Photoinduced surface deposition of metallic silver : basic research for its application to optical recording devices

The photoinduced surface deposition (PSD) phenomenon has been studied for its application to a new optical recording device. The pattern formed by photodeposited Ag particles could be erased by annealing or illumination. The pattern could be effectively fixed by coating the sample surface with semitransparent metallic film such as Au. These are assumed useful properties for the application, in addition to the high contrast and high resolving power of the pattern. The PSD phenomenon was also found to be markedly influenced by atmosphere. From the temperature dependence of the PSD phenomenon (-20 to +50° C), it was found that the maximum of the PSD photosensitivity was at around room temperature, and that the resolving power dramatically decreased with an increase in temperature, irrespective of atmosphere.