14 Electro-Optical Systems
14.1 The Compact Disc Player
The compact disc or CD was introduced to the consumer market in 1982, and has since become the standard recording medium in the music industry. CD technology offers noiseless playback, fast random access, and an extremely durable recording medium. Since 1982, more than 6 billion optical discs have been sold.
The optical disc contains recorded information in microscopic pits along spiral tracks. These tracks form concentric rings on the plastic disc. The pitted side of the disc contains a thin coat of reflective aluminum. The pits themselves are 0.5 (μm wide by 0.9 to 3.3 μm long, and are located on a flat-topped ridge. These ridges form tracks separated by grooves 1.6 μm apart. A clear ...
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