Sony Corporation

Other

Sony Electronics Inc

Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

Edward W Morton

Glenn J Maenza

Joseph M Scarpinato

Robert Andrukaitis

A method of manufacturing an optical disc master from a glass substrate includes coating the substrate with a layer of photoresist, and applying an alkali-gel layer atop the photoresist. The coated substrate is then placed in an environment with a higher than normal humidity. The surface of the coated glass is selectively exposed to a beam of a writing laser, the exposure being controlled by digital information to be recorded on the disc. Exposed portions of the coated substrate experience a chemical reaction between the photoresist and the alkali material in the humid environment. Exposed portions are then developed and ablated thereby creating the pits and lands.

Glassmastering photoresist read after write method and system

A system for the on-the-fly control of jitter during optical disc mastering/recording includes a record disc (,) having a recording surface (,) thereon of the type in which a pit can be read directly after it is written. A write-laser (,) directs its write-beam (,) though an acousto-optic modulator (,) onto the recording surface (,) of the rotating record disc (,). A digital processor (,) accepts digital input values and outputs a signal to the acousto-optic modulator (,) that effectively gates the write-beam (,) on and off. A read-laser (,) is positioned downtrack from the write-laser (,) and reads the pits (,) immediately or shortly after being written by the write-laser (,). The output of the read-laser (,) is fed into a jitter detector (,) that senses the start and stop positions of a sequence of pits (,) and effects an analysis to arrive at a jitter value. A jitter compensator (,) provides a processed correction value to the digital processor (,) which then controls the write-laser (,) to reduce the measured jitter value.

On-the-fly of jitter during optical disc mastering/recording

An apparatus and method for mass producing optically readable discs includes providing an array of light emitting devices which are arranged in a spiral pattern corresponding to the spiral track along which data is recorded on optically readable discs. The light emitting devices of the array are driven selectively to expose a layer of photoresist on a substrate. The light is focused on the substrate by an array of micro-lenses corresponding to the array of light emitting devices. When the photoresist on the substrate is developed, it can either by cured for use as a stamper or metallized for use in forming, in succession, a father, a mother and a stamper.

Method and device for instantly encoding digitized information on a stamper from which compact discs can be made

A light beam optical recorder has a light emitting diode as a light source. Selecting the type of the LED used and the type of a photoresist employed with the selected LED results in creating pits of nearly laser quality. The recorder is substantially cheaper and also offers other advantages over a laser-type recorder.

Inexpensive safe light beam recorder

The present invention provides a system and method for thermally curing polymeric coated substrates by effective drying of solvents used in the production of the coated component. A feedback system coupled to a heating apparatus is comprised of one or more gas sensors internal or external to the heating apparatus to provide monitoring of the quantity of solvent gases being generated. The present invention allows the curing process to be precisely controlled, where, for example, a predetermined concentration of solvent gases input to the gas sensor can trigger the heating process to be stopped or to provide for a controlled cool down period for curing of the photoresist substrate. A controller coupled between the gas sensor and the heating apparatus may also contain temperature and/or time controls for varying the output of the heating apparatus in response to indications from the gas sensor. The system of the present invention assures production of stable photoresist coatings and also minimizes the processing time needed to properly cure the polymeric coated substrates.

System and method for curing polymeric/photoresist coatings

A method and apparatus for creating an optical disk mother or stamper wherein the number of processing steps is greatly reduced from the prior art methods. In particular, the present invention involves directly forming a mother or stamper by direct laser ablation of a conductive metal substrate. More specifically, a stream of coded digital information (for example, representing the content of an encyclopedia in the case of CD ROM or a classical music collection in the case of CD audio) is converted into a corresponding plurality of pits and lands in the conductive metal substrate by electronically switching the beam of a first laser on and off via an electro or acusto-optic modulator (EOM/AOM) in response to the digital information. As a result, selective portions of the conductive substrate are either ablated (in the case where the laser is on) thereby directly creating the pits, or the substrate is left unaltered (in the case where the laser is off) thereby creating lands. These pits and lands correspond to the digital information and can be read to reproduce the same. The ablated substrate can then be used as a mother. Advantageously, no coating need first be applied to the surface of the substrate before ablation.

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Turnersville, NJ, United States of America

Edward W Morton