Copper nitride and tin nitride thin films for write-once optical recording media

TLDR

The study examined whether Cu₃N and SnNx thin films could serve as write‑once optical recording media. Cu₃N and SnNx films were deposited by reactive sputtering and thermally decomposed at 470 °C and 550 °C, respectively, to produce Cu and Sn films. The thermally decomposed Cu film exhibited a large reflectance change suitable for optical recording, whereas the Sn film showed only a small reflectance change due to SnO formation.

Abstract

The feasibility of using copper nitride and tin nitride thin films as write-once optical recording media was explored. The Cu3N and SnNx films were obtained by the reactive sputtering method. They were thermally decomposed into Cu and Sn films at 470 and 550 °C, respectively. The Cu film obtained by the thermal decomposition showed a large difference in reflectance which is applicable to the optical recording media. The Sn film obtained by the thermal decomposition included SnO, and consequently it showed a small difference in reflectance from that of SnNx film.