Abstract: Disclosed are an electron beam irradiation apparatus and an electron beam irradiation method that are capable of easily curing a material that is hard to be cured by irradiation of ultraviolet rays and of reducing the number of electron beam irradiation tubes. The electron beam irradiation apparatus has a motor for rotationally driving an irradiation target object, a shield container for rotatably accommodating the irradiation target object, and an electron beam irradiation unit provided in the shield container so that the surface of the irradiation target object is irradiated with electron beams, wherein the electron beam irradiation unit and the irradiation target object are relatively moved when the electron beam irradiation unit irradiates the surface of the irradiation target object with the electron beams during a rotation of the irradiation target object.

Abstract: An electron beam irradiation apparatus and method capable of easily curing at least part of a surface layer and/or a resin layer composed of materials that are hard to be cured by irradiation of ultraviolet rays. A disc-shaped object manufacturing apparatus and method capable of efficiently forming, on the disc-shaped object, at least part of a surface layer and/or a resin layer such as light transmitting layer, etc, thereunder. An electron beam irradiation apparatus comprises a rotary driving unit for rotationally driving an object, a shield container rotatably accommodating the object, and an electron beam irradiation unit provided in the shield container so that the surface of the object is irradiated with electron beams from an irradiation window thereof, wherein the surface of the object is irritated with the electron beams during its rotation from the irradiation window of the election beam irradiation unit.

Abstract: An information recording medium according to the present invention includes a recording layer that is formed of a single layer of a single type of recording material and is directly sandwiched by a pair of resin layers, the information recording medium being constructed so that at least one resin layer out of the pair of resin layers deforms due to deformation of the recording layer that is caused by irradiation with laser light for recording data and a track pitch is in a range of 0.1 ?m to 0.5 ?m, inclusive, wherein the pair of resin layers are formed with respective Young's moduli in a range of 415 MPa to 7100 MPa, inclusive.

Abstract: A disc-shaped recording medium manufacturing method involves the use of electron beams for easily curing a resin layer composed of a resin material that is hard to be cured by irradiation of ultraviolet rays and capable of manufacturing a disc-shaped recording medium with a high yield without affecting a recording layer even by irradiating the electron beams. The disc-shaped recording medium manufacturing method of manufacturing the disc-shaped recording medium having a layer composed mainly of resin on a recording layer provided on a disc-shaped substrate, includes the steps of irradiating the layer composed mainly of the resin with electron beams of which an acceleration voltage is equal to or higher than 20 kV and is equal to or lower than 100 kV, and curing at least the surface of the layer composed mainly of the resin.

Abstract: Disclosed are an electron beam irradiation apparatus and an electron beam irradiation method that are capable of easily curing a material that is hard to be cured by irradiation of ultraviolet rays and of reducing the number of electron beam irradiation tubes. The electron beam irradiation apparatus has a motor for rotationally driving an irradiation target object, a shield container for rotatably accommodating the irradiation target object, and an electron beam irradiation unit provided in the shield container so that the surface of the irradiation target object is irradiated with electron beams, wherein the electron beam irradiation unit and the irradiation target object are relatively moved when the electron beam irradiation unit irradiates the surface of the irradiation target object with the electron beams during a rotation of the irradiation target object.

Abstract: The present invention provides inexpensively an article with a hard coat excellent in anti-staining property, lubricity, scratch resistance and abrasion resistance. The present invention also provides a method for forming the hard coat.

Abstract: The present invention provides a hard coat agent composition that is useful for forming a hard coat layer with excellent anti-staining properties and lubricity, as well as superior scratch resistance and abrasion resistance, on the surfaces of various articles. The present invention also provides an optical information medium using the above hard coat agent composition. A hard coat agent composition comprising a fluorine-containing block copolymer (A1), a fluorine-containing polyether compound (A2) comprising an active energy ray-reactive group, and an active energy ray-curable compound (B). An optical information medium comprising a film element composed of one or more layers including at least a recording layer (4) or a reflective layer, on a supporting substrate (20), wherein at least one of the supporting substrate (20)-side surface and the film element-side surface is formed of a hard coat layer (8) comprising a cured product of the hard coat agent composition.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method for processing a photoresist-coated board, a method for manufacturing a stamper for a recording medium and a method for manufacturing a recording medium which can form a fine raised and depressed pattern having a uniform width after development even in the case where a laser beam having a relatively long wavelength is used for forming pre-pits on a recording medium with high accuracy. A photoresist-coated board 108 is constituted by laminating a light absorption layer 108b and a photosensitive material layer 108c on a glass substrate 108a in this order and is exposed to a laser beam 102 by condensing the laser beam 102 onto the photosensitive material layer 108c, thereby forming a raised and depressed pattern corresponding to pre-pits on the the photosensitive material layer 108.

Abstract: A method of testing an information recording medium includes a step of attaching an artificial fingerprint to an incident surface of an information recording medium, a step of reproducing a signal recorded in an attached region to which the artificial fingerprint has been attached, and a step of judging whether the information recording medium is defective or non-defective based on a signal quality of the reproduced signal. An information recording medium testing apparatus includes a fingerprint attaching unit that attaches an artificial fingerprint onto an incident surface of an information recording medium, a signal reproducing unit that reproduces a signal recorded in an attached region to which the artificial fingerprint has been attached, and a judging unit that judges whether the information recording medium is defective or non-defective based on a signal quality of the reproduced signal.

Abstract: The present invention provides inexpensively an article with a hard coat excellent in anti-staining property, lubricity, scratch resistance and abrasion resistance. The present invention also provides a method for forming the hard coat. A hard coat agent composition comprising an active energy ray-curable compound is applied onto a surface of an article (1) to be hard-coat-treated, thereby forming a hard coat agent composition layer, a surface material layer is formed by film-forming with a surface material comprising a fluorine-containing polyfunctional(meth)acrylate compound on the surface of the hard coat agent composition layer, and active energy rays are irradiated onto the formed hard coat agent composition layer and surface material layer so as to cure the both layers simultaneously, thereby forming a hard coat layer (2) contacting the surface of the article (1) and an anti-staining surface layer (3) contacting the surface of the hard coat layer (2).

Abstract: A stamper with a sharp uneven pattern is obtained, and high precision information media can be manufactured using this stamper. A photoresist master 100 is manufactured by forming a light absorption layer 103 with a film thickness T that satisfies T>180 (nm) and a photoresist layer 104, in that order, on top of a substrate 102, and then forming an uneven pattern 106 in the photoresist layer 104 by forming and developing a latent image, and a stamper 120 is manufactured by forming a Ni thin film 108 on top of the uneven pattern 106 of the photoresist master 100 by electroless plating, forming a Ni film 110 on top of this Ni thin film 108 by electroforming, and then separating the Ni thin film 108 and the Ni film 110 from the photoresist master 100.

Abstract: A stamper with a sharp uneven pattern is obtained, and high precision information media can be manufactured using this stamper.

Abstract: The invention provides an optical recording disk, with which the worsening of jitter can be prevented effectively even when fingerprints become adhered onto a laser light incidence surface. An optical recording disk 10 comprises a substrate 2, a recording layer 5, formed on the substrate, a light transmitting layer 7, formed on the recording layer, and a hard coat layer 8, formed on the light transmitting layer, and is characterized in that, when an operation of adhering an artificial fingerprint solution onto the optical recording disk's light incidence surface, onto which laser light is made incident, is performed and then an operation of wiping off the artificial fingerprint solution that has been adhered onto the light incidence surface is repeated five times, jitter becomes no more than 1.15 times that prior to the adhesion of the artificial fingerprint solution.

Abstract: A method of manufacturing a multiplayer optical recording medium by depositing two recording layers, with a spacer layer sandwiched therebetween, on a substrate. The method includes using a rubber chuck which can undergo elastic deformation at least in radial directions to close a central mounting hole of the substrate to thereby fix the substrate having the recording layer formed thereon on a turntable. After a coating liquid for forming the spacer layer is dropped in the vicinity of a boundary portion between a peripheral surface of the rubber chuck and the substrate, the rubber chuck is caused to chuck a stamper for forming the first recording layer thereon while allowing the stamper to be placed over the substrate. Thereafter, the turntable is rotated to spin-coat the coating liquid. This makes it possible to form a spacer layer having a uniform layer thickness while preventing intrusion of air bubbles, without leading to high manufacturing costs.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method of manufacturing an optical recording medium having two recording layers on a supporting substrate and an optical recording medium obtained according to the method.

Abstract: The method of manufacturing an optical recording medium, according to the present invention, is a method of manufacturing an optical recording medium, in which a resin layer is formed by spin-coating a coating liquid (R) on a substrate (D) having a central portion thereof formed with a central mounting hole (1a), and the method comprises causing a rubber chuck (14) that is capable of being elastically deformed at least in radial directions and thereby closing the central mounting hole of the substrate, to undergo elastic deformation to perform chucking, whereby the substrate (D) is fixed to the turntable (12), and after dropping the coating liquid (R) onto a central portion of the rubber chuck (14), causing the turntable (12) to rotate to thereby spin-coat the coating liquid (R). This makes it possible to reliably and easily form excellent resin layer while enhancing productivity.