Super-resolution near-field optical disk with an additional localized surface plasmon coupling layer

A structure of super-resolution near-field phase-change optical disk with localized surface plasmon coupling effect is proposed. A localized surface plasmon coupling layer (LSPCL) was introduced to form a coupled localized surface plasmons (CLSP) with the mask layer. Recording marks as small as 31 and 36 nm were observed in two structures, which were both much smaller than the smallest mark of 56 nm observed from the conventional one without LSPCL. CLSP not only can reduce mark size but it can also improve carrier-to-noise ratio of recording marks. The thermal stability of the disk was also studied. © 2002 American Institute of Physics.