REVERSIBLE PHOTOWRITING AND THERMAL ERASING OF AG PATTERNS ON AG-RICH AG-GE-S FILMS

The photoinduced surface deposition (PSD) of metallic Ag has been studied for its application to new optical recording devices, using Ag-rich Ag-Ge-S films. The Ag pattern written using the PSD phenomenon was found to be erased by annealing below the glass transition temperature of the films. The repetition of photowriting and thermal erasing was successful for at least 20 times. From this result, it can be said that the PSD phenomenon is a unique reversible phenomenon involving long-range movement of the constituent atoms. Furthermore, the reversibility is assumed to be all important factor for the application of the PSD phenomenon.