Abstract: An optical recording medium including a recording layer of a tellurium alloy comprising at least a metal M, antimony Sb and germanium Ge added to tellurium and having the following composition formula:M.sub.z (Sb.sub.x Te.sub.l-x).sub.l-y-z (Ge.sub.0.5 Te.sub.0.5).sub.y0.35.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.70.2.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.50.0001.ltoreq.z<0.05wherein the metal M is one kind of metal selected from the group consisting of niobium Nb and platinum Pt; and the subscripts x, y, l-x and l-y-z the numbers of atoms of elements (molar number of elements).

Abstract: An optical recording medium includes at least a substrate and a recording layer formed on the substrate, said recording layer being irradiated with an energy beam to change the optical properties thereof by directly or indirectly generated heat, thereby recording information, wherein said recording layer comprises four elements of tellurium (Te), germanium (Ge), gallium (Ga) and bismuth (Bi) and has a composition represented by the following formula:(Te.sub.x Ge.sub.1-x).sub.1-y (Ga.sub.z Bi.sub.1-z).sub.ywherein0.40.ltoreq.x.ltoreq.0.750.02.ltoreq.y.ltoreq.0.30 and0.05.ltoreq.z.ltoreq.0.50,x is the molar fraction of Te in Te-Ge, y is the molar fraction of the total amount of Bi and Ga in the recording layer, and z is the molar fraction of Ga in Ga-Bi.