Title of Invention

AN OPTICAL RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING A PLURALITY OF RECORDING LAYERS

Abstract In an optical recording medium of a single-sided incident type having a plurality of recording layers, recording / reading conditions ( for example, a polarity of a push-pull signal (A60), recording pulse strategy (A20), recording recommended power (A40), etc.) can be instantaneously switched according to each of the recording layer, and recording or reading of information can be accurately and surely performed under recording/ reading conditions adapted to each recording layer (A120).
Full Text

DESCRIPTION
This application is divided out of Indian Patent Application
No. 937 / KOLNP / 2005 filed on 19th May 2005.
Technical Field
The present invention relates to an optical
recording medium having a plurality of recording
layers, on which recording and reading of information
can be performed by irradiating a laser beam from one
side thereof, such as DVD-R or the like, and a
recording/reading method and a recording/reading
apparatus for the optical recording medium.
Background Art
Various types of optical recording media such
as CD-R, CD-RW, MO and so forth are widely recognized
and spread as external storages for information
processing apparatuses such as computers because they
can store a large volume of information and can be
randomly accessed easily. With an increase in
quantity of handled information, there is a demand to
increase the recording density.
Among various optical recording media,
optical recording media (optical disks) having a
recording layer containing an organic dye (also

referred to as a dye containing recording layer) such
as CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R and the like are particularly
widely used because they are relatively inexpensive
and have compatibility with read-only optical disks.
Media such as CD-R representative of optical
disks having the dye containing recording layer, for
example, are in a laminated structure which has a dye
containing recording layer and a reflective layer in'
order on a transparent disk substrate along with a
protective layer for covering the dye containing layer
and the protective layer. Recording and reading are
performed with a laser beam through the substrate.
DVD-R, which is representative as well, has
a laminated structure in which a dye containing
recording layer, a reflective layer and a protective
layer covering them are formed in this order on a first
transparent disk substrate, and a so-called dummy disk,
which is a second disk substrate (which may be
transparent or opaque) and a reflective layer formed
on the second disk substrate is formed on the
protective layer through or not through an adhesive
layer. Recording and reading are performed with a
laser beam from one side of the disk through the first
transparent disk substrate. The dummy disk may be of
only a transparent or opaque disk substrate, or may
be provided with a layer other than the reflective
layer. Meanwhile, DVD+R has almost the same

structure as DVD-R, description of which will be
hereinafter represented by DVD-R.
In order to largely increase the recording
capacity of the optical recording medium, two
single-sided DVD-Rs as above are bonded together to
form a medium having two recording layers, which is
known as a double-sided DVD-R (double-sided,
dual-layer DVD-R). Recording and reading are
performed by irradiating a laser beam onto each of the recording layers from the both sides (that is, the
laser beam is irradiated from one side of the medium
to perform recording and reading on a recording layer
closer to this side, while the laser beam is irradiated
from the other side of the medium to perform recording
and reading on the other recording layer closer to the
other side) .
Other than the above, widely known is an
optical recording medium (optical disk) having a
phase-change recording layer such as CD-RW, DVD-RW or
the like. A rewritable optical recording medium
having a phase-change recording layer has generally
protective layers on and under the recording layer.
With respect to optical recording media
having a plurality of recording layers, there is, in
these years, a demand for a single-sided incident type
optical recording medium (for example, single-sided
incident type DVD-R) on which recording and reading

can be performed on a plurality of recording layers
by irradiating a laser beam from one side so as to avoid an increase in size and complexity of the
recording/reading apparatus, and enable continuous
reading from the plural recording layers.
To meet the above demand, there has been
proposed a single-sided incident type DVD-R of the
dual-layer type having two recording layers, for
example, as the single-sided incident type optical
recording medium having the structure below (refer to
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI
11-66622, for example).
For example, a single-sided incident type
DVD-R of the dual layer type is formed by laminating,
on a first light-transmissible substrate, a first
recording layer made from an organic dye on which
information can be optically recorded by irradiating
a laser beam for recording, a first reflective layer
made of a semi-light-transmissible reflective film
that can pass through a part of the laser beam for
reading, an intermediate layer that can pass through
the laser beam for recording and the laser beam for
reading, a second recording layer made from an organic
dye on which information can be optically recorded by
irradiating the laser beam for recording, a second
reflective layer reflecting the laser beam for reading,
and a second light-transmissible substrate in this

order.
In the single-sided incident type optical
recording medium having a plurality of recording
layers such as a dual-layer, single-sided incident
type DVD-R or the like, the optimum recording/reading
conditions such as recording pulse strategy
(recording strategy, write strategy), recording
power, reading power, etc. largely differ depending
on each recording layer.
For this, it is desirable that a
recording/reading apparatus which performs recording
or reading of information on each of the recording
layers of a single-sided incident type optical
recording medium having a plurality of recording
layers can switch the recording/reading conditions
such as recording pulse strategy, recording power,
reading power, etc., for example, thereby to
accurately and surely perform recording or reading of
information.
In order to allow the recording/reading
apparatus to randomly access to each of the recording
layers of the optical recoding medium to record or read
information, it is necessary that the
recording/reading conditions are instantaneously
switched according to the recording layer, in
particular.
There is an idea that address information is

continuously given to a plurality of recording layers,
and the recording/reading apparatus determines which
recording layer the relevant layer is on the basis of
read address information, for example. However, such
manner still has difficulty in instantaneously
telling which recording layer the relevant recording
layer is.
Disclosure of Invention
In the light of the above problem, an object
of the present invention is to provide an optical
recording medium, a recording/reading method for the
optical recording medium, and a recording/reading
apparatus for the optical recording medium, wherein
recording/reading conditions such as recording
pulse strategy, recording power, reading power, and
so forth can be switched instantaneously according to
a recording layer to be recorded information thereon
or to be read information therefrom in an optical
recording medium in which recording or reading of
information is performed on a plurality of recording
layers by irradiating a laser beam from one side
thereof.
Another object of the present invention is
to accurately and surely record or read information
under recording/reading conditions (for example,
tracking polarity, recording pulse strategy,

recording power, reading power, etc.) adapted to a
recording layer to be recorded information thereon or
to be read information therefrom in an optical
recording medium in which recording or reading of
information is performed on a plurality of recording
layers by irradiating a laser beam from one side
thereof.
A recording/reading method for an optical
recording medium according to this invention
comprising a layer information reading step of reading,
by means of a control unit, layer information from one
recording layer of an optical recording medium, in
which the layer information is recorded on each of a
plurality of recording layers which can be recorded
information thereon or can be read information
therefrom by irradiating a laser beam from one side
thereof, and a recording controlling step of
controlling, by means of the control unit, so that
recording or reading is performed under
recording/reading conditions adapted to a recording
layer specified on the basis of the layer information.
Preferably, the method further comprises a
recording/reading conditions reading step of reading,
by means of the control unit, recording/reading
conditions for each of the recording layers recorded
in the optical recording medium.
A recording/reading apparatus for an optical

recording medium according to this invention
comprises a layer information reading unit for
reading layer information from one recording layer of
an optical recording medium, in which the layer
information is recorded on each of a plurality of
recording layers which can be recorded information
thereon or can be read information therefrom by
irradiating a laser beam from one side thereof, and
a recording/reading controlling unit for controlling
so that recording or reading is performed under
recording/reading conditions adapted to a recording
layer specified on the basis of the layer information.
Preferably, the apparatus further comprises
a recording/reading conditions reading unit for
reading recording/reading conditions for each of the
recording layers recorded in the optical recording
medium.
An optical recording medium according to this
invention, on which recording or reading is performed
in the recording/reading method for an optical
recording medium according to claim 1, comprises a
plurality of recording layers which can be recorded
information thereon or can be read information
therefrom by irradiating a laser beam from one side
thereof, each of the recording layers on which the
layer information is recorded.
Preferably, the layer information is

recorded on almost the entire surface of each of the
recording layers. Particularly, it is preferable
that the layer information is recorded as a part of
address information.
Preferably, the layer information is
recorded by making values of reserved bits included
in address information of the recording layers differ
from' one another.
Further, it is preferable that the layer
information is recorded by reversing a sync 'pattern
included in address information of either one of
neighboring two recording layers among the plural
recording layers.
Still further, it is preferable that the
layer information is recorded in any one of manners
of inverting the most significant bit of address
information of either one of two neighboring recording
layers among the plural recording layers, inverting
all bits of the whole address information of one
recording layer, and expressing the whole address
information of one recording layer by two's
complement.
It is preferable that the optical recording
medium has two recording layers as the plural
recording layers.
It is further preferable that at least one
of the recording/reading conditions for each of the

recording layers is recorded.
The recording/reading conditions include
tracking information.
It is preferable that the recording/reading
conditions include a recording pulse strategy and/or
a recording recommended power.
Further, it is preferable that the
recording/reading conditions are recorded on a layer
closest to the side from which a laser beam comes in
among the recording layers.
Preferably, each of the recording layers is
a dye containing recording layer.
The optical recording medium, the
recording/reading method for the optical recording
medium and the recording/reading apparatus for the
optical recording medium according to this invention
offer an advantage that the recording/reading
conditions such as recording pulse strategy,
recording power, reading power, and so forth can be
instantaneously switched according to a recording
layer to be recorded information thereon or read
information therefrom.
The present invention offers another
advantage that recording or reading of information can
be accurately and surely performed under
recording/reading conditions (for example, tracking
polarity, recording pulse strategy, recording power,

■reading power, etc.) adapted to a recording layer to
be recorded information thereon or to be read
information therefrom.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an
optical recording medium on which recording and reading
is performed comprising a plurality of recording layers
on which information can be recorded onto or read from,
said plurality of recording layers being read from or
written to, from one side of the optical recording medium
by irradiating a laser beam on the one side, wherein at
least reading and recording conditions including a
polarity of a push-pull signal for each of said plurality
of recording layers are recorded.

Accompanying
Brief Description ofLDrawings
FIG. 1 is a diagram typically showing the
whole structure of an optical recording medium (of
type 1) according to an embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram typically showing the
whole structure of an optical recording medium (of
type 2) according to the embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 3 is a diagram typically showing the
whole structure of a recording/reading apparatus for
the optical recording medium according to the
embodiment of this invention;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating a
process executed by a control unit of the
■ recording/reading apparatus for the optical
recording medium according to the embodiment of this
invention;
FIG. 5 is a flowchart for illustrating a
recording process executed by the control unit of'the
recording/reading apparatus for the optical
recording medium according to the embodiment of this
invention; and
FIG. 6 is a flowchart for illustrating a
reading process executed by the control unit of the

recording/reading apparatus for the optical
recording medium according to the embodiment of this
invention.
Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention
Hereinafter, description will be made of an
optical recording medium (write-once optical
recording medium) , a recording/reading method and a
recording/reading apparatus for the optical
recording medium according to an embodiment of this
invention with reference to FIGS. 1 through 6.
An optical recording medium according to this
embodiment is a single-sided incident type optical
recording medium having a plurality of recording
layers, on which recording or reading of information
can be performed by irradiating light (laser beam)
from one side thereof.
In this embodiment, description will be made,
taking a dual-layer DVD-R (write-once optical
recording medium) of a single-sided incident type
having, for example, two recording layers as an
example of the single-sided incident type optical
recording medium (single-sided incident type DVD-R).
(1) Structure of Optical Recording Medium
First, description will be made of two types
of optical recording media (optical disks) having
different laminated structures as the optical

recording media according to this embodiment.
(A) Type 1
FIG. 1 is a sectional view typically showing
an optical recording medium (of type 1; single-sided
incident type optical recording medium of the
laminated type) according to this embodiment.
The optical recording medium of the type 1
according to this embodiment has a first recording
layer (first recording layer, first dye' containing
recording layer) 2 containing a dye, a semitransparent
fist reflective layer (hereinafter referred to as a
semitransparent reflective layer) 3, an intermediate
resin layer (intermediate layer) 4, a second recording
layer (second recording layer, second dye containing
recording layer) 5 containing a dye, a second
reflective layer 6, an adhesive layer 7 and a second
substrate (second substrate) 8 in this order on a
disk-shaped transparent (light-transmissible) first
substrate (first substrate, first
light-transmissible substrate) 1. Optical beams
(laser beams) are irradiated from the side of the first
substrate 1 to perform recording or reading.
In this embodiment, "transparent
(light-transmissible)" signifies "transparent
(light-transmissible) to optical beams used for
recording on or reading from the optical recording
medium." Transparent (light-transmissible) layers

include a layer which absorbs more or less the optical
beams used for recording or reading. For example,
when the layer has a transmittance of not less than
50 percent, preferably not less than 60 percent to the
wavelength of an optical beam used for recording or
reading, the layer is considered to be practically
light-transmissible (transparent).
Concavities and convexities (lands and
grooves) are formed on the transparent first substrate
1 and the intermediate resin layer 4. Recording
tracks are formed with a concave portion and/or a
convex portion. Here, a recording track 11 on the
transparent first substrate 1 is formed with a groove
(portion) of the first substrate 1, that is, the
convexity (portion) with respect to the direction of
the incident light. A recording track 12 on the
intermediate resin layer 4 is formed with a groove
(portion) of the intermediate resin layer 4, that is,
the convex portion with respect to the direction of
the incident light. Incidentally, the recording
tracks 11 and 12 may be formed with the concavities
with respect to the direction of the incident light,
or may be formed with both the concavity and convexity
with respect to the direction of the incident light.
Generally, it is preferable that the recording track
is formed with a convex portion with respect to the
direction of the incident light. In this invention,

the concavity and convexity are defined with respect
to the direction of incident light beams used for
recording or reading unless not specifically
mentioned.
These recording tracks 11 and 12 are made
slightly snake in the radial direction at
predetermined amplitude and frequency (this called
"wobble"). Isolated pits (address pits) are formed
according to a certain rule on the land adjacent to
the track 11 or the track 12, for example (this called
"Land Pre-Pit"; LPP). Address information is
beforehand recorded with the Land Pre-Pit. Such
Pre-Pit may be formed for other information. It is
also possible to reverse the direction of the wobble
or modulate the frequency, thereby to record such
information.
Next, each of the layers will be described,
(a) With Respect To First Substrate 1-
It is desirable that the first substrate 1
has excellent optical characteristics, that is, the
first substrate 1 is transparent, has small
birefringence, and so force. It is also desirable
that the first substrate 1 has excellent molding
properties, that is, the first substrate 1 can be
readily formed in injection molding. When the first
substrate 1 has small hygroscopicity, such property
is desirable because the warping (tilt) of the

.substrate can be decreased and the good mechanical
characteristics can be achieved.
Further, it is desirable that the first
substrate 1 has shape stability so that the optical
recording medium has some degree of rigidity. When
the second substrate 8 has sufficient shape stability,
the first substrate 1 is not required to have large
shape stability.
As such material, it is possible to use resins
such as acrylic resins, methacrylic resins,
polycarbonate resin, polyolefin resins (particularly,
amorphous polyolefin) , polyester resins, polystyrene
resin, epoxy resin, and so forth, and glass. The
first substrate 1 may be comprised of a plurality of
layers. It is possible to provide a resin layer made
from a radiation-setting resin such as a UV curing
resin or the like on the substrate made from glass,
resin, or the like. Incidentally, "radiation" is a
general term for light (ultraviolet radiation,
visible radiation, infrared ray, etc.), electron
beams, and the like.
Meanwhile, polycarbonate is preferable from
the viewpoint of optical properties, high
productivity such as molding properties and the like,
cost, low hygroscopicity, shape stability, etc. From
the viewpoint of chemical resistance, low
hygroscopicity and the like, amorphous polyolefin is

preferable. From the viewpoint of high-speed
responsibility and the like, a glass substrate is
preferable.
The first substrate 1 is preferably thin. It
is preferable that the first substrate 1 has a
thickness of 2 mm or less, more preferably 1 mm or less.
The smaller the distance between the objective lens
and the recording layer and the thinner the substrate,
the smaller is coma aberration, which is advantageous
to increase the recording density. To obtain
sufficient optical properties, hygroscopicity,
molding properties and shape stability, some degree
of thickness is required. It is thus preferable that
the thickness of the first substrate 1 is generally
10 n m or more, more preferably 30/im or more.
In order to well perform recording and
reading on both of the first recording layer 2 and the
second recording layer 5 in this optical recording
medium, it is desirable to suitably adjust the
distance between the objective lens and the both
recording layers. For example, it is preferable to
set the focus of the objective lens at an almost
intermediate point between the both recording layers
because accesses to the both layers become easy.
More concretely, in DVD-ROM and DVD-R system,
the distance between the objective lens and the
recording layer is adjusted to be most suitable when

the thickness of the substrate is 0.6 mm.
When this layer structure is compatible with
DVD-ROM, it is most preferable that the first
substrate 1 has a thickness obtained by subtracting
a half of the film thickness of the intermediate resin
layer 4 from 0.6 mm. If so, the approximately
intermediate point between the both layers is
approximately 0 . 6 mm, thus the focusing servo control
can be readily performed on the both recording layers.
When another layer such as a buffer layer,
a protective layer or the like exists between the
second recording layer 5 and the first reflective
layer 3, it is most preferable that the first substrate
1 has a thickness obtained by subtracting a half of
a sum of the thicknesses of that layer and the
intermediate resin layer 4 from 0.6 mm.
Concavities and convexities are formed
spirally or concentrically on the first substrate 1
to form grooves and lands. Generally, with such
grooves and lands as being recording tracks,
information is recorded on and read from the first
recording layer 2. In the case of a so-called DVD-R
disk on which recording and reading are performed by
condensing a laser beam having a wavelength of 650 nm
with an objective lens having a numerical aperture of
0.6 to 0.65, the first recording layer 2 is generally
formed in spin coating, so that the film of the first

recording layer 2 is thick at the grooves, which is
suitable for recording and reading.
In this optical recording medium, it is
preferable that the groove of the first substrate 1,
that is, the convexity with respect to the direction
of the incident light beam, is used as the recording
track 11. Here, the concavity and the convexity are
portions recessed and projecting in relation with the
direction of the incident light beam. Generally, the
width of the groove is about 50 to 500 nm, and the depth
of the groove is about 10 to 250 nm. When the recording
track is spiral, the track pitch is preferably about
0.1 to 2.0 ix m. The first substrate 1 may have concave
or convex pits such as Land Pre-Pit or the like as
required.
From the viewpoint of cost, it is preferable
to manufacture the substrate having such concavities
and convexities in injection molding from a stamper
having concavities and convexities. When a resin
layer made from a radiation-setting resin such as a
UV curing resin or the like is formed on the substrate
made from glass or the like, a concavity or a convexity
such as a recording track or the like may be formed
on the resin layer,
(b) With Respect To First Recording Layer 2
Generally, the sensitivity of the first
recording layer 2 is almost equivalent to that of the

recording layer used in a single-sided recording
medium ("single-sided" means, for example, CD-R,
DVD-R, DVD+R or the like).
In order to realize a good recording/reading
performance, it is preferable that the first recording
layer 2 contains a low-exothermic dye having high
refractive index.
Further, a combination of the first recording
layer 2 and the first reflective layer 3 is preferably
within appropriate ranges of the reflection,
transmission and absorption of light, whereby the
recording sensitivity is improved and the thermal
interference during recording is decreased.
As such organic dye material, there are
macrocyclic azaannulene type dyes (phtalocyanine dye,
naphtalocyanine dye, porphyrin dye, etc.),
pyrromethene type dyes, polymethine type dyes
(cyanine dye, merocyanine dye, squalirium dye, etc.)
anthoraquinone type dyes, azulenium type dyes, metal
complex azo type dyes, metal complex indoaniline type
dyes, etc.
Among the above various organic dyes, metal
complex azo type dyes are preferable because they have
excellent recording sensitivity, durability and
light resistance. Particularly, a compound
represented by the following general formula ( I ) or
(II) is preferable:


(where rings A1 and A2 are nitrogen-containing
aromatic heterocycles, each of which can
independently have a substituent; rings B1 and B2 are
aromatic rings, each of which can independently have
a substituent; and X is an alkyl group having carbon
number 1 to 6 substituted with at least two fluorine
atoms).
An organic dye used in the recording layer
of this optical recording medium is preferably a dye
compound having the maximum absorption wavelength X
max within a range from the visible rays to the near
infrared rays of approximately 350 to 900 nm, and
suited to recording with a laser of blue to near
microwave. More preferable is a dye suited to

recording with a near infrared laser having a
wavelength of about 770 to 830 nm (typically at 780
nm, 830 nm, etc.) used generally for CD-R having a
wavelength of about 620 to 690 nm, a red laser
(typically at 635 nm, 650 nm, 680 nm, etc.) used for
DVD-R, or a so-called blue laser having a wavelength
of 410 nm or 515 nm.
It is possible to use one kind of dye, or mix
two or more the same or different kinds of dyes and
use them. Further, it is possible to use together
dyes suited for recording with a recording beam at a
plurality of wavelengths to realize an optical
recording medium coping with recording with a laser
beam in a plurality of wavelength bands.
The recording layer may contain a transition
metal chelate compound (for example, acetylacetonato
chelate, bisphenyldithiol, salicylaldehyde oxime,
bisdithio-a-diketone or the like) as a singlet oxygen
quencher in order to stabilize the recording layer or
improve the light resistance, or a recording
sensitivity improving agent such as a metal system
compound or the like in order to improve the recording
sensitivity. Here, the metal system compound is that
a metal such as a transition metal or the like in the
form of atom, ion, cluster or the like is contained
in a compound. As such metal system compound, there
are, for example, organometallic compounds such as

ethylenediamine complexes, azomethine complexes,
phenylhydroxyamine complexes, phenanthroline
complexes, dihydroxyazobenzene complexes, dioxime
complexes, nitrosoaminophenol complexes,
phyridyltriazine complexes, acetylacetonato
complexes, metallocene complexes, porphyrin
complexes, and the like. There is no limitation with
respect to the metal atom, but a transition metal is
preferable.
Further, a binder, a leveling agent, an
antiforming agent and the like may be together used
to make the recording layer of this optical recording
medium as required. As a preferable binder, there are
polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl pyrrolidone,
nitrocellulose,, cellulose acetate, ketone resins,
acrylic resins, polystyrene resins, urethane resins,
polyvinyl butyral, polycarbonate, polyolefin, etc.
The film thickness of the recording layer is
not specifically limited because the suited film
thickness differs according to the recording method
or the like. However, in order to obtain sufficient
modulation amplitude, the film thickness is
preferably 5 nm or more, more preferably 10 nm or more,
and specifically preferably 20 nm or more, in general.
However, the recording layer is required not to be
excessively thick in order to appropriately pass
through the light in this optical recording medium.

Accordingly, the film thickness of the recording layer
is generally 3 iz rn or less, preferably 1 p. m or less,
and more preferably 200 nm or less. The film
thickness of the recording layer differs from the
groove to the land. In this optical recording medium,
the film thickness of the recording■layer is at the
groove of the substrate.
As the method of making of the recording layer,
there can be applied a thin film deposition generally
performed such as vacuum evaporation, sputtering
method, doctor blade method, cast method, spin coating,
dipping method or the like. From the standpoint of
productivity and cost, spin coating is preferable.
Vacuum evaporation is more preferable than coating
method because it can yield a recording layer having
uniformity in the film thickness.
In case that the recording layer is made by
spin coated, the rotation speed is preferably 10 to
15000 rmp. After the spin coating, a process of
annealing or applying solvent vapor or the like may
be performed.
As a coating solvent used when the recording
layer is formed in a coating method such as doctor
blade method, cast method, spin coating, dipping
method or the like, the type of solvent is not limited,
thus any solvent can be used so long as it does not
attack the substrate. For example, there are ketone

alcohol type solvents such as diaceton alcohol,
3-hydroxy-3-methyl-2-butanone and the like,
cellosolve type solvents such as methyl cellosolve,
ethyl cellosolve and the like, chain hydrocarbon type
solvents suh as n-hexane, n-octane and the like, ring
hydrocarbon type solvents such as cyclohexane,
methylcyclohexane, ethylcyclohexane,
dimethylcyclohexane, n-butylcyclohexane,
tert-butylcyclohexane, cyclooctane and the like,
perfluoroalkylalcohol type solvents such ' as
tetrafluoropropanol, octafluoropentanol,
hexaf luorobuta-nol and the like, hydroxy carboxylic
acid ester type solvents such as methyl lactate, ethyl
lactate, methyl 2-hydroxyisobutyric acid and the like,
etc .
In the case of vacuum evaporation, organic
dyes are put in a crucible disposed inside a vacuum
chamber, along with dyes with -such as various
additives and the like as required, for example, the
inside of the vacuum chamber is evacuated to about.10"2
to 10~5 Pa by an appropriate vacuum pump, after that,
the crucible is heated to vaporize dyes and other
additives, and the recording layer components are
deposited on the substrate placed opposite to the
crucible, whereby the recording layer is formed,
(c) With Respect To First Reflective Layer 3
The first reflective layer 3 is a reflective

layer having some degree of light transmittance,.
Namely, the first reflective layer 3 is a reflective
layer which has small absorption (absorption of
recording/reading beam) , a light transmittance of not
less than 40 percent, and appropriate light
reflectance (of not less than 30 percent, in general).
For example, by providing a thin metal film having high
reflectance, it is possible to give appropriate
transmittance. It is desirable that the first
reflective layer 3 have some degree of corrosion
resistance. Further, it is desirable that the
semitransparent reflective layer 3 has shutting-off
properties so that the first recording layer 2 is not
affected by seeping of the upper layer (here the
intermediate resin layer 4) of the first reflective
layer 3 .
To secure high transmittance, the thickness
of the first reflective layer 3 is preferably 50 nm
or less, in general. The thickness of the first
reflective layer 3 is more preferably 30 nm or less,
and still more preferably 25 nm or less. However, the
first reflective layer 3 is required to be thick to
some degree in order to avoid an effect of the upper
layer of the first reflective layer 3 on the first
recording layer 2. Thus, the thickness of the first"
reflective layer 3 is generally 3 nm or more, and more
preferably 5 nm or more.

As the material of the first reflective layer
3, it is possible to use, in the pure metal or in the
form of alloy, metals and semimetals such as Au, Al,
Ag, Cu, Ti, Cr, Ni, Pt, Ta, Pd, Mg, Se, Hf, V, Nb, Ru,
W, Mn, Re, Fe, Co, Rh, Ir, Zn, Cd, Ga, In, Si, Ge, Te,
Pb, Po, Sn, Bi and rare earth metals, which have
appropriately high reflectance at the wavelength of
the reading beam. Among them, Au, Al and Ag have high
reflectance, thus are suitable as the material of the
first reflective layer 3. The semitransparent
reflective layer 3 may contain other component other
than the above as being the main component.
A material containing Ag as the main
component is particularly preferable because of its
low cost and high reflectance. Here, the main
component signifies a material contained not less than
50 percent.
Since the first reflective layer 3 has thin
film thickness, large crystal grains of the film cause
reading noise. Thus, it is preferable to use a
material having small crystal grains. Since pure
silver tends to have large crystal grains, it is
preferable to use Ag as in the form of alloy.
Particularly, it is preferable to contain Ag
as the main component, and 0.1 to 15 atomic percent
of at least one element selected from the group
consisting of Ti, Zn, Cu, Pd, Au and rare earth metals.

When two or more of Ti, Z.n, Cu, Pd, Au and rare earth
metals are contained, each of these may be 0.1 to 15
atomic percent. However, the sum of these is
preferably 0.1 to 15 atomic percent.
A particularly preferable alloy composition
is one that contains Ag as the main component, 0.1 to
15 atomic percent of at least one element selected from
the group consisting of Ti, Zn, Cu, Pd and Au, and 0.1
to 15 atomic percent of at least one rare earth element.
Among the rare earth metals , neodymium is particularly
preferable. In more concrete, AgPdCu, AgCuAu,
AgCuAuNd, AgCuNd, etc. are preferable.
As the first reflective layer 3, a layer made
from only Au is preferable because it has small crystal
grains and corrosion resistance, but it is more
expensive than an Ag alloy.
Alternatively, it is possible to use a layer
made from Si as the first reflective layer 3.
It is possible to stack, one after the other,
a thin film having low reflectance and a thin film
having high reflectance both made from materials other
than metals to form multi-layers, and use them as the
reflective layer.
As a method for forming the first reflective
layer 3, there can be applied, for example, sputtering,
ion plating, chemical evaporation, vacuum
evaporation, etc. It is possible to provide an

inorganic or organic intermediate layer and an
adhesive layer between the first substrate 1 and the
first recording layer 3 in order to improve the
reflectance, the recording performance and the
adhesive properties. For example, it is possible
that an intermediate layer (or an adhesive layer) , the
first recording layer 2, and an intermediate layer (or
an adhesive layer) and the first reflective layer 3
are stacked in this order on the first substrate 1 to
provide the intermediate layer (or the adhesive layer)
between the first substrate 1 and the first recording
layer 2, and to provide the intermediate layer (or the
adhesive layer) between the first recording layer 2
and the first reflective layer 3.
(d) With Respect To Intermediate Resin Layer 4
The intermediate resin layer 4 is required
to be transparent, and to allow grooves and pits to
be formed thereon with concavities and convexities.
It is preferable that the intermediate resin layer 4
has strong adhesion, and small shrinkage factor at the
time that the intermediate resin layer 4 hardens and
adheres, which gives higher stability to the shape of
the medium.
It is desirable that the intermediate resin
layer 4 is made from a material that does not damage
the second recording layer 5. The intermediate resin
layer 4 and the second recording layer 5 are soluble

into each other in ordinary cases because the
intermediate resin layer 4 is generally made from a
resin which is soluble the dye materials of the second
recording layer 5. For this, it is desirable to
provide a buffer layer to be described later between
the both layers in order to prevent the intermediate
resin layer 4 from dissolving the second recording
layer 5 and from giving damage thereto.
Further, it is desirable that the
intermediate resin layer 4 is made from a material that
does not damage the first reflective layer 3. It is
possible to provide a buffer layer to be described
later between the both layers in order to avoid the
damage.
In this optical recording medium, it is
preferable to accurately control the film thickness
of the intermediate resin layer 4 . The film thickness
of the intermediate resin layer 4 is preferably 5
\x rn or more, in general. It is necessary to provide
a certain degree of distance between the two recording
layers in order to perform the focusing servo control
separately on the two recording layers. The film
thickness of the intermediate resin layer 4 is
required to be generally 5 \x m or more, and preferably
10 \x m or more although it depends on the focusing
servo mechanism. Generally, the distance between the
two recording layers can be smaller as the objective

lens has a larger numerical aperture. However, when
the intermediate resin layer 4 is excessively thick,
it takes a long time to adjust the focusing servo to
the two recording layers and the objective lens has
to be moved for a long distance, which is thus
undesirable^ Further, an excessively thick layer
requires a long time to harden, which leads to a
decrease in productivity. Accordingly, the film
thickness of the intermediate resin layer 5 is
preferably 100 n m or less.
Spiral or concentric concavities and
convexities are formed on the intermediate resin
layer 4 to form grooves and lands. Generally, such
grooves and lands are used as recording tracks to
record or read information in or from the second
recording layer 5. Since the second recording layer
5 is formed in coating, the film thereof is thick at
the groove, thus suits for recording and reading. In
this optical recording medium, it is preferable to use
the groove of the intermediate resin layer 4, that is,
the convex portion to the direction of the incident
light beam, as the recording track 12. Here, the
concave portion and the convex portion are a concave
portion and a convex portion with respect to the
direction of the incident light beam. Generally, the
width of the groove is about 50 to 500 nm, and the depth
of the same is about 10 to 250 nm. When t.he recording

track is spiral, the track pitch is preferably about
0.1 to 2.0 JJ. m. Concave or convex pits such as Land
Pre-Pit may be formed as required.
It is preferable from the viewpoint of the
cost that such concavities and convexities are
manufactured by transferring the concavities and
convexities from a resin stamper or the like having
the concavities and convexities to a setting resin
such as a photo-setting resin, and other kind of resins .
Hereinafter, such method will be occasionally
referred to as 2P method (Photo Polymerization
method).
As the material of the intermediate resin
layer 4, available are thermoplastic resins,
thermosetting resins, electron beam setting resins,
ultraviolet ray curing resins (including retarded
setting type), etc., for example.
The intermediate resin layer 4 can be formed
by dissolving a thermoplastic resin, thermosetting
resin or the like in an appropriate solvent to prepare
a coating solution, applying the solution, and drying
(heating) the solution. In the case of a ultraviolet
curing resin, the intermediate resin layer 4 can be
formed by dissolving the resin as it is or dissolving
the resin in an appropriate solvent to prepare a
coating solution, coating the coating solution, and
radiating ultraviolet rays to cure the resin. There

are various types of ultraviolet ray curing resins.
However, any one of them can be used so long as it is
transparent. One of these materials can be used or
some of them can be mixed together to be used. Not
only single layer but also multiple layers are
applicable.
As the coating method, a coating method such
as spin coating, cast method or the like is applicable,
like the recording layer. Among them, spin coating
is preferable. A resin having high viscosity can be
coated in screen printing or the like. Use of a
ultraviolet ray curing resin that has low viscosity
at a temperature of 20 to 4 0° C is preferable because
no solvent is necessary to coat the resin. It is
preferable to prepare the resin so that the viscosity
thereof is 20 to 4000 mPa • s.
As the ultraviolet ray curing adhesives,
there are radical type ultraviolet ray curing
adhesives and cation type ultraviolet ray curing
adhesives, both of which are usable.
As the radical type ultraviolet curing
adhesives, all the known compositions are available.
A composition containing an ultraviolet ray curing
compound and a photopolymerization initiator as
essential ingredients is used. As the ultraviolet
ray curing compound, monofunctional (meta)acrylate
or multifunctional (meta)acrylate is available as a

polymeric monomer ingredient. These can be used
solely, or two or more kinds of them can be used
together. In this invention, acrylate and
metaacrylate will be together referred to as
(meta)acrylate.
For example, the followings are the polymeric
monomers that can be used for this optical recording
medium. As monofunctional (meta)acrylate, there is,
for example, (meta) acrylate or the like having, as the
substituent, a group of methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl,
amyl, 2-ethylhexyl, octyl, nonyl, dodecyl, hexadecyl,
octadecyl, cyclohexyl, benzyl, methoxyethyl,
butoxyethyl, phenoxyethyl, nonylphenoxyethyl,
tetrahydrofurfuryl, glycidyl, 2-hydroxyethyl,
2-hydroxypropyl, 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl,
dimethylaminoethyl, diethylaminoethyl,
nonylphenoxyethyltetrahydrofurfuryl, caprolactone
denaturated tetrahydrofurfuryl, isobornyl,
dicyclopentanyl, dicyclopentenyl,
dicyclopentenyloxyethyl, or the like.
As the multifunctional (meta)acrylates,
there are di(meta)acrylates of 1,3-butylenegycol,
1,4-butanediol, 1,5-pentanediol/
3-methyl-l,5-pentanediol, 1,6-hexanediol, neopentyl
glycol, 1,8-octanediol, 1,9-nonanediol,
tricyrodecandimethanol, ethylene glycol,
polyethylene glycol, propylene glycol, dipropylene

glycol, tripropylene glycol, polypropylene glycol
and the like, di(meta)acrylate of
tris (2-hydroxyethyl)isocyanurate, di(meta)acrylate
of diole obtained by adding 4 or more moles of ethylene
oxide or propylene oxide to 1 mole of neopentyl glycol,
di(meta)acrylate of diole obtained by 2 moles of
ethylene oxide or propylene oxide to 1 mole of
bisphenol A, di or tri (meta) acrylate of triol obtained
by adding 3 or more moles of ethylene oxide or
propylene oxide to trimethylolpropane,
di (meta) acrylate of diol obtained by adding 4 or more
moles of ethylene oxide or propylene oxide to 1 mole
of bisphenol A, trimethylolpropanetri(meta)acrylate,
pentaerythritoltri(meta)acrylate,
poly(meta)acrylate of dipentaerythritol, ethylene
oxide denaturated phospholic acid (meta)acrylate,
ethylene oxide denaturated alkylated phospholic acid
(meta)acrylate, etc.
One that can be used together with polymetic
monomer is polyester (meta)acrylate, polyether
(meta)acrylate, epoxy (meta)acrylate, urethane
(meta)acrylate or the like, as polymeric oligomer.
As a photopolimerization initiator used for
this optical recording medium, any one of the known
initiators that can harden a used ultraviolet ray
setting compound represented by polymeric oligomer
and/or polymeric monomer can be used. As the optical

•polymerization initiator, the molecular fission type
or the hydrogen abstraction type is suitable.
As such photopolymerization initiator,
suitably used are bensoin isobutyl ether,
2, 4-diethylthioxanthone, 2-isoproplythioxanthone,
benzyl,
2,4 ,6-trimethylbenzoyldiphenylphosphineoxide,
2-benzyl-2-dimethylamino-1-(4-morpholinophenyl)
-butane-1-one,
bis (2,6-dimethoxybenzoyl)-2,4,4-trimethylpenthylph
osphinoxide, etc. As the molecular fission type
other than these, 1-hydroxycyclohexylphenylketone,.
benzoinethylether, benzyldimethylketal,
2-hydroxy-2-methyl-l-phenylpropane-l-one,
1- ( 4-isopropylphenyl)-2-hydroxy-2-methylpropane-l~
one,
2-methyl-l-(4-methylthiophenyl)-2-morphorinopropan
e-l-one, and the like can be together used. Further,
benzophenone, 4-phenylbenzophenon, isophthalphenone,
4-benzoyl-4'-methyl-diphenylsulfide or the like,
which are photopolimerization initiator of the
hydrogen abstraction type, can be together used.
As the sensitizer to the photopolymerization
initiator, amine that does not cause the addition
reaction with the above polymeric component, such as
trimethylamine, methyldimethanolamine,
triethanolamine, p-diethylaminoacetophenone,

p-dimethylaminoethylbenzoate,
p-dimethylaminoisoamylbenzoate,
N,N-dimethylbenzylamine,
A, 4'-bis(diethylamino)benzophenone or the like. It
is preferable to select and use one of the above
photopolymerization initiators and sensitizers which
has excellent solubility to the ultraviolet ray curing
compound and does not hinder the ultraviolet ray
transmissivity.
As the cation type ultraviolet ray curing
adhesive, all the known compositions can be used.
Epoxy resins containing a photopolimerization
initiator of the cation polymerization type
correspond to this . As photo initiators of the cation
polymerization type,_ there are sulfonium salts,
iodonium salts, diazonium salts, etc.
As examples of iodonium salts, there are
diphenyliodonium hexafluorophosphate,
diphenyliodonium hexafluoroantimonate,
diphenyliodonium tetrafluoroborate,
diphenyliodonium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl) borate,
bis(dodecylphenyl)iodonium hexafluorophosphate,
bis(dodecylphenyl)iodonium hexafluoroantimonate,
bis(dodecyl)iodonium tetrafluoro borate,
bis(dodecylphenyl)iodonium
tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate,
4-methylphenyl-4-(1-methylethyl)phenyliodonium

hexafluorophosphate,
4-methylphenyl-4-(1-methylethyl)phenyliodonium
hexafluoroantimonate,
4-methylphenyl-4-(1-methylethyl)phenyliodonium
tetrafluoroborate,
4~methylphenyl-4-(1-methylethyl)phenyliodonium
tetrakis (penthafluorophenyl)borate, etc.
As the epoxy resin, any one of bisphenol
A-epichlorohydrin type, alicylic epoxy, long-chain
aliphatic type, brominated epoxy resin, glycidyl
ester type, glycidyl ether type, heterocyclic system,
etc. is available.
As the epoxy resin, it is preferable to use
one that has small contents of liberated free chlorine
and chlorine ions in order to avoid the resin from
damaging the reflective layer. The quantity of
chlorine is preferably not larger than 1 wt%, and more
preferably not larger than 0.5 wt%.
A rate of the cation polymerization type
photo-initiator per 100 % by weight of the cation type
ultraviolet ray curing resin is generally 0.1 to 20 %
by weight, and preferably 0.2 to 5 % by weight. In
order to use more effectively the wavelengths in the
near infrared ray region or the visible radiation
region in the wavelength band of the ultraviolet ray
source, it is possible to use together a known optical
sensitizer. As such optical sensitizer, there are

anthracene, phenotiazine, benzylmethylketal,
benzophenone, acetophenone, etc.
In order to improve various properties of the
ultraviolet ray curing adhesive, it is possible to add,
as other additives, a thermal polymerization
hinibitor, an antioxidant represented by hindered
phenol, hindered amine, phosphite, etc., a
plasticizer, a silane coupling agent represented by
epoxysilane, mercaptosilane, (meta) acrylsilane,
etc. , as required. Among them, one that has excellent
solubility to the ultraviolet ray curing compound and
does not hinder the ultraviolet ray transmissiveness
is selected and used,
(e) With Respect To Second Recording Layer 5
The second recording layer 5 generally has
higher sensitivity than a recording layer used for a
single-sided recording medium ("single-sided" means
for example, CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R and the like). In
this optical recording medium, since the power of an
incident optical beam is decreased by the presence of
the fist recording layer 2 and the first reflective
layer 3 or the like, recording is performed with a half
of the power. Accordingly, the second recording
layer 5 is required to have specifically high
sensitivity.
For the purpose of realization of excellent
recording/reading performance, it is desirable that

the dye develops a little heat and has large refractive
index.
Further, it is desirable that a combination
of the second recording layer 5 and the second
reflective layer 6 provides appropriate ranges of
reflection and absorption of the light. Whereby, the
recording sensitivity can be increased and the thermal
interference during recording can be diminished.
The materials and deposition method of the
second recording layer 5 are almost the same as the
first recording layer 2, thus only the differences
between them will be hereinafter described.
The film thickness of the second recording
layer 5 is not specifically limited because the
suitable film thickness differs according to the
recording method, etc. In order to obtain sufficient
modulation amplitude, the film thickness of the second
recording layer 5 is preferably 10 nm or more in
general,- more preferably 30 nm or more, and
particularly preferably 50 nm or more. However, the
film is required not to be excessively thick in order
to obtain appropriate reflectance, the film thickness
is generally 3 n m. or less, preferably 1 IJ. m or less,
and more preferably 200 nm or less.
The materials used for the first recording
layer 2 and the second recording layer 5 may be the
same or may differ from each other.

(f) With Respect To Second Reflective Layer 6
The second reflective layer 6 is required to
have high reflectance. It is desirable that the
reflective layer 6 is highly durable.
In order to secure high reflectance, the
thickness of the second reflective layer 6 is
preferably 20 nm or more, in general, more preferably
30 nm or more, and further preferably 50 nm or more.
In order to shorten the tact time of the production
anddecrease the cost, it is preferable that the second
reflective layer 6 is thin to some degree.
Accordingly, the film thickness is generally 400 nm
or less, and more preferably 300 nm or less.
As the material of the second reflective
layer 6, it is possible to use, in pure metal or in
a form of alloy, metals having sufficiently high
reflectance at a wavelength of the reading light such
as Au, Al, Ag, Cu, Ti, Cr, Ni, Pt, Ta and Pd, for example.
Among them, Au, Al and Ag are suitable for the material
of the second reflective layer 6 because they have high
reflectance. Other than these as the main
compositions, the second reflective layer 6 may
contain the followings as other components. As
examples of the other components, there are metals
such as Mg, Se, Hf, V, Nb, Ru, W, Mn, Re, Fe, Co, Rh,
Ir, Cu, Zn, Cd, Ga, In, Si, Ge, Te, Pb, Po, Sn, Bi and
rare earth metals, and semimetals.

A film containing Ag as the main component
is particularly preferable because the cost thereof
is low, it provides high reflectance and a beautiful
white ground color when a print accepting layer to be
described later is further provided. Here, "main
component" signifies a component whose rate of content
is not less than 50 percent.
In order to secure high durability (high
corrosion resistivity) of the second reflective layer
6, it is preferable to use Ag in the form of alloy
rather than as pure silver.
Among the alloys, an alloy that contains Ag
as the main component and contains 0.1 to 15 atomic
percent of at least one element selected from the group
consisting of Ti, Zn, Cu, Pd, Au and rare earth metals
is preferable. When the alloy contains two or more
of Ti, Zn, Cu, Pd, Au and rare earth metals, each of
them may be contained 0.1 to 15 atomic percent.
However, it is preferable that the sum of these is 0.1
to 15 atomic percent.
A particularly preferable composition of the
alloy is that Ag is contained as the main component,
0.1 to 15 atomic percent of at least one element
selected from the group consisting of Ti, Zn, Cu, Pd
and Au is contained, and 0.1 to 15 atomic percent of
at least one rear earth element is contained. Among
rare earth elements, neodymium is particularly

preferable. More concretely, AgPdCu, AgCuAu,
AgCuAuNd, AgCuNd or the like is preferable.
As the second reflective layer 6, a layer made
from only Au is preferable because its high durability
(high corrosion resistance), but is more expensive
than a layer made from only an Ag alloy.
It is possible to stack a thin film having
low reflective index and a thin film having high
reflective index, both of which are made from
materials other than metals, one on the other to form
a multilayer, and use it as the second reflective layer
6.
As a method for forming the second reflective
layer 6, there are, for example, spattering, ion
plating, chemical vapor deposition, vacuum
evaporation, etc. It is possible to provide a known
inorganic or organic intermediate layer or an adhesive
layer on the upper surface and the lower surface of
the second reflective layer 6 in order to improve the
reflectance, recording performance, adhesive
properties and so forth,
(g) With Respect To Adhesive Layer 7
The adhesive layer 7 is not required to be
transparent. High adhesion and small shrinkage of
the adhesive layer 7 at the time that the layer is
hardened and adhered brings stability of the shape of
the medium, which is preferable.

It is preferable that the adhesive layer 7
is made from a material that does not damage the second
reflective layer 6. It is possible to provide a known
inorganic or organic protective layer between the both
layers in order to avoid the damage on the reflective
layer 7 .
In this optical recording medium, the film
thickness of the adhesive layer 7 is preferably 2
jj. m or more, in general. In order to obtain
predetermined adhesion, some degree of film thickness
is required. More preferably, the film thickness of
the adhesive layer 7 is 5 p. m or more. Generally, it
is preferable that the film thickness of the adhesive
layer 7 is 100 \i m or less in order to make the optical
recording medium thin as much as possible. This is
why a thick film requires a longer time to be hardened,
which leads to a decrease in the productivity.
The material of the adhesive layer 7 may be
the same as the material of the intermediate resin
layer 4, or may be a pressure sensitive double-sided
tape or the like. By putting the pressure sensitive
double-sided tape between the second reflective layer
6 and the second substrate 8 and pressing them, the
adhesive layer 7 can be formed,
(h) With Respect To Second Substrate 8
It is preferable that the second substrate
8 has shape stability so that the optical recording

medium has some degree of rigidity. Namely, it is
preferable that the second substrate 8 has high
mechanical stability and large rigidity. It is also
preferable that the second substrate 8 has large
adhesion to the adhesive layer 7.
When the first substrate 1 does not have
sufficient shape stability as above, the second
substrate 8 is particularly required to have large
shape stability. In this viewpoint, it is preferable
that the second substrate 8 has low moisture
absorption. The second substrate 8 is not required
to be transparent. The second substrate 8 may be a
mirror substrate, and is not required to have
concavities and convexities thereon. Thus, the
second substrate 8 is not always required to have good
transfer property in injection molding.
As such material, the same material as that,
used for the first substrate 1 can be used. Other than
this, there can be used an Al alloy substrate
containing Al as the main component such as an Al-Mg
alloy or the like, an Mg alloy substrate containing
Mg as the main component such as an Mg-Zn alloy or the
like, a substrate made from any one of silicon,
titanium and ceramics, or a substrate made by
combining them.
In the viewpoint of high productivity such
as molding property and the like, cost, low moisture

absorption, shape stability, etc., polycarbonate is
preferable. In the viewpoint of chemical resistance,
low moisture absorption, etc., amorphous polyolefin
is preferable. In the viewpoint of high-speed
responsibility, etc., a glass substrate is
preferable.
In order to give sufficient rigidity to the
optical recording medium, it is preferable that the
second substrate 8 is thick to some degree, having a
thickness of not less than 0.3 mm. However, since a
thinner second substrate 8 is more advantageous to
make the recording/reading apparatus thinner, the
thickness of the second substrate 8 is preferably 3
mm or less, and more preferably 1.5 mm or less.
The second substrate 8 may be a mirror
substrate not having concavities and convexities
thereon. From the standpoint of easy production, it
is preferable that the second substrate 8 is
manufactured in injection molding.
An example of a preferable combination of the
first substrate 1 and the second substrate 8 is that
the first substrate 1 and the second substrate 8 are
made from the same material, and have the same
thickness. By doing so, the rigidity of the first
substrate 1 and the second substrate 8 are equivalent,
which gives good mechanical balance. Whereby, the
medium is prone not deform due to changes in

environment, which is preferable. In which case, it
is preferable that deformation of each substrate
occurs in the same direction and in the same degree
in case of the environmental changes.
As another preferable example of the
combination, the first substrate 1 is as thin as about
0.1 mm, whereas the-second substrate 8 is as thick as
about 1.1 mm. By doing so, the objective lens can
easily approach the recording layer, whereby the
recoding density is easily increased. Accordingly,
this is preferable. In this case, the first substrate
1 may be in sheet-like shape,
(i) With Respect To Other Layers
In this layered structure, another layer may
be arbitrarily put in the layers as required.
Alternatively, it is possible to arbitrarily provide
another layer on the outermost surface of the medium.
In concrete, it is possible to provide a buffer layer
as an intermediate layer between the first reflective
layer 3 and the intermediate resin layer 4, the
intermediate resin layer 4 and the second recording
layer 5, or the second reflective layer 6 and the
adhesive layer 7, for example.
The buffer layer is to prevent two layers from
dissolving in each other and prevent the two layers
from blending to each other. The buffer layer may
have another function than the function of preventing

the dissolving phenomenon. Further, still another
intermediate layer may be put as required.
The material of the buffer layer is required
to be immiscible with the second recording layer 5 or
the intermediate resin layer 4, and be optically
transmittable to' some degree. The known inorganic or
organic material can be used for the buffer layer. In
the viewpoint of the properties, an organic material
is preferably used. For example, ( i ) metal or
semiconductor, ( ii ) oxide, nitride, sulfide,
trisulfide, fluoride or carbide of metal or
semiconductor, and (iii ) amorphous carbon or the like
are available. Among these, a layer made from an
almost transparent dielectric substance, or a very
thin metal layer (including alloy) is preferable.
In concrete, oxides such as silicon oxide,
particularly, silicon dioxide, zinc oxide, cerium
oxide, yttrium oxide and the like; sulfides such as
zinc sulfide, yttrium sulfide and the like; nitrides
such as silicon nitride and the like; silicon carbide;
a mixture (trisulfide) of an oxide and sulfur; and
alloys to be described later are preferable. A
mixture of silicon oxide and zinc sulfide at a ratio
of approximately 30:70 to 90:10 is preferable. A
■mixture (Y202S-ZnO) of sulfur, yttrium dioxide and
zinc oxide is also preferable.
As the metal or alloy, silver or an alloy that

contains silver as the main component and 0.1 to 15
atomic percent of at least one element selected from
the group consisting of titanium, zinc, copper,
palladium and gold is preferable. An alloy that
contains silver as the main component and 0.1 to 15
atomic percent of at least one rare earth element is
preferable, as well. As the rare earth element,
neodymium, praseodymium, cerium or the like is
preferable.
Alternatively, any resin layer can be used
so long as it does not solve the dye in the recording
layer when the buffer layer is made. Particularly,
a polymer film which can be manufactured in vacuum
evaporation or CVD method is useful.
The thickness of the buffer layer is
preferably 2 nm or more, and more preferably 5 nm or
more. When the buffer layer is excessively thin,
prevention of the above mixing phenomenon tends to be
insufficient. The thickness of the buffer layer is
preferably 2000 nm or less, and more preferably 500
nm or less. Excessive thick buffer layer is not only
necessary for prevention of the mixing but also may
cause a decrease in the optical transmission. When
the layer is made from an inorganic substance, the film
deposition of the layer takes a longer time, which
causes a decrease in productivity, or the film stress
is increased. Thus, the film thickness is preferably

200 nm or less. Particularly, since a film made from
a metal excessively deteriorates the optical
transmittance, the film thickness is preferably
approximately 20 nm or less.
A protective layer may be provided in order
to protect the recording layer or the reflective layer.
The material of the protective layer is not
specifically limited but any material is available so
long as it protects the recording layer or the
reflective layer from the external force. As an
organic material of the protective layer, there are
a thermal plastic resin, a thermal setting resin, an
electron beam setting resin, a ultraviolet ray curing
resin and the like. As an organic material of the
protective layer, there are silicon oxide, silicon
nitride, MgF2, Sn02 and the like.
The protective layer can be formed by
dissolving a thermal plastic resin, a thermal setting
resin or the like in an appropriate solvent to prepare
a coating solution, and applying and drying the
solution. In the case of a ultraviolet ray curing
resin, the protective layer can be formed by preparing
a coating solution of the ultraviolet ray curing resin
itself or a coating solution obtained by dissolving
the ultraviolet ray curing resin in an appropriate
solvent, applying the coating solution, irradiating
UV light to set the solution. As the ultraviolet ray

curing resins, there are acrylate resins such as
urethane acrylate, expoxy acrylate, polyester
acrylate, etc. These materials can be used solely or
can be mixed to be used. Further, use of not only a
single layer but also a multilayer is possible.
As the method of forming the protective-layer,
there are coating methods such as spin coating, cast
and the like, sputtering, chemical evaporation, etc.
Among these, spin coating is preferable.
The film thickness of the protective layer
is generally within a range from 0.1 to 100 fim. In
this optical recording medium, the film thickness of
the protective layer is preferably from 3 to 50 p.
m.
A print accepting layer, on which writing
(printing) is possible with various printers such as
ink-jet printer, thermal printer and the like, or
various writing tools, may be put on a surface that
is not a surface through which the recording/reading
beam comes in, as required.
Alternatively, another recording layer(s)
may be put to form the optical recording medium having
three or more recording layers. It is possible to bond
two optical recording medium having this layer
structure, with the first substrate 1 being on the
outer side, to form a larger-capacity medium having
four recording layers.

(B) Type 2
FIG. 2 is a sectional view typically showing
an optical recording medium (of type 2) according to
this embodiment.
The optical recording medium (optical
recording medium of the bonded, single-sided incident
type) of type 2 according to this embodiment has a
first recording layer (first recording layer, first
dye containing recording layer) 22 containing a dye,
a semitransparent first reflective layer
(hereinafter referred to as a semitransparent
reflective layer) 23, a transparent adhesive layer
(intermediate layer) 24, a buffer layer 28, a second
recording layer (second recording layer, second dye
containing recording layer) 25 containing a dye, a
second reflective layer 26, a transparent, disk-like
shaped second substrate (second substrate) 27 in this
order on a disk-like shaped, transparent
(light-transmissible) first substrate (first
substrate, first light-transmissible substrate) 21.
The light beam is irradiated from the side of the first
substrate 21 to perform recording/reading. In this
embodiment, "transparent" signifies "transparent" to
the optical beams used for recording on and reading
from the optical recording medium.
Concavities and convexities are formed on the
first substrate 21 and the second substrate 27 to form

respective recording tracks. A recording track 31 on
the first substrate 21 is formed with the convex
portion with respect to the direction of the incident
light beams, whereas a recording track 32 on the second
substrate 27 is formed with the concave portion with
respect to the direction of the incident light beams.
Meanwhile, the recording track 31 may be
formed with the groove of the first substrate 21, that
is, the concave portion with respect to the direction
of incident light beams, whereas the recording track
32 may be formed with the groove of the second
substrate 27, that is, the convex portion with respect
to the direction of incident light beams. Generally,
it is preferable that the recording track 31 is formed
with the convex portion with respect to the direction
of incident light beam, whereas the recording track
32 is formed with the concave portion with respect to
the direction of incident light beams. It is possible
to provide concave or convex pits other than the above
as required. In this embodiment, concavity and
convexity are defined with respect to the direction
of an incident light beam used for recording or reading
unless not specifically mentioned.
Next, each of the layers will be described.
The first substrate 21, the first recording
layer 22, the first reflective layer 23, the second
recording layer 25 and the second reflective layer 26

of the optical recording medium of the type 2 according
to this embodiment are almost similar to the first
substrate 1, the first recording layer 2, the first
reflective layer 3, the second recording layer 5 and
the second reflective layer 6 of the optical recording
medium of the type 1.
The transparent adhesive layer 24 as being
the intermediate layer is almost similar to the
intermediate resin layer 4 of the optical recording
medium of the type 1 except that there is no need to
form the grooves and pits with concavities and
convexities. Incidentally, the above grooves and
pits are formed on the second substrate 27 to be
described later in the optical recording medium of the
type 2.
The buffer layer 28 as being the intermediate
layer is almost similar in structure to the buffer
layer described above in the first embodiment. The
buffer layer may be formed only when necessary.
It is preferable that the second substrate
27 is transparent, and has shape stability so that the
optical recording medium has some degree of rigidity.
Namely, it is preferable that the second substrate 27
has high mechanical stability and large rigidity.
As such material, there can be used resins
such as acrylic resins, methacrylic resins,
polycarbonate resin, polyolefin resins (particularly'*■

amorphous polyolefin), polyester resins, polystyrene
resin, epoxy resin and so forth, and glass.
On the second substrate 27, concavities and
convexities are spirally or concentrically formed to
form grooves and lands. Generally, such grooves
and/or lands are used as recording tracks to record
or read information on or from the second recording
layer 25. Since the second recording layer 25 is
generally formed in coating, the film thickness
thereof is large at the groove portion so that the
groove portion is suitable for recording and reading.
It is preferable in this optical recording medium to
assign the groove portion, that is, the concave
portion with respect to the direction of the incident
light beam, of the second substrate 27 as the recording
track 32. Here, "concave portion" and "convex
portion" signify "concave portion" and "convex
portion" with respect to the direction of the incident
light beam. Generally, the groove has a width of
about 50 to 500 nm, and has a depth of about 10 to 250
nm. When the recording track is spiral, it is
preferable that the track pitch is approximately 0.1
to 2.0 ix m. The second substrate 27 may have
concave/convex pits such as Land Pre-Pit as required.
From the standpoint of cost, it is preferable
that the second substrate 27 having such concavities,
and convexities is made from a resin and manufactured

in injection molding with a stamper having concavities
and convexities. When a resin layer made from a
radiation-setting resin such as a photo-setting resin
or the like is formed on the substrate body made from
glass or the like, concavities and convexities for
recording tracks or the like may be formed on the resin
layer.
As having been discussed a write-once optical
recording medium (DVD-R) having a dye containing
recording layer having the above structure up to this
point, the optical recording medium is not limited to
this example, but this invention can be applied to any
optical recording medium so long as it has a plurality
of recording layers on which information can be
recorded and read by irradiating a laser beam from one
side thereof. For example, this invention can be
applied to a rewritable optical recording medium (for
example, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, DVD-RAM or the like) having
a phase-change recording layer as being a recording
layer in which a portion in the crystalline state is
used as the unrecorded state/erased state, whereas a
portion in the amorphous state is used as the recorded
state, or an magneto-optical recording medium having
a magnetic recording layer as the recording layer, for
example.
When the optical recording medium is a DVD-RW,
address information can be beforehand recorded with

Land Pre-Pit, like the above DVD-R. When the optical
recording medium is a DVD+RW, address information can
be beforehand superposed on the wobble and recorded
(this is referred to as ADIP: Address in Pre-groove) .
When this invention is applied to a
rewritable optical recording medium containing a
phase-change recording layer, each of the first
recording layer and the second recording layer of the
optical recording medium in the above embodiment is
comprised'of a first protective layer, an information
recording layer and a second protective layer.
As the material of this information recording
layer, it is preferable to use a material whose optical
constant (refractive index n, extinction coefficient
k) is changed by irradiating a laser beam. As such
material, there are, chalcogenides based on Te or Se
such as alloys containing Ge-Sb-Te, Ge-Te,
Pd-Ge-Sb-Te, In-Sb-Te, Sb-Te, Ag-In-Sb-Te,
Ge-Sb-Bi-Te, Ge-Sb-Se-Te, Ge-Sn-Te, Ge-Sn-Te-Au,
Ge-Sb-Te-Cr, In-Se, In-Se-Co or the like as the main
component, and alloys to which nitrogen, oxygen, etc.
are appropriately added to the former alloys, for
example.
As the material of the first protective layer
and the second protective layer, it is preferable to
use a material which is physically and chemically
stable, has higher melting point than that of the

information recording layer and high softening
temperature, and is not mutually soluble with the
material of the information recording layer in order
to suppress an increase in noise due to thermal damage
of the protective substrate, the information
recording layer and the like at the time of irradiation
of the laser beam, adjust the reflectance and
absorptivity to the laser beam, the phase of the
reflected light, etc. As such material, there are
oxides of Y, Ce, Ti, Zr, Nb, Ta, Co, Zn, Al, Si, Ge,
Sn, Pb, Sb, Bi, Te or the like, nitrides of Ti, Zr,
Nb, Ta, Or, Mo, W, B, Al, Ga, In, Si, Ge, Sn, Pb or
the like, carbides of Ti, Zr, Nb, Ta, Cr, Mo, W, Si
or the like, sulfides of Zn, Cd or the like, selenides,
tellurides, fluorides of Mg, Ca or the like, simple
substances of C, Si, Ge and the like, dielectrics made
from mixtures of these, and materials treated in the
same way as the dielectrics, for example. For the
first protective layer and the second protective layer,
different materials may be used as needed, or the same
material may be used.
In a single-sided incident type optical
recording medium (for example, single-sided incident
type DVD-R of the dual-layer type) having a plurality
(here, two) recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25), on
which information is recorded in or read from each of
the layers by irradiating a laser beam from one side

thereof, (optimum) recording/reading conditions such
as tracking polarity, recording pulse strategy,
recoding power, reading power, etc. largely vary
according to each recording layer.
Particularly, it is essential to optimize the
recording conditions of layers 2 and 5 and of layers
22 and 25. It is rare that reading is impossible even
when the reading conditions deviate a little.
However, when the recording conditions are not optimum,
information may not be practically recorded. Or,
even when information could be recoeded, the signal
quantity sometimes deteriorates when the information
is read.
For this, it is desirable that information
can be recorded and read accurately and surely under
recording/reading conditions (for example, tracking
polarity, recording pulse strategy, recording power,
reading power, etc.) adapted to a recording layer 2
or 5 (22 or 25) on which recording and reading of the
information are to be performed.
Particularly, in the optical recording
medium of the type 1, the groove, that is, a convex
portion with respect to the direction of the incident
light beam, of the first substrate 1 is used as the
recording track 11, whereas the groove, that is, a
convex portion with respect to the direction of the
incident light beam, of the intermediate resin layer

4 is used as the recording track 12, whereby the first
recording layer 2 and the second recording layer 5 have
the same tracking polarity. On the other hand, in the
optical recording medium of the type 2, the groove,
that is, a convex portion with respect to the direction
of the incident light beam, of the first substrate 21
is used as the recording track 31, whereas the groove,
that is, a concave portion with respect to the
direction of the incident light beam, of the second
substrate 27 is used as the recording track 32, thus
the first recoding layer 22 and the second recording
layer 25 have opposite tracking polarities.
Even when an optical recording medium whose
first recording layer and second recording layer have
the same tracking polarity and an optical recording
medium whose first recording layer and second
recording layer have opposite tracking polarities are
used together, it is desirable to accurately and
surely record and read information with a tracking
polarity adapted to the structure of an optical
recording medium.
According to this embodiment, at least one
of the recording/reading conditions for each of the
recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) of the optical
recording medium is recorded in the optical recording
medium.
Here, the recording/reading conditions

include information about tracking polarity (for
example, the polarity of push-pull signal) or land
recording/groove recording (information
representing whether tracking is performed with land
or groove) (hereinafter, these are collectively
referred to as tracking polarity or tracking
information), recording pulse strategy (recording
strategy, write strategy; laser output control
pattern adapted to each recording layer), recording
power, reading power and so forth. Incidentally, the
recording/reading conditions include recording
conditions such as tracking polarity, recording pulse
strategy (write strategy), recording power, and so
forth, and reading conditions such as tracking
polarity, reading power, and so forth.
Among these recording/reading conditions,
recording/reading conditions such as recording pulse
strategy, recording power and reading power and so
forth other than tracking polarity may be recorded in
each of the recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25)
configuring the optical recording medium, or may be
recorded in either the recording layer 2 or 5 (22 or
25) .
There is an idea that, among the above '
recording/reading conditions, the tracking polarity
of a recording layer other than a recording layer to
which the drive first accesses is recorded in the

recording layer to which the drive first accesses (for
example, a recording layer closest to the side from
which the laser beam comes in) . In other words, the
tracking polarity may be recorded in only a recording
layer to which the drive first accesses (that is, only
one layer among the plural recording layers).
In case where the tracking polarity is
mismatched to the recording layer, the recorded
information can not be read. For this, it is
necessary to beforehand determine the tracking
polarity (land recording or groove recording) of a
recording layer to which the drive first accesses (for
example, a recording layer closest to the side from
which the laser beam comes in).
In DVD-R having two recording layers, it is
beforehand determined that information is recorded on
the convex portion with respect to the incident light
beam (land recording) on the first recording layer (a
recording layer closest to the side from which the
laser beam comes in) 2 (22), and the drive first
accesses to the first recording layer 2 (22) . By
relating the tracking polarity of the other recording
layer [the second recording layer 5 (25)] to layer
information and recording them in the first recording
layer 2 (22), the drive can recognize the tracking
polarity of the second recording layer 5 (25) by
reading out them.

Alternatively, the tracking polarity of the
second recording layer 5 (25) other than the first
recording layer 2 (22) may be beforehand determined
like the first recording layer 2 (22) . In which case,
it is unnecessary to record the tracking polarity of
the second recording layer 5 (25) in the first
recording layer 2 (22).
Even when the tracking polarity of the
recording layer 5 (25) is beforehand determined, the
tracking polarity of the second recording layer 5 (25)
may be recorded in the first recording layer 2 (22"),
and the drive may read out it and change the
predetermined tracking polarity. Whereby, the
tracking polarity of a recording layer other than a
recording layer to which the drive first accesses can
be arbitrarily changed.
Accordingly, it is preferable that the
recording/reading conditions are recorded in only a
layer closest to a side from which the laser beam comes
in between the recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25)
because the drive (recording/reading apparatus)
generally first accesses to a layer closest to the side
from which the laser beam comes in. Thus, the drive
in such structure can quickly read the
recording/reading conditions.
In concrete, it is preferable that the
recording/reading conditions are recorded in : a

recording management area (RMA; for example, control
track, the innermost peripheral portion) of either the
recording layers 2 or 5 (22 or 25) with pre-pits (Land
Pre-Pit) or wobble.
Recording of .the recording/reading
conditions such as tracking polarity, recording pulse
strategy, recording recommended power, reading
recommended power, and so forth is effective in an
optical recording medium of the type 2 having the
following structure. It is particularly important
that in the optical recording medium of the type 2,
the tracking polarity is included in the
recording/reading conditions.
Namely, the optical recording medium of the
type 2 to which this invention is preferably applied
has a first information recording body formed by
stacking at least a recording layer containing a first
dye and a semi-transparent reflective layer in order
on a first substrate having guide grooves, and a second
information recording body formed by stacking at least
a reflective layer and a recording layer containing
a second dye in order on a second substrate having
guide grooves. The optical recording medium of the
type 2 is formed by bonding the first information
recording body and the second information recording
body to each other with the sides on which the
recording layers are formed being faced to each other

through an optically transparent adhesive layer. The
laser beam is irradiated from the first substrate's
side to optically record or read information.
It is desirable,' in the recording/reading
apparatus (drive) which performs recording and
reading of information on each of the recording layers
2 and 5 (22 and 25) of a single-sided incident type
optical recording medium having a plurality of
recording layers, that the recording/reading
conditions such as recording pulse strategy,
recording power, reading power, and so forth can be
switched according to a recording layer 2 or 5 (22 or
25), and recording and reading of information can be
performed accurately and surely. Since it is
particularly important that the recording conditions
are made optimum, it is desirable that the recording
conditions can be switched to the optimum ones
according to a recording layer 2 or 5 (22 or 25) so
that information can be recorded accurately and
surely.
In such case, there is an idea of continuously
attaching address information to a plurality of
recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) , and telling which
layer is which layer on the basis of the read address
information in the recording/reading apparatus.
However, it is still difficult to instantaneously tell
whic'h layer is which layer.

According to this embodiment, layer
information (information about the recording layer
number; layer 0, layer 1) is recorded in each of the
recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) of the optical
recording medium so that the recording/reading
conditions such as recording pulse strategy
(recording strategy, write strategy), recording
power, reading power, and so forth can be
instantaneously switched according to a recording
layer 2 or 5 on which recording or reading of
information is to be performed.
As a recording method of the layer
information, the following methods shown in ( i ) and
( ii ) below are conceivable, for example.
( i ) Recording layer information in the
recording management area (RMA; for example, control
track, the innermost portion) of each of the recording
layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) with, for example, pre-pits
(Land Pre-Pit) or wobble.
( ii ) Recording layer information on almost
the entire surface of the recording area of each of
the recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) with, for
example, pre-pit (Land Pre-Pit) or wobble.
Here, "recording on almost the entire
surface" includes "recording on almost the entire
surface of the recording area including the recording
management area of each of the recording layers 2 and

5 (22 and 25) (for example, recording layer
information as a part of address in the recording
management area)," "recording layer information on
the entire surface of the recording area excepting the
recording management area of each of the recording
layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25)," etc. Particularly, when
the layer information cannot be recorded in the
recording management area, it is effective to record
the layer information on the entire surface of the
recording area excepting the recording management
area. This is also effective on the occasion of a
random access for information recording or reading.
For example, the layer information can be
recorded as a part of address information of wobble
or pre-pit (Land Pre-Pit). Whereby, it becomes
possible to record the layer information on each of
the recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) in a simple
manner. Recording the layer information as a part of
address information can provide an advantage that when
a random access is had to record or read information
on the basis of the address information, it is possible
to read out the layer information only by accessing
to a desired address and performing the focusing servo
control thereon. Whereby, it is possible to
instantaneously switch the recording/reading
conditions such as recording pulse strategy,
recording power, reading power, and so forth on the

basis of the layer information.
As a method for recording the layer
information as a part of address information, methods
described in ( i ) through ( v ) below are conceivable,
for example.
( i ) As a method of recording the layer
information as a part of address information in wobble
(for example, ADIP; Address in pre-groove), reversing
the sync pattern (synchronization pattern) included
in the address information (for example, ADIP; Address
in pre-groove) in wobble on either one of the two
recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) , for example.
For example, the direction of the sync
pattern (synchronization pattern) included in the
ADIP of the second recording layer 5 (25) is reversed
(is made opposite to) with respect to the direction
of the sync pattern (synchronization pattern)
included in the ADIP of the first recording layer 2
(22) .
( ii ) As a method of recording the layer
information as a part of the address information in
wobble or Land Pre-Pit formed in the recording area
(including the recording management area) of each of
the recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25), making the
values of the reserved bit(s) differ from each other
in the recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25).
For example, the value of the reserved bit (s)

of address information in wobble or LPP formed in the
recording area (including recording management area)
of the first recording layer 2 (22) is made differ from
the value of the reserved bits of address information
in wobble or Land Pre-Pit formed in the recording area
(including recording management area) of the second
recording layer 5 (25).
Here, "reserved bit(s)" means a bit(s)
present in a portion not currently used in an area in
which the address information is recorded. The same
modulation system or recording system as used for the
address information can be applied to recording of
information in the reserved bit(s). When the medium
has a plurality of recording layers, it is necessary
to increase the number of reserved bits to be used
according to the number of layers of the recording
layers. For example, when the medium has two
recording layers, one bit is used as the reserved bit,
and it is possible to discriminate the first layer from
the second layer on the basis of whether the value of
this bit is 0 or 1. When two bits are used as the
reserved bits, it is possible to discriminate four
recording layers from one anther because four values,
that is, 00, 01, 10 and 11, can be expressed with two
bits. Similarly, when three bits are used as the
reserved bits, it is possible to discriminate eight
recording layers from one another because eight values

can be expressed. Namely, when n bits are used as the
reserved bits, it is possible to discriminate 2"
recording layers. If this method is combined with
another method such as the above method ( i ) or the
following methods (iii ) through (v), it is possible
to decrease the number of reserved bits to be used.
( iii ) As a method for recording the layer
information as a part of address information in wobble
or Land Pre-Pit formed in a recording area (including
recoding management area) of each of the recording
layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25), there is a method of
inverting bits of the whole address information in
wobble or Land Pre-Pit in either one of the two
recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25).
For example,- when addresses 3000-4FFF (Hex)
are put in the first recording layer 2 (22) and
addresses 5000-6FFF (Hex) are put in the second
recording layer 5 (25), only the bits in the second
recording layer 5 (25) are inverted to yield addresses
AFFF-9000 (Hex) .
Here, the description is made, by way of 16
bits (four digits in the case of hexadecimal notation)
for the sake of simplifying the explanation. Since
the address information is practically expressed in
48 bits (12 digits in the hexadecimal notation) in,
for example, DVD-R, adding an allowance, the addresses
in the first 'recording layer 2 (22) are

000000003000-000000004FFF (Hex), whereas the
addresses in the second recording layer 5 (25) are
FFFFFFFFAFFF-FFFFFFFF9000 (Hex).
Meanwhile, it is necessary to give the drive
relationship information showing which range of
addresses belongs to which layer, whereby the drive
can discriminate a. layer when reading out an address.
( iv ) As a method for recording the layer
information as a part of address information in.wobble
or pre-pits formed in the recording area (including
recording management area) of each of the recording
layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25), there is a method of
expressing the whole address information in wobble or
Land Pre-Pit on either one of the two recording layers
2 and 5 (22 and 25) by two's complement (inverted whole
bits + 1).
For example, when addresses 3000-4FFF (Hex)
are put in the first recording layer 2 (22) and
addresses 5000-6FFF (Hex) are put in the second
recording layer 5 (25), the second recording layer 5
(25) is expressed by two's complement (inverted whole
bits -i- 1), thus the addresses are BOOO-9001 (Hex).
Here, the description is made by way of only
16 bits (four digits in hexadecimal notation) for the
sake of simplifying the explanation. Since the
address information is practically expressed by 48
bits (12 digits in hexadecimal notation) in, for

example, DVD-R, adding an allowance, the addresses of
the first recording layer 2 (22) are
000000003000-000000004FFF (Hex), whereas the
addresses of the second recording layer 5 (25) are
FFFFFFFFB000-FFFFFFFF9001 (Hex).
Meanwhile, it is necessary to give the drive
relationship information showing which range of
addresses belongs to which layer, whereby the drive
can discriminate a layer when reading out an address.
( v ) As a method of recording the layer
information as a part of address information in wobble
or Land Pre-Pit formed in the recording area
(including recording management area) of each of the
recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) , there is a method
of recording the layer information at the most
significant bit of address information in wobble or
Land Pre-Pit on either one of the two recording layers
2 and 5 (22 and 25).
For example, a value obtained by inverting
a value of the most significant bit of address
information in wobble or Land Pre-Pit on either the
first recording layer 2 (22) or the second recording
layer 5 (25) is put in the most significant bit of
address information in wobble or Land Pre-Pit on the
other recording layer.
• Practically, when addresses
000000003000-000000004FFF (Hex) are put in the first

recording layer 2 (22) and addresses
000000005000-000000006FFF (Hex) are put in the second
recording layer 5 (25), for example, only the most
significant bit in the second recording layer 5 (25)
is inverted.
When a bit is inverted in a binary number,
"0" becomes "1". When this is expressed in a
hexadecimal number (Hex) , "0" becomes "8" in this case.
Accordingly, the addresses in the first recording
layer 2 (22) are 000000003000-000000004FFF (Hex),
whereas the addresses in the second recording layer
5 (25) are 800000005000-800000006FFF (Hex).
Incidentally, the drive is required to recognize the
most significant bit of addresses as the layer
information.
Up to this point, the description has been
made by way of example where this invention is applied
to an optical recording medium having two recording
layers on which information can be recorded or read
by irradiating a laser beam from one side thereof.
However, the present invention is not limited to this
example. For example, the above layer information
recording methods can be applied, solely or in
combination, to an optical recording medium having
three or more recording layers on which recording or
reading of information can be performed by irradiating
a laser beam from one side thereof. In which case,

the above layer information recording method can be
applied to neighboring two recording layers among the
plural recording layers.
(2) Optical Recording Medium Recording/Reading
Method
Hereinafter, description will be made of the
outline of the optical recording medium
recording/reading method structured as above.
Recording on this optical recording medium
(of the type 1 or the type 2) obtained as above is
performed by irradiating a laser beam focused to a
diameter of about 0 . 5 to 1 \i m on the recording layer
from the side of the first substrate 1 or 21. In a
portion on which the laser beam is irradiated,
terminal deformation of the recording layer such as
decomposition, exothermic reaction, dissolution, etc.
occurs due to absorption of the energy of the laser
beam, whereby the optical properties thereof are
changed.
Reading of recorded information is performed
by reading, with the laser beam, a difference in
reflectance between a portion in which the optical
properties have changed and a portion in which the
optical properties remain unchanged.
Recording and reading are performed on each
of the two recording layers in the following manner.
Whether the focusing position of the focused laser

beam is on the first recording layer 2 or 22, or the
second recording layer 5 or 25 can be discriminated
by using a focus error signal obtained in the knife
edge method, astigmatism method, Foucault method or
the like. Namely, when the objective lens for
focusing the laser beam is shifted in the vertical
direction, a different S-shaped curve is obtained
according to whether the focus position of the laser
beam is on the first recording layer 2 or 22, or on
the second recording layer 5 or 25. It is possible
to select the first recording layer 2 or 22, or the
second recording layer 5 or 25 to be recorded or read
by selecting which S-shaped curve is used.
In the optical recording medium of the type
1, it is preferable that concavities and convexities
are formed on the first substrate 1 and the
intermediate resin layer 4, and the convex portion of
the first substrate 1 and the convex portion of the
intermediate resin layer 4 are used as recording
tracks to perform recording and reading, as shown in
FIG. 1. Since the dye recording layer is generally
formed in coating, the film thereof is thick at the
groove, which is thus suitable for recording and
reading. In the optical recording medium of the type
1, it is preferable that the groove, that is, the
convex portion to the direction of the incident light
beam, of the first substrate 1 is used as a recording

track 11, whereas the groove, that is, the convex
portion to the direction of the incident light beam,
of the intermediate resin layer 4 is used as a
recording track 12.
In the optical recording of the type 2, it
is preferable that concavities and convexities are
formed on the first substrate 21 and the second
substrate 27, and the convex portion of the first
substrate 21 and the concave portion of the second
substrate 27 are used as recording tracks to perform
recording and reading, as shown in FIG. 2.
Incidentally, there is a case where the polarity of
the tracking servo control on the first recording
layer 22 is opposite to that of the tracking servo
control on the second recording layer 25. In the
optical recording medium of the type 2, it is
preferable that the groove, that is, the convex
portion to the direction of the incident light beam,
of the first substrate 21 is used as a recording track
31, whereas the groove, that is the concave portion
to the direction of the incident light beam, of the
second substrate 27 is used as a recording track 32.
As the laser beam used for this optical
recording media (of the type 1 and the type 2), N2,
He-Cd, Ar, He-Ne, ruby, semiconductor, dye laser, etc.
are available. Among these, the semiconductor laser
is preferable because of its light weight, compactness,

facility, etc.
It is preferable that the wavelength of the
used laser beam is as shorter as possible for the
purpose of high-density recording. Particularly,
the laser beam having a wavelength of 350 to 530 nm
is preferable. As a typical example of such laser
beam, there are laser beams having center wavelengths
of 4 05 nm, 410 nm and 515 nm.
An example of the laser beam having a
wavelength within a range from 350 to 530 nm can be
obtained by using a 405 nm or 410 nm blue high-power
semiconductor laser or a 515 nm bluish green
high-power semiconductor laser. Other than these,
the laser beam can be obtained by
wavelength-modulating, by means of a second harmonic
generating element (SHG), either (a) a semiconductor
laser that can continuously oscillate fundamental
oscillation wavelengths of 740 to 960 nm, or (b) a
solid state laser that is excited by a semiconductor
laser to be able to continuously oscillate fundamental
oscillation wavelengths of 740 to 960 nm.
As the above SHG, any piezo element lacking
inversion symmetry is usable, but KDP, ADP, BNN, KN,
LBO and compound semiconductors are preferable. As
practical examples of the second harmonic wave, there
are 430 nm which is a double of 860 nm in the case of
a semiconductor laser having a fundamental

oscillation wavelength of 860 nm, 430 nm which is a
double of 860 nm from Cr-doped LiSrAlF6 crystal
(having a fundamental oscillation wavelength of 860
nm) in the case of a solid laser excited by a
semiconductor laser, etc.
(3) Optical Recording Medium Recording/Reading
Apparatus
An optical recording medium
recording/reading apparatus, which performs
recording or reading of information on an optical
recording medium on which information (layer
information) about the recording layer number of each
of recording layers is recorded, is structured as
follows.
The recording/reading apparatus (drive) is
required only to record information on an optical,
recording medium or read information recorded in an
optical recording medium from the same. For example,
the recording/reading apparatus includes a recording
apparatus (writer) for performing only recording, a
reading apparatus (reader) for performing only
reading, and a recording/reading apparatus
(reader/writer) for performing both recording and
reading.
As shown in FIG. 3, the recording/reading
apparatus 60 comprises a spindle motor 51 for driving
and rotating an optical recording medium 50, a motor

driver 52 for driving the spindle motor 51, an optical
pickup 53, a optical pickup driver 54 for driving the
optical pickup 53, a servo processor 55 used to perform
various servo controls, a signal processing unit (read
processing unit) 56 for processing signals detected
by the optical pickup 53, a data processing unit
(record processing unit) 57 for processing
information (data) sent from another computer or the
like, and a control unit 58 (for example, a
microcomputer having a CPU 58A and memory 58B) for
controlling the devices.
The optical pickup 53 comprises a laser diode,
an optical detector (for example, photo-detector), a
pickup actuator used for focusing or tracking, etc.,
for example.
The optical pickup driver 54 comprises, as
shown in FIG. 3, a laser driver (laser diode driver)
54A driving the laser diode, a focus driver 54B driving
a pickup actuator, and a tracking driver 54C driving
the pickup actuator.
The laser driver 54A comprises a reading
laser driver 54Aa which drives a reading laser diode,
and a recording laser driver 54Ab which drives- a
recording laser diode.
The servo processor 55 comprises a focusing
servo circuit 55A for performing the focusing servo
control, and a tracking servo circuit 55B for

performing the tracking servo control.
The signal processing unit 56 comprises a
preamplifier 56A for amplifying a signal detected by
the optical pickup 53, a matrix circuit 56B for
generating a focus error signal, a tracking error
signal, an address signal of wobble or Land Pre-Pit
[address information (including layer information)]
from a detected signal amplified by the preamplifier
56A, data signals (information) including
information on recording/reading conditions such as
recording pulse strategy, recording power, reading
power, tracking polarity and so forth, etc., and a
demodulating circuit 56C for demodulating an address
signal [address information; including recording
layer number (layer information)] generated by the
matrix circuit 56B. Incidentally, a data signal
generated by the matrix circuit 56B is processed
through a binary coding circuit, a demodulating
circuit, etc., then sent to a computer or the like.
In the case where address information
including layer information, and information on the
recording/reading conditions such as recording pulse
strategy, recording recommended power, reading
recommended power, tracking polarity and so forth are
recorded with pre-pits (ROM pits) in manufacturing the
optical recording medium 50, the signal processing
unit 56 may be comprised of a matrix circuit, a binary

. coding circuit and a modulating circuit.
The data processing unit 57 comprises a
modulating circuit 57A for modulating data sent from
another computer or the like together with address
information, and a recording strategy circuit (write
strategy circuit) 57B for performing a control
(multi-pulse modulation on recording pulses) on
recording pulses to be sent to the recording laser
driver 54Ab on the basis of the modulated data.
Next, description will be made of processes
(recording/reading method, recording method, reading
method for. optical recording medium) performed by
executing predetermined programs by the control unit
58 of the recording/reading apparatus 60 for the
optical recording medium structured as above, with
reference to FIGS. 4 through 6.
Hereinafter, the description will be made,
taking a case where information is recorded on (or read
from) the optical recording medium 50 having two
recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25), on which layer
information is recorded on almost the entire surface
of the recording layers, as an example.
First, a recording/reading method [first
recording/reading method] including a layer
information reading step and a recording/reading
control step will be described with reference to FIG.
4. Next, a recording/reading method [second

-^recording/reading method] ■ ■~'~-;yz' including '" a
recording/reading conditions reading step in
addition to the above steps will be described with
reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
[First Recording/Reading Method]
(Recording Method for Optical Recording Medium)
In the recording/reading apparatus (drive)
60 for the optical recording medium, when a record
instruction is inputted from a computer such as a
personal computer or the like (or through an input unit
such as a button equipped to the drive itself), the
control unit 58 accesses to a contents information
area included in the recording area of the medium to
determine at which addresses writing is possible, as
shown in FIG. 4. The control unit 58 determines on
which layer the recording is to be performed, on the
basis of addresses determined to be writable thereat
(step S10). In the case where the control unit 58
beforehand accesses to the contents information area
to read out the contents information when the medium
is set in the drive, the control unit 58 may determine
at which addresses information can be written, on the
basis of the contents information beforehand read out.
In the case where the layer information is
included in the address information, it is possible
to determine on which recording layer information can
be written, by detecting the layer information

included in the address.information. In the case:
where a table holding the address information and the
layer information related to each other is given to
the drive, it is possible to determine the layer
information from the address information, using the
table.
On the other hand, when a read instruction
is inputted from a computer such as a personal computer
or the like (or through an input unit such as a button
equipped to the drive itself), the control unit 58
determines on which recording layer information is to
be recorded, on the basis of address information
included in the read instruction (step S10).
In this case, when the medium is set in the
drive, the contents information (information showing
which information is recorded at which addresses) may
be read out from the medium, an icon may be displayed
on the screen of the computer, for example, and the
read instruction including the address information
may be inputted to the drive when the user clicks the
icon .
When the record instruction (or the read
instruction) is inputted, the control unit 58
specifies a recording layer on which recording (or
reading) is to be performed. This function of the
control unit 58 is referred to as a recording layer
determining unit (recording layer specifying unit) .

When a record instruction (or a read
instruction) is inputted, the control unit 58
instructs the focusing servo circuit 55A to perform
the focusing servo control. Responsive to it, the
focusing servo circuit 55A controls the optical pickup
53 through the focus driver 54 and the pickup actuator
to perform the focusing servo control on either the
first recording layer 2 (22) or the second recording
layer 5 (25) (step S20) . This function of the control
unit 58 is referred to as a focusing servo control
unit.
In the case where the layer information is
recorded as a part-of the address information on almost
the entire surface of each of the recording layers 2
and 5 (22 and 25) of the optical recording medium 50,
the focusing servo circuit 55A may perform the
focusing servo control, with the optical pickup 53
accessing to a desired address on the basis of the
address information. In the case where the layer
information is recorded in the recording management
area of the optical recording medium 50, the focusing
servo control circuit 55A may perform the focusing
servo control in this recording management area.
In the case where information is recorded on
(or read from) an optical recording medium having a
plurality of recording layers, the focusing servo
control may be performed on any one of the plural

recording layers.
Next, the control unit 58 reads out, through
the preamplifier 56A, the matrix circuit 56B and the
demodulating circuit 56C as being the signal
processing unit 56, layer information recorded on the
recording layer on which the focusing servo control
has been performed (step S30). This function of the
control unit 58 is referred to as a layer information
reading unit.
The control unit 58 judges whether or not a
recording layer specified on the basis of the layer
information read out at step S30 is the recording layer
specified as the recording layer to be recorded
thereon or read therefrom at step S10 (step S40).
This function of the control unit 58 is referred to
as a recording layer judging unit.
When the control unit 58 judges, as a result
of this judgment, that the recording layer specified
on the basis of the layer information read out is the
recording layer (specific recording layer to be
recorded thereon) specified as a recording layer to
be recorded thereon, the control unit 58 gives a record
instruction to the optical pickup 53 through the data
processing unit 57 and the recording laser driver
54Ab. Responsive to it, the laser diode is driven to
record information (data) sent from, for example, a
personal computer or another equipment at addresses

specified on the basis of the address information of ;
the recording layer on which the focusing servo
control has been performed under recording conditions
(recording/reading conditions) such as recording
pulse, strategy, recording power and so forth adapted
to the recording layer (recording layer specified on
the basis of the layer information) , while the
tracking control is performed through the tracking
servo circuit 55B and tracking driver 54C (step S50) .
This function of the control unit 58 is referred to
as a recording control unit (recording/reading
control unit).
Meanwhile, the recording/reading conditions
may be determined on the basis of recording/reading
conditions beforehand recorded on the optical
recording medium by reading out these, or may be
determined on the basis of recording/reading
conditions beforehand stored as the layer information
in the recording/reading apparatus. For example, a
recording recommended power or a reading recommended
power may be recorded on the optical recording medium,
the drive may read out it and determine the recording
power or the reading power on the basis of it.
Alternatively, a recording recommended
power or a reading recommended power according to
layer information may be stored in the drive, a
recording recommended power or a reading recommended

power adapted to the layer information may be read out
on the basis of it, and a recording power or a reading
power may be determined on the basis of the recommended
recording power or the recommended reading power read
out.
According to circumstances, the OPC (Optimum
Power Control) may be performed after a recording
recommended power is read out, and a recording power
may be determined.
When the control unit 58 judges that a
recording layer specified on the basis of the read out
layer information is the recording layer (specific
recording layer to be read therefrom) specified as a
recording layer to be read therefrom, the control unit
58 gives a read instruction to the optical pickup 53
through the reading laser driver 54Aa to read, through
the signal processing unit 56, information recorded
at addresses specified on the basis of the address
information of the recording layer on which the
focusing servo control has been performed under
reading conditions (recording/reading conditions)
such as reading power and so forth adapted to that
recording layer (recording layer specified on the
basis of the layer information), while performing the
trackir \ control through the tracking servo circuit
55B and the tracking driver 54C (step S50). This
function of the control unit is referred to as a

reading control unit (recording/reading control
unit) .
When the control unit 58 judges that the
recording layer specified on the basis of the layer
information read out at step S40 is not the recording
layer to be recorded thereon (or read therefrom) , the
control unit 58 returns to step S20, performs the
focusing servo control on another recording layer, and
repeats the similar process (steps S20 to S40) until
the control unit 58 judges that a recording layer
specified on the basis of the read out layer
information is the recording layer to be recorded
thereon (or read therefrom).
[Second Recording/Reading Method]
(Process at the Time of Medium Loading)
7\ccording to this embodiment, when the
optical recording medium is loaded to the
recording/reading apparatus (drive),
recording/reading conditions such as recording pulse
strategy, recording recommended power, reading
recommended power, tracking polarity, and so forth
recorded in -relation with layer information on each
of the recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) on the
optical recording medium 50 are read out according to
an instruction from the control unit 58
(recording/reading conditions reading step,
recording/reading conditions reading unit), and

these recording/reading conditions are related to
layer information on each of the recording layers 2
and 5 (22 and 25) and stored in the memory 58B.
For example, in the case where
recording/reading conditions are recorded on only one
layer [the first recording layer 2 (22)] closest to
the side from which the laser beam comes in between
the recording layers 2 and 5 (22 and 25) and the drive
first accesses to the first recording layer 2 (22),
the drive accesses to the first recording layer 2 (22)
and reads out the recording/reading conditions when
the medium is loaded. In this case, the tracking
polarity of the first recording layer 2 (22) is
beforehand determined, and the tracking polarity read
out from the first recording layer 2 (22) is a tracking
polarity of the second recording layer 5 (25) other
than the first recording layer 2 (22). The
recording/reading conditions other than the tracking
polarity are recording/reading conditions of each of
the recording layers- 2 and 5 (22 and 25) .
Incidentally, when the tracking polarity of the second
recording layer 5 (25) other than the first recording
layer is beforehand determined, it is unnecessary to
record the conditions on the first recording layer 2
(22) .
According to this embodiment, information on
recording/reading conditions such as recording pulse

strategy, recording recommended power, reading
recommended power, tracking polarity, and so forth is
recorded as wobble or Land Pre-Pit, in particular.
For this, this information detected by the optical
pickup 53 is processed in the signal processing unit
56 such as the matrix circuit 56B, the demodulating
circuit 56C, etc. , and stored in the memory 58B of the
control unit 58.
When information on recoding/reading
conditions such as recording pulse strategy,
recording recommended power, reading recommended
power, tracking polarity, and so forth is recorded as
ROM pits or recording pits, this information detected
by the optical pickup 53 is processed in the signal
processing unit such as the matrix circuit, the
binary-coding circuit, the demodulating circuit,
etc. , and stored in the memory 58B of the control unit
58.
(Recording Method for Optical Recording Medium)
In the recording/reading apparatus (drive)
60 for the optical recording medium, when a record
instruction is inputted from a computer such as a
personal computer or the like (through an input unit
such as a button or the like equipped to the drive
itself), the control unit 58 accesses to a contents
information area included in the recording area of the
medium, and determines at which addresses writing is

possible, as shown in FIG. 5. The control unit 58
determines on which recording layer the recording is
to be performed, on the basis of the addresses
determined to be writable thereat (step A10) . In the
case where the control unit 58 accesses to the contents
information area when the medium is set on the drive
and beforehand reads the contents information, the
control unit 58 may determine at which addresses
writing is possible, on the basis of the contents
information beforehand read out.
In the case where layer information is
included in address information, the control unit 58
can determine on which recording layer recording is
possible by detecting the layer information included
in the address information. In the case where a table
holding address information and layer information
related to each other is given to the drive, the
control unit 58 can determine the layer information
from the address information, using the table.
When a record instruction is inputted, the
control unit 58 specifies a recording layer to be
recorded thereon, on the basis of the layer
information, as above. This function of the control
unit 58 is referred to as a recording layer determining
unit (recording layer specifying unit).
Next, the control unit 58 reads out the
recording pulse strategy from the memory 58B on the

basis of the layer information on the recording layer ....
specified at step A10 (step A20) , and sets a recording
pulse strategy of the recording strategy circuit 57B
(step A30).
The control unit 58 reads out the recording
recommended power from the memory 58B on the basis of
the layer information on the recording layer specified
at step A10 (step A40), and sets an output setting
value of the recording laser driver 54Ab on the basis
of the read recording recommended power (step S50) .
The control unit 58 further reads out the
tracking polarity from the memory 58B on the basis of
the layer information on the recording layer specified
at step A10 (step A60), and sets a tracking polarity
of the tracking servo circuit 55B (step A70).
After the recording conditions
(recording/reading conditions) are set as above, the
control unit 58 gives a focusing servo control
instruction to the focusing servo circuit 55A.
Responsive to it, the focusing servo circuit 55A
controls the optical pickup 53 through the focus
driver 54B and the pickup actuator to perform the
focusing servo control on either the first recording
layer 2 (22) or the second recording layer 5 (25) (step
A80) . This function of the control unit 58 is
referred to as a focusing servo control unit.
According to this embodiment, since the

tracking polarity of :the tracking servo circuit 55B
is set to a tracking polarity adapted to a recording
layer specified at step A10, the tracking servo
control is performed with a tracking polarity adapted
to the recording layer specified at step A10.
In the case where the layer information is
recorded as a part of the address information on almost
the entire surface of each of the recording layers 2
and 5 (22 and 25) of the optical recording medium 50,
the focusing servo control may be performed, with the
control unit 58 accessing to a desired address on the
basis of the address information. In the case where
the layer information is recorded in the recording
management area of the optical recording medium 50,
the focusing servo control may be performed in the
recording management area.
In the case where information is recorded on
an optical recording medium having a plurality of
recording layers, the focusing servo control may be
performed on any one of the plural recording layers.
Next, the control unit 58 reads out layer
information recorded on the recording layer on which
the focusing servo control has been performed through
the preamplifier 56A, the matrix circuit 56B and the
demodulating circuit 56C as being the signal
processing unit 56 (step A90) . This function of the
control unit 58 is referred to as a layer information

.-reading unit. _.......:".._. -...,:;j..:.
The control unit 58 judges whether a
recording layer specified on the basis of the layer
information read out at step A90 is the recording layer
specified at step A10 (step A100). Namely, the
control unit 58 judges whether the layer information
read at step A90 coincides with the layer information
on the recording layer specified at step A10. This
function of the control unit 58 is referred to as a
recording layer judging unit (layer information
j udging unit) .
When the control unit 58 judges as a result
of the judgment that the recording layer specified on
the basis of the read layer information is the
recording layer specified at step A10 (specific
recording layer to be recorded thereon) (that is, the
control unit 58 judges that the two pieces of layer
information coincide with each other), the control
unit 58 performs the optimum power control (OPC) on
the laser beam outputted from the laser diode through
the recording laser driver 54Ab (step A110) . Namely,
the control unit 58 performs trial writing with
various power of the laser beam in a power calibration
area (PCA, trial writing area) set on the inner
peripheral side (or outer peripheral side) of the
recording layer on which the focusing servo control
has been performed, thereby controlling the laser

power to the optimum power adapted-to the recording
layer specified at step A10.
According to this embodiment, the output
setting value of the recording laser driver 54Ab is
set to a predetermined recording recommended power
adapted to the recording layer, whereby the optimum
power control can be quickly performed.
On the other hand, when the control unit 58
judges that the recording layer specified on the basis '
of the layer information read out at step A100 is not
the recording layer to be recorded thereon (that is,
the control unit 58 judges that the two pieces of layer
information do not coincide with each other), the
control unit 58 returns to step A80, performs the
focusing service control on another recording layer,
and repeats the similar process until the control unit
58 judges that a recording layer specified on the basis
of the layer information is the recording layer to be
recorded thereon (step A80 to A100).
After performing the optimum power control
as above, the control unit 58 gives a record
instruction to the optical pickup 53 through the data
processing unit 57 and the recording laser driver 54Ab.
Responsive to it, the laser diode is driven to record
information (data) sent from, for example, a personal
computer or another equipment at addresses specified
on the basis of address information of the recording

layer on which the focusing servo control has been':~
performed under recording conditions
(recording/reading conditions) adapted to the
recording layer (step A120). This function of the
control unit 58 is referred to as a recording
controlling unit (recording/reading controlling
unit) .
According to this embodiment, since the
recording pulse strategy (recording pulse modulation
pattern) of the recording strategy circuit 57B is set
to a recording pulse strategy adapted to the recording
layer specified at Step AlO as state above, recording
of information in a recording pulse strategy adapted
to the recording layer to be recorded thereon is
performed.
According to this embodiment, the power
(recording power) of the laser beam outputted from the
recording laser driver 54Ab is controlled to the
optimum power adapted to the recording layer specified
at step AlO as state above, recording of information
with a laser power adapted to the recording layer to
be recorded thereon is performed.
(Reading Method for Optical Recording Medium)
In the recording/reading apparatus (drive)
60 for the optical recording medium, when a read
instruction is inputted from a computer such as a
personal computer or the like (through an input unit

such as a button equipped to the--drive-itself) , the
control unit 58 determines which recording layer is
to be read, on the basis address information included
in the read instruction, as shown in FIG. 6 (step BIO) .
In this case, when a medium is set to the drive,
contents information (information showing what
information is recorded at which addresses) may be
read out, an icon may be displayed on the screen of
the computer, for example, and the read instruction
including the address information may be inputted to
the drive when the user clicks the icon.
When the read instruction is inputted as
above, the control unit 58 specifies a recording layer
to be read therefrom. This function of the control
unit 58 is referred to as a recording layer determining
unit (recording layer specifying unit).
Next, the control unit 58 reads out a tracking
polarity from the memory 58B on the basis of layer
information on the recording layer specified at step
BIO (step B20), and sets the tracking polarity of the
tracking servo circuit 55B (step B30).
After the reading conditions
(recording/reading conditions) are set as above, the
control unit 58 gives a focusing servo control
instruction to the focusing servo circuit 55A.
Responsive to it, the focusing servo circuit 55A
controls the optical pickup 53 through the focusing

-driver 54B.and the. pickup actuator to perform the
focusing servo control on either the first recording
layer 2 (22) or the second recording layer 5 .(25) (step
B40) . This function of the control unit 58 is
referred to as a focusing servo control unit.
According to this embodiment, since the
tracking polarity of the tracking servo circuit 55B
is set to a tracking polarity adapted to a recording
layer specified at step BIO as above, tracking control
is performed with a tracking polarity adapted to a
recording layer to be read therefrom.
In the case where layer information is
recorded as a part of address information on almost
the entire surface of each of the recording layers 2
and 5 (22 and 25) of the optical recording medium 50,
the focusing servo control may be performed, with the
control unit 58 accessing to a desired address on the
basis of the address information. In the case where
the layer information is recorded in the recording
management area, of the optical recording medium 50,
the focusing servo control may be performed in this
recording management area.
In the case where reading of information is
performed on an optical recording medium having a
plurality of recording layers, the focusing servo
control may be performed on one of the plural recording
layers.

Next, the control" "unit 58~"reads out layer "
information recorded on the recording layer on which
the focusing servo control has been performed through
the preamplifier 56A, the matrix circuit 56B and the
demodulating circuit 56C as being the signal
processing unit 56 (step S50). This function of the
control unit 58 is referred to as a layer information
reading out.
The control unit 58 judges whether a
recording layer specified on the basis of the layer
information read out at step B50 is the recording layer
specified at step BIO (step B60) . Namely, the control
unit 58 judges whether the layer information read out
at step B50 coincides with layer information on the
recording layer specified at step BIO. This function
of the control unit 58 is referred to as a recording
layer judging unit (layer information judging unit) .
When the control unit 58 judges as a result
of this judgment that the recording layer specified
on the basis of the read layer information is the
recording layer (specific recording layer to be read
therefrom) specified at step BIO (that is, the control
unit 58 judges that the two pieces of layer information
coincide with each other), the control unit 58 gives
a read instruction to the optical pickup 53 through
the reading laser driver 54Aa. Responsive to it, the
laser diode is driven to read information recorded at

--^a-ddres ses -.—spec-if led _ .on ,. the— basis „=,of— addr-es^,,:
information of the recording layer on which the
focusing servo control has been performed through the
signal processing unit 56 under reading conditions
(recording/reading conditions) adapted to the
recording layer (step B70). This function of the
control unit 58 is referred to as a reading control
unit (recording/reading control unit).
According to this embodiment, since the power
(reading power) of the laser beam outputted from the
reading laser driver 54Aa is controlled to the optimum
power adapted to the recording layer specified at step
BIO, reading of information is performed with a laser
power adapted to the recording layer to be read
therefrom.
When the control unit 58 judges at step B60
that the recording layer specified on the basis of the
read layer information is not the recording layer to
be read therefrom (that is, the control unit 58 judges
that the two pieces of layer information do not
coincide with each other) , the control unit 58 returns
to step B40, performs the focusing servo control on
another recording layer, and repeats the similar
process (steps B40 to B60) until the control unit 58
judges that the recording layer specified on the basis
of the read layer information is the recording layer
to be read therefrom (that is, the two pieces of layer

inferrm'atTolT"'coi'ncTHe^With'"~eaciv~otfi"ef")'".' " '~~" !_~" ""'
An advantage of the optical recording medium,
the recording/reading method and recording/reading
apparatus for the optical recording medium according
to this embodiment is that the recording/reading
conditions such as recording pulse strategy,
recording power, reading power, and so forth can be
instantaneously switched according to a recording
layer to be recorded information thereon or to be read
information therefrom because layer information is
recorded on the optical recording medium.
It is also possible to accurately and surely
perform recording or reading of information under
recording/reading conditions (for example, tracking
polarity, recording pulse strategy, recording power,
reading power, and so forth) adapted to a recording
layer on which recording or reading of information is
to be performed.
Note that the present invention is not
limited to the above examples, but may be modified in
various ways without departing from the scope of the
invention.
This application is based on Japanese Patent
Application No. 2002-365542 filed on December 17, 2002,
Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-295988 filed on
August 20, 2003 and Japanese Patent Application No.
2002-365541 on December 17, 2002, the whole contents
of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

WE CLAIM:
1. An optical recording medium on which recording and reading is performed
comprising:
a plurality of recording layers on which information can be recorded onto or
read from, said plurality of recording layers being read from or written to, from one
side of the optical recording medium by irradiating a laser beam on the one side,
wherein at least reading and recording conditions including a polarity of push-pull
signal (A60) for each of said plurality of recording layers are recorded.
2. The optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reading and
recording conditions include a pulse strategy (A20) or a recommended power (A40)
for recording.
3. The optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reading and
recording conditions are recorded in a recording layer of the plurality of
recording layers accessed first by a drive.
4. The optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reading and
recording conditions are recorded on a layer of the plurality of recording layers
closest to the side onto which a laser beam is directed.
5. The optical recording medium as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said
plurality of recording layers is a dye containing recording layer.



ABSTRACT


AN OPTICAL RECORDING MEDIUM HAVING A PLURALITY OF RECORDING LAYERS
In an optical recording medium of a single-sided incident type having a plurality of
recording layers, recording / reading conditions ( for example, a polarity of a push-pull
signal (A60), recording pulse strategy (A20), recording recommended power (A40), etc.)
can be instantaneously switched according to each of the recording layer, and recording or
reading of information can be accurately and surely performed under recording/ reading
conditions adapted to each recording layer (A120).

Documents:

04313-kolnp-2007-abstract.pdf

04313-kolnp-2007-claims.pdf

04313-kolnp-2007-correspondence others.pdf

04313-kolnp-2007-description complete.pdf

04313-kolnp-2007-drawings.pdf

04313-kolnp-2007-form 1.pdf

04313-kolnp-2007-form 2.pdf

04313-kolnp-2007-form 3.pdf

04313-kolnp-2007-form 5.pdf

04313-kolnp-2007-gpa.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-ABSTRACT.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-AMANDED CLAIMS.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-AMANDED PAGES OF SPECIFICATION.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-CERTIFIED COPIES(OTHER COUNTRIES).pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE).pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-DRAWINGS.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-FORM-1.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-FORM-13.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-FORM-2.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-FORM-3.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-OTHER PATENT DOCUMENT.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-OTHERS.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(07-12-2011)-PA-CERTIFIED COPIES.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(10-09-2013)-ABSTRACT.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(10-09-2013)-ANNEXURE TO FORM 3.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(10-09-2013)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(10-09-2013)-ENGLISH TRANSLATION.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(10-09-2013)-OTHERS.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(10-09-2013)-PA.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(13-02-2014)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-(27-12-2011)-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-ASSIGNMENT 1.1.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-ASSIGNMENT.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-CANCELLED PAGES.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-CORRESPONDENCE OTHERS 1.1.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-CORRESPONDENCE.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-EXAMINATION REPORT.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-form 18.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GPA.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GRANTED-ABSTRACT.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GRANTED-CLAIMS.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GRANTED-DESCRIPTION (COMPLETE).pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GRANTED-DRAWINGS.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GRANTED-FORM 1.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GRANTED-FORM 2.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GRANTED-FORM 3.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GRANTED-FORM 5.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-GRANTED-SPECIFICATION-COMPLETE.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-OTHERS.pdf

4313-kolnp-2007-PETITION UNDER RULE 137.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-PRIORITY DOCUMENT.pdf

4313-KOLNP-2007-TRANSLATED COPY OF PRIORITY DOCUMENT.pdf

abstract-04313-kolnp-2007.jpg


Patent Number 263146
Indian Patent Application Number 4313/KOLNP/2007
PG Journal Number 42/2014
Publication Date 17-Oct-2014
Grant Date 09-Oct-2014
Date of Filing 08-Nov-2007
Name of Patentee MITSUBISHI KAGAKU MEDIA CO. LTD.
Applicant Address 1-23 SHIBA 4-CHOME, MINATO-KU,TOKYO
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 NODA YOSHIHIRO C/O MITSUBISHI KAGAKU MEDIA CORPORATION LTD. 31-19, SHIBA 5-CHOME, MINATO-KU, TOKYO 108-0014
2 KUBO HIDEYUKI C/O MITSUBISHI KAGAKU MEDIA CORPORATION LTD. 31-19, SHIBA 5-CHOME, MINATO-KU, TOKYO 108-0014
PCT International Classification Number G11B 7/0045
PCT International Application Number PCT/JP2003/015983
PCT International Filing date 2003-12-12
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 2002-365542 2002-12-17 Japan
2 2002-365541 2002-12-17 Japan
3 2003-295988 2003-08-20 Japan