguous, or overlapping one another so as to form a first laser-recorded data bar which has the width of said data spots and a length of approximately five to ten times the track width,
• laser recording of at least one more data bar adjacent to said first data bar within the width of the same track and having a length similar to that of the first data bar,
• laser recording two to six data bars of similar widths and lengths in each of a second track, third track, fourth track, and fifth track, which form a group of five adjacent tracks, and
• identifying one data pixel among many data pixels as a region whose smallest dimension is at least seven microns on said optical storage medium and which encompasses ten to thirty of said data bars in five tracks and that portion of the five tracks containing said data bars.