EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY OF TRANSCRIPTION OF MINUTE WIDTH GROOVES IN INJECTION-MOLDING

In injection molding of substrates for optical discs, precise transcription of pits and grooves is very important. For high-density optical discs, molding transcription for minute grooves with widths on the sub-micron level is required. In this paper, in order to clarify the relationship between molding conditions and transcription quantitatively, transcription of minute rectangular grooves (width 0.55 mum, depth 70 nm) in injection molding of polycarbonate resin was studied. The relationship between molding conditions and the transcription heights was verified. And, by introducing the equivalent thickness of the vitrified layer concept, a transcription model related to the minute groove width is proposed. This equivalent thickness of the vitrified layer is estimated to be 100 to 150 nm at the point of filling completion under a certain molding condition. Also, using the above description of the equivalent thickness of the vitrified layer, it is possible to estimate the extent of transcription under the various molding conditions.