METHOD OF PRODUCING A METAL MATRIX

Abstract: Method of producing a metal matrix for the manufacture of optically readable information carriers, in which a photoresist layer which contains an information track and is provided on a carrier is coated with an electroless gold layer, the gold layer at the side provided with the resist layer being exclusively in contact with organic material, the gold layer being provided with a first metal peel by electro-deposition, the carrier coated with the resist layer is removed, the gold layer-coated first metal peel being provided by electro-­ deposition at the side having the gold layer with a second metal peel, the first metal peel being removed together with the gold layer and optionally a further metal copy of the second metal peel is produced by electro-deposition.

Description: The invention relates to a method of producing a metal matrix which can be used in the manufacture of optically readable synthetic resin information carriers. Such a method is, for example, disclosed in Applicants' United Kingdom Patent Specification no. 2,128,206 (PHN 10,790). In said prior art procedure the starting point is a master disc having a preferably glass substrate and a photoresist layer in which an optically readable information track is provided. At the side carrying the photoresist layer the master disc is coated with a layer of silver which is applied electrolessly, for example by means of a vapour deposition process, a sputtering process or a chemical plating process. On top of this layer a metal peel, for example a nickel peel, is applied by means of electro-plating. The master disc is thereafter removed. The metal impression obtained which contains the silver layer is denoted the father matrix. Consequently, the father matrix is provided with a (negative) impression of the information track present in the master disc. By means of an electro-plating process a further metal impression, the what is commonly referred to as the mother disc is produced from the father matrix. For that purpose the silver layer is usually first removed from the father matrix with an oxidising agent, and the exposed nickel surface is passivated by treatment in an alkaline medium. This achieves that the mother disc can easily be removed from the father matrix. The mother disc has a positive impression of the information track present in the master disc. After its surface has been passivated, the what are commonly denoted son matrices can be produced from the mother disc by means of electro-deposition, which are used as dies during making of the impressions in synthetic resin. A suitable procedure is an injection moulding or injection pressing procedure. The synthetic resin information carriers obtained, such as compact disc (T.M.) or laser vision (T.M.) have an optical information track which is a positive impression of the information track of the master disc. The prior art method described in the foregoing has the disadvantage that the quality and the durability of the master disc coated with a silver layer deteriorates or is limited, respectively. The silver is easily attacked by the atmosphere, sulphides then being formed. This implies that the finished master disc must be further treated directly or very soon into ultimately a die. The invention has for its object to provide a method in which the master disc used retains the originally good quality, also with long shelf-lives. This provides the advantage that the finished master disc must not be directly or very soon be further processed. No additional measures are required to protect the master disc from atmospheric contamination. This promotes the marketing of master discs. According to the invention, the advantage outlined above is achieved by means of a method described in the opening paragraph which is characterized, in that a master disc having a substrate and a photoresist layer provided thereon which has an optically readable information track, is provided at the side having the photoresist layer with an electrolessly deposited gold layer, the gold layer at the side having the resist layer being exclusively in contact with organic material, a metal peel is applied by electro-deposition on the gold layer, the master disc is separated and thereafter the metal peel obtained which contains the gold layer is provided at the side coated with the gold layer with a second metal peel whereafter the first metal peel together with the gold layer is separated and optionally a further metal impression of the second metal peel is made by electro-deposition. The gold layer used in the method is not attacked in atmospheric conditions, so that the gold layer-plated master disc can be transported and stored without the need of special protective measures. A problem is, however, that gold is such a noble metal that passivation is not very well possible. In this connection it should be noted that the United Kingdom Patent Specification 638,006 describes that a gold plate can be passivated by treating it with a highly oxidising agent such as a permanganate or a dichromate. When this method is applied to the above-described, gold-plated master disc, good results were not obtained. It must be taken into consideration that the optically readable information track provided in the master disc has a very finely detailed structure of information bits of lengths from one to a few microns and a depth of, for example, 0.2 µm. If the gold layer is not passivated to an optimum extent, the very small quantities of gold settling on the impression, will yet change the fine information track in an unacceptable manner so that the stored information can no more be read. In accordance with the method of the invention, a perfectly passivated gold layer surface is obtained. This is achieved in that the gold layer at the side provided with the photoresist comes exclusively into contact with organic material. The cause of the passivation is not known. It is presumed that the organic material or the volatile components such as residual monomers present in the organic material, for example a synthetic resin, diffund to some extent into the gold surface. Applicants have experimented with a customary master disc in which the pits (bits) of the information track provided in the photoresist extend to as far as the glass substrate. After electro-deposition of the gold layer it is galvanically re-inforced with a Ni layer and the father disc obtained is separated from the master. It has been found that on making a metal impression, the mother disc, from this father disc traces of gold remain behind on the mother disc, originating from those portions of the gold layer which were in contact with the glass substrate disc of the master. The gold layer is applied by means of an electroless, consequently currentless, process. A suitable process is more specifically a vapour deposition procedure or a sputtering procedure. The thickness of a gold layer is very small and, typically, amounts to some hundreds of Angstroms. After the gold layer has been deposited, the gold layer is re-inforced by electro-deposition with a metal peel, more specifically a Ni peel. Thereafter the resist layer is dissolved in an alkaline medium, so that a father matrix is obtained having a Ni peel coated with a gold layer. The optical information track is copied into the surface of Ni peel. Consequently this track is the negative of the information track provided in the master disc. By means of electro-deposition, a metal impression, the mother disc, is produced from the father disc obtained. To that end a metal layer, for example a Ni layer, is made to grow on the gold layer in an electro-deposition bath, for example a nickel sulphamate bath. The gold layer is used as the cathode in this procedure. After the Ni layer is sufficiently thick, for example some hundreds of microns, the electro-deposition procedure is stopped. The deposited Ni peel is removed from the father disc. The gold layer passivated in accordance with the invention is the interface layer. The separation is perfect, not any gold residue being present on the mother disc. Optionally one or more metal impressions, for example Ni impressions, are made from the mother disc. For that purpose the surface of the mother disc containing the information track is first passivated with, for example, hydrogen peroxide. A very thin monomolecular layer of nickel oxide is formed. Thereafter a metal peel, for example preferably a Ni peel, is grown by means of electro-deposition on the passivated surface. After separation of the mother disc a son matrix is obtained whose information track is a negative impression of the information track provided in the master disc. This son matrix is used in an injection moulding or injection pressing process for the manufacture of synthetic resin impressions the information track of which is a positive impression of the information track of the master disc. The synthetic resin information carriers obtained are metal-plated at the side provided with the information track and can be read optically, in the reflection mode, using laser light. In an advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention, a master disc is used which has a glass substrate plate, an intermediate layer of organic material having been provided between the substrate and the photo-resist layer. A very suitable material for the intermediate layer is a synthetic resin, such as polymethylmethacrylate. Also the use of an intermediate layer of a polymerised photoresist is very suitable. The invention will now be described by way of example in greater detail with reference to an embodiment and the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a master disc-father disc combination, used in the method of the invention and Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of a father disc-mother disc combination, used in the method of the invention. In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a 5 mm thick glass plate having a diameter of 240 mm. The polished surface of glass plate 1 is provided with a photo-resist layer 2 which is polymerised by, for example, exposure to light. Instead of a cured photoresist layer an intermediate layer 2 of a different organic material can alternatively be provided, for example a layer of a plastic synthetic resin, for example poly-methylmethacrylate, or a layer of synthetic resin which is cross-linked with heat or light, such as a U.V. light-cured layer of acrylate or methacrylate monomers. The substrate 1 and also the layer 2 can alternatively be made of synthetic resin. This may be the same synthetic resin. Layer 2 is provided with a layer 3 of a positive photoresist having a thickness of 0.12 µm. The photoresist used is derived from naphthoquinone diazide which is marketed as Hunt Waycoat type HPR204. The resist layer is exposed to pulsed laser light modulated in accordance with the information to be inscribed. The resist layer thus exposed to light in accordance with a pattern is developed in a solution of 10 g NaOH and 50.5 g Na₄P₂O₇. 10 H₂O in 4.5 litres of water. This causes the exposed portions of the photoresist layer to be dissolved and a helical information track 4 is obtained which has a crannelated profile of information areas 5 situated at a higher level alternating with information areas 6 situated at a lower level in the resist layer. The longitudinal dimensions of the information areas vary from approximately 0.2 to 3 µm according to the stored information. The difference in height between the information area levels is approximately 0.1 µm. The areas are optically readable. A gold layer 7 having a thickness of 0.1 µm is vapour-deposited on the developed photoresist layer 3. Thereafter a nickel layer 8 is provided by electro-deposition on the gold layer 7, with a thickness of 400 µm. The metal peel 7, 8 is now mechanically separated from the glass plate 1. The residues of resist layer 3 and/or intermediate layer 2 still present on the metal peel 7, 8 are removed by treatment in an oxidising, alkaline medium, such as an aqueous solution of NaOH and H₂O₂. The metal peel 7, 8 obtained is alternatively denoted the father disc. The information track 4 of the master disc is duplicated in this peel. The information track 9 (Fig. 2) impressed in peel 7, 8 is consequently the negative image of information track 4 of the master disc 1, 2, 3. Without any further treatment or, optionally, after treatment with an oxidising agent, the father disc 7, 8 (Fig. 2) is provided with a nickel peel 10 by electro-deposition at the side provided with the gold layer 7. Nickel peel 10 is removed mechanically. The separation is effected on gold layer 7, gold layer 7 remaining connected to nickel layer 8. Surprisingly, a perfect separation is obtained, not any gold residue remaining behind on the nickel layer 10. This means that the gold layer 7 is excellently passivated. The nickel peel 10 obtained, alternatively denoted the mother disc, has an information track 11 which is an impression of the information track 9 of the father disc 7, 8. The information track 11 is consequently a positive copy of the information track 4 of the master disc 1, 2, 3. If so desired, further metal impressions, the son matrices, can be produced by means of electro-deposition from the mother disc 10. For that purpose the surface of the mother disc 10 must first be passivated at the side provided with the information track 11. This is effected by treating the surface with an aqueous solution of K₂Cr₂O₇. On the surface thus passivated the nickel peel is deposited which after removal of the mother disc, constitutes a son matrix. Using this matrix it is possible to produce, for example in an injection moulding process, synthetic resin information carriers, whose information track is a positive impression of the information track of the master disc. The plastic information carriers obtained are finally provided with a metal layer, for example a vapour-deposited Al layer at the side having the information track. If so desired the plastic information carrier may alternatively be provided with an optical recording layer. In comparative experiments, Applicants have produced a master disc and a father disc in a manner corresponding to the manner described in the foregoing, however with the difference that no intermediate layer 2 (Fig. 1) was used and consequently photoresist layer 3 bears against the glass plate 1. It was found that a father disc (7, 8) can be produced without any serious problems. However, when a metal impression (mother disc) of the father disc is made things went wrong. The gold layer 7 of the father disc (7, 8) is first treated with an aqueous solution of K₂Cr₂O₇. Thereafter, a nickel peel is provided in an electro-deposition method. The nickel peel (mother disc) cannot be perfectly separated from the father disc. It was found that after separation, gold residues are present on the separated Ni peel (mother disc). As a result thereof the information track of the mother disc and also of the father disc is deformed, so that the plates are useless for further treatment.

Claims: A method of producing a metal matrix which can be used in the manufacture of optically readable synthetic resin information carriers, characterized in that a master disc having a substrate and a photoresist layer provided thereon and which has an optically readable information track, is provided at the side having the photoresist layer with an electrolessly deposited gold layer, whereby the gold layer at the side having the resist layer is exclusively in contact with organic material, a metal peel is applied by electro-deposition on the gold layer, the master disc is separated and thereafter the metal peel obtained which contains the gold layer is provided at the side coated with the gold layer with a second metal peel, whereafter the first metal peel together with the gold layer is separated and optionally a further metal impression of the second metal peel is made by electro-deposition. A method as claimed in Claim 1, characterized in that the master disc used includes a glass substrate plate, an intermediate layer of organic material being provided between the substrate and the photoresist layer. A method as claimed in Claim 2, characterized in that the intermediate layer is a layer of polymerised photoresist. A method as claimed in Claim 2, characterized in that the intermediate layer is a synthetic resin layer.

Inventors: BECKERS, LOUIS MICHEL, LANDSBERGEN, JEROEN FRANCISCUS MARIA, LEGIERSE, PETRUS EGIDIUS JACOBUS
Applicants: OPTICAL DISC MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT B.V.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: C25D1
IPC codes: C25D1, G11B7