Asahi Chemical has provided technology
and know-how related to DVD-RAM and other phase-change
optical discs to Multi Media Masters & Machinery SA
(4M), a Swiss supplier of stampers and manufacturer
of production equipment for optical discs for the worldwide
market.
For over a year, Asahi Chemical and
4M have been jointly developing a fully integrated,
fully automatic production system for rewritable DVD
discs, using Asahi Chemical's phase-change optical disc
technology. The system developed has the world's highest
productivity, with production line capacity of over
3 million single-sided DVD-RAM discs or over 1.5 million
double-sided DVD-RAM discs. The system is also capable
of producing a variety of different phase-change optical
discs, including CD-RW and DVD-RW.
4M was established in 1988, specializing
in supplying the optical disc production industry as
a system integrator for optical disc production equipment
and a supplier of optical disc stampers, and has earned
a top-level share of the market for fully automatic,
fully integrated production systems for all CD and DVD
formats, in Taiwan and many other countries around the
world.
The system developed using Asahi Chemical
technology for production of DVD-RAM and other optical
discs will be sold by 4M through its global marketing
channels.
Asahi Chemical's high degree of technological
expertise in the field of phase-change optical discs
was attained through many years of concerted research
and development, including the invention of the germanium-tellurium-antimony
material employed in DVD-RAM recording layers.
The technology transfer and joint development
with 4M is one part of Asahi Chemical's strategy to contribute
to the spread of phase-change optical technology as a prominent
data storage medium throughout the world by making all of
its relevant patents and know-how available to be licensed
and employed the world over.
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