Product Applications
Compact Disks
All music lovers and computer users have been affected by this technology in the past decade. The CD is used in almost every home and office but many do not know how the CD is made. The CD holds a special pattern or type of optical film that forms an individual reflective coating (typically sputtered aluminum) and a resin on top that is patterned for the audio CD. The computer CD has more sputtered layers and responds to laser light to form the digital signal. Read Only Media (ROM) has been the standard in past years but Read Write (RW) has made a strong entrance into the industry during the past 5 years. DVD technology is here now, and more advanced technologies are on the horizon.
Sierra has developed a special cathode specifically for the CD industry. The target is Ø 6.7" and can be as thick as 0.75". The target utilization is greater then 55%, so target changes are greatly reduced compared to other designs. This cathode also has a quick change option that allows the end user to change out a target in less than one minute when needed.