Finite element modeling of laser-induced hole formation in optical storage media.

A finite element model has been used to solve the transient thermal conduction equation for multilayer dye-polymer optical storage media. An accurate computer model is required to determine the laser heat input throughout the absorbing layers due to optical interference effects through the thickness of the dye. Only by this technique can accurate temperature distributions be calculated. From the resulting temperature distributions finite element analysis is used to determine the resulting thermal stresses. These stresses may be sufficiently high to cause intcrlayer failure by fracture.