Patent ID: 7709073

Claim:
An information recording medium comprising a recording layer which can generate a reversible phase change, wherein the recording layer comprises a Ge—Bi—Te-M-based material which comprises Ge, Bi, Te and an element “M” and is expressed with a following formula (1): Ge a Bi b Te d M 100-a-b-d (atomic %) (1) wherein “M” represents at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ga and In; and wherein “a”, “b” and “d” satisfy 25≦a≦60, 0<b≦18, 35≦d≦55, and 82≦a+b+d<100, wherein the Ge—Bi—Te-M-based material is expressed with a following formula (3): (GeTe) x [(M 2 Te 3 ) y (Bi 2 Te 3 ) 1-y ] 100-x (mol %) (3) wherein “M” represents at least one element selected from the group consisting of Ga and In; and wherein “x” and “y” satisfy 80≦x<100 and 0<y≦0.9.