Phase change optical recording medium and process for manufacturing same

In a phase change optical recording medium in which writing, reading and/or erasing of information is conducted by utilizing change of phase of a recording layer by irradiation with light, the recording layer is made of a material containing oxygen in an amount of 1 to 30 atomic %; or the recording medium comprises an additional transparent dielectric layer 1 to 10 nm thick between the recording layer and the underlying transparent dielectric layer and the inserted transparent dielectric layer in contact with the recording layer comprising oxygen in a molar ratio greater than a molar ratio of oxygen in the underlying transparent dielectric layer; or the transparent dielectric layer underlying and in contact with the recording layer comprises oxygen in a molar ratio greater than a molar ratio of oxygen in the other transparent dielectric layer.