MAKROLON, THE MATERIAL OF CHOICE FOR OPTICAL DATA STORAGE MEDIA
29 September 2005 - Bayer MaterialScience AG

The market for CDs and DVDs continues to boom, and with it, so do sales of Makrolon. Worldwide, almost one in three of the 45 billion optical discs produced in total were made using polycarbonate supplied by Bayer MaterialScience AG. In the period from 2000 to 2004, the global use of polycarbonate for optical data storage media doubled from 400,000 metric tons to 800,000 metric tons, with annual growth rates of 20 percent. Around two thirds of this quantity was processed in the Asia/Pacific region alone. In 2004, with a share of 32 percent, these discs formed the largest area of application for polycarbonate. A trend towards more diversification is currently shaping the ODS market. While the traditional CD-Audio/ROM still accounted for a share of approximately 80 percent in 2000, this has shrunk to almost one third in 2004. Pre-recorded DVDs (DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-Audio), as well as writable and rewritable CD/DVD formats are responsible for the other two thirds. Forecasts assume that this year, around 50 percent of the polycarbonate for optical data storage media will be processed into writable CD and DVD formats.

“The great success and rapid growth of optical data storage media is closely linked to our high-tech material, Makrolon. Right from the birth of the audio CD, we were able to supply a new, customized type of Makrolon that we produced at our Uerdingen plant, as a result of exclusive collaboration with PolyGram in Hanover. In the following years, we supported the trend towards formats with larger memory capacities by developing improved Makrolon formulations and by continuous optimization of the polycarbonate production process,” explains Dr. Uli Franz, who, as Industry Manager at Bayer MaterialScience, coordinates worldwide activities relating to the optical data storage media.

Bayer MaterialScience succeeded in doing this due to its global research and development strategy and as a result of the close collaboration with ODS developers, producers and machinery manufacturers. The optical disc labs of Bayer MaterialScience in Leverkusen, Pittsburgh and Shanghai are a key element in this, as they enable cooperation with customers and provide technical service in addition to carrying out their own research and development projects. The latest equipment for mass production of storage discs, high-performance testing technology and comprehensive chemical and physical analysis technology are all available at these sites. It is for this reason, for example, that the labs in Leverkusen and Shanghai were recently equipped with a complete development line for writable DVD media.

Bayer MaterialScience is also equipped for the new generation of optical data storage media - the Blu-ray disc and the HD DVD (High Density). With even smaller pits and reduced track pitches in comparison to DVDs and the use of a blue laser, these new media offer sufficient memory capacity for high-definition video. This guarantees compatibility with High Definition TV (HDTV). In order to meet the quality requirements made on the substrate material, which have been further enhanced in comparison with the “old” formats, Bayer MaterialScience has already entered into early partnerships with the developers of the new formats. “The current stage of development is clearly in favor of the continued use of polycarbonate and therefore also of Makrolon,” explains Burkhard Reitze, Head of Business Development for ODS.

In addition to the technical requirements, the manufacturers of optical data storage media attach great importance to the use of only one material for the production of all formats. Logistical reasons and lower investment costs are the strongest arguments in favor of this. “The producers prefer a material with which they have already had good experience in the past with regard to cost-effectiveness. In addition to this, they wish to produce the new formats at their existing production sites. It is therefore an advantage for them that Makrolon is available for optical data storage media around the world in all of the key economic areas. This is of course also true for other applications, such as in the electrical/electronics sector, automotive and construction industries, and in applications in packaging and medical technology. It is for this reason that we have production sites in Germany, Belgium, North America and Thailand and, from next year onwards, in China as well,” explains Reitze.

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