Precise Performance
THE MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO NICKEL AND ITS APPLICATIONS
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IN THE ELECTROFORMING process nickel is "grown" onto a conductive layer of silver by electro-deposition.
Nickel ions in solution build up, layer upon layer, to produce a uniform deposit that perfectly replicates
the original surface.
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A NICKEL MOULD, created by the electroforming process, is used to make thousands of identical CDs and
DVDs in a high-speed injection moulding machine such as this one.
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THE HARDNESS OF NICKEL and its corrosion resistance enables the billions of microscopic pits on the
surface of a CD or DVD to be perfectly replicated even after thousands of repetitions.
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Enabling inexpensive replication of digital entertainment By Virginia
Heffernan
Nickel Magazine, May 2006 --Nickel is expected to play a vital role in the growth of the entertainment industry as consumers in Europe and the rest of the world embrace a new generation of electronic devices.
Factory sales of consumer electronics reached €160 billion in 2005, up 11% from the previous year, according to Charles Van Horn, president of the International Recording Media Association (IRMA). He considers the products IRMA members produce – namely CDs and DVDs – to be an integral part of the electronics industry’s growth.
That’s where nickel comes in. Every CD and DVD is manufactured using a mould, which is electroformed from pure nickel. Nickel electroforming employs electro-deposition technology similar to that used in decorative nickel plating. Electroforming is by far the most precise means of replicating the surface of any object, including CDs and DVDs, and nickel is the only suitable metal for this because of its unique physical properties, namely hardness and resistance to heat and corrosion.
Although gold, silver and copper can all be electroformed, nickel is by far the metal of choice. That’s because it is economical (relative to precious metals), versatile, has excellent heat, corrosion and abrasion resistance, and can be electro-deposited quickly.
In 2004, 17.4 billion CDs and DVDs were produced worldwide, according to the IRMA. Each mould can produce in the order of 100,000 discs. That’s a lot of moulds, and a lot of nickel.
"If you’re selling a recording of an obscure string quartet, you’ll probably only make a few thousand moulds," says Dr. Tony Hart of U.K-based Hart Coating Technology, which provides materials for CD electroforming facilities. "But if it’s the latest hit record, you might need to make a hundred thousand or more mouldings."
The technology works like this: First, a laser burns billions of microscopic shallow depressions into a photosensitive film made of an organic resin. Their dimensions and position create a pattern that is used by a CD player to reproduce the music or visual images. The resin is then made electrically conductive by covering it with an extremely thin layer of pure silver metal. Nickel is then "grown" onto the silver surface by electro-deposition, a process in which nickel ions in solution are converted into atoms that build up, layer upon layer, to produce a uniform deposit. This deposit perfectly replicates the original surface.
The resulting electroform is then separated from the original, or "master," with every surface detail, including the billions of sub-micron sized pits, perfectly replicated. Actual production moulds are made from the original ‘master’ in a series of three subsequent nickel electroforming operations.
"Every one of those pits in the mould surface must be exactly the right size, in exactly the right place, and in exactly the right shape, or it won’t sound right or look right," says Hart.
The degree of accuracy and reliability achieved through three stages of replication has enabled the CD/DVD industry to grow to the point where many plants are routinely producing more than 100 million discs per year. Technicolor, the world’s leading manufacturer of CDs and DVDs, with plants in Europe, North America and Australia, has the capacity to produce 1.7 billion DVDs and 175 million CDs annually.
Western Europe is among the world leaders in CD/DVD replication, with about 26% of the market, according to 2003 statistics from the IRMA. North America and Asia each have 30%.
The industry does face challenges from a glut of product, pirating, and competition from digital downloading of music and film. Earlier this year, TDK Corp. announced it would shut down its European CD and DVD production facilities as part of a larger decision to withdraw from the manufacture of recordable discs. The decision was based on a sharp drop in the market prices for CDs and DVDs and higher costs.
Van Horn acknowledges there is "major consolidation" going on as optical media adjust to new technology but believes the industry can capitalize on the move toward high-definition (HD) DVDs and Blu-ray discs.
"The buyers of flat-screen TVs are going to want a step up in the quality of image they receive from their recording media," he told the audience at the recent IRMA Recording Media Forum, held in California. "They are going to need a storage device to record their HD programs."
As for competition from downloadable music and film, Van Horn suggests the CD/DVD replication industry take a lesson from other industries where consumers have been convinced by clever marketing that value-added products are better than that which can be obtained from other sources that are free of charge.
"We need to tell our story over and over again until it sinks in. DVD looks better and sounds better. Better picture and sound make for better entertainment."
The industry’s best hopes may lie in HD-DVD or Blu-ray disc technology. The latter takes its name from the blue laser used to read much smaller and higher-density pits, and thereby providing much greater storage capacity. Just as DVDs had roughly five to ten times the storage capacity of CDs, so Blu-ray is expected to increase DVD capacity by a similar amount. Both HD-DVD and Blue-ray technology will be totally dependent on the nickel electroforming process.
Starting this year, U.S. consumers will be able to access some Blu-ray disc products from among the players, recorders, high-definition computer drives, recordable media and PC applications now in development.
HD-DVD is battling with Blu-Ray to see which will become the dominant technology to replace CDS and DVDs. Microsoft and Intel have both announced support for HD-DVD, while others are looking to Blu-Ray for higher storage capacity. Some Hollywood studios have said they’ll publish films in both formats.
Whatever the outcome, the optical media replication industry stands to benefit from increasing consumer interest in high-definition products, and nickel electroforming will continue to play an essential role in this compelling growth story.
Virginia Heffernan is a Toronto-based
freelance science writer.
PHOTOS: Louis Palu for Nickel Institute
Anthony Hart |
