Patent ID: 6844042

Claim:
An optical recording system comprising: an air-incident optical disk compatible with flying optical heads, in which a recording layer is separated from a surface of the disk by intervening layers of a total thickness less than about 1 μm and a composition such that the highest temperature of the surface during normal operation is less than the desorption temperature of water; a flying optical head where the lowest facet of the lens element of the flying optical head is supported to float in close proximity to the surface of the disk and where the optical focus of the flying head is at the recording layer; means of delivering a beam of light to the optical head so as to raise the recording layer to a temperature exceeding about 250° C.; means of optically detecting and differentiating the presence and absence of the mark as seen by the optical beam; and tracking detection and feedback means to ensure that the optical beam can follow the path of the marks.