Just One More...

New Material for DVDs
Brings Down Production Cost

CYRO Industries' research and development program has introduced a new molding compound for the future of DVDs. The world of information will be given a view of the future for new DVD formats and their information and storage capacity. CYRO's ACRYLITE DQ501 acrylic molding compound has been perfected to make DVDs more affordable to manufacturers.

Characteristics of this innovative acrylic compound include: low birefringence (<20 nanometers), 92 percent light transmittance, high surface hardness, precise mold surface reproduction of small pits and high elastic modulus resulting in unchanged planarity during rotation. The unbending stiffness of acrylic also prevents memory loss. All this at a lower material cost than polycarbonate.

Just as with the single layer CD, the two data-bearing DVD halves are injection-molded and then coated with a metallic material, which reflects the scanning laser beam. The two halves of the disc are normally bonded by means of a hotmelt or UV-curing acrylic solution adhesive.

ACRYLITE DQ 501 compound is notable for its ease of processing and short cycle times with no pre-drying necessary. It can also be processed on all injection molding and injection compression-molding machines that are suitable for optical discs. The melting temperature is between 280° and 300° C. The molding temperature is between 50° and 70° C.

"This is the most significant opportunity to happen to the acrylic industry in the last twenty years. ACRYLITE DQ 501 compound will allow the use of shorter wavelength blue and UV light laser systems for increased data density," says Steve Seifert, marketing manager for molding and extrusion compounds at CYRO.

The natural UV resistance of ACRYLITE DQ 501compound without the use of UV absorbers means that the concern of "laser-rot" that comes with long term use and degredation of polycarbonate in the presence of UV light would be relatively non-existant. This will be more important with the advent of "blue-laser" use with DVD in the future. Blue lasers will provide finer focus due to their shorter wavelength, allowing more information
storage capacity.

--KCL

For more information, contact CYRO

Industries, PO Box 5055, Rockaway, NJ 07866. 800-631-5384. http://www.cyro.com Circle 713.