Optical recording medium

Abstract

Disclosed is an optical recording layer in which the microaperture for reproducing optical near-field light is controllable so as to read out the optical near-field signals with stability by keeping the signal-reproducing head at a height safe from crashing with the recording medium even when the recording marks are smaller than 100 nm. The optical recording medium is a layered body comprising: (a) a transparent substrate; (b) a first protective layer formed on the substrate; (c) an optically or thermally active layer, which is capable of reversibly generating a micro-aperture by application of light or heat, formed on the first protective layer; (d) a second protective layer, which is under a compressive stress of 200 MPa to 1 GPa, formed on the active layer; (e) an optical recording layer formed on the second protective layer; and (f) a third protective layer formed on the optical recording layer.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.