1. An optical information medium comprising:
a light-transmitting supporting substrate;
an information recording layer on one surface of the supporting substrate;
a protective layer on the information recording layer; and
a light-transmitting hard coat layer on an other surface of the supporting substrate,
wherein the medium is configured to have a recordingreproducing beam incident into the information recording layer through the hard coat layer and the supporting substrate, and
a surface of the medium which is on a side on which the recordingreproducing beam is incident is configured such that when an evaluation dispersion liquid containing a fine-particle-form substance and a dispersion medium capable of dispersing the fine-particle-form substance is adhered onto the surface of the medium, a structure of the surface of the medium interacts with the evaluation dispersion liquid such that the maximum diameter of the evaluation dispersion liquid droplets adhered to the medium surface is 300 \u03bcm or less, where the diameter is determined by measuring the area of the evaluation dispersion liquid droplet adhered to the medium surface, assuming that each evaluation dispersion liquid droplet is a perfect circle, and calculating the diameter of the perfect circle from the area of the droplet.
2. The optical information medium according to claim 1, which is used in a system wherein the smallest diameter of the recordingreproducing beam on the surface which is on the incident side of the recordingreproducing beam is larger than 500 \u03bcm.
3. The optical information medium according to claim 1, which is used in a recordingreproducing system using a blue laser beam.
4. An optical information medium comprising:
a light-transmitting supporting substrate;
an information recording layer on one surface of the supporting substrate;
a protective layer on the information recording layer; and
a light-transmitting hard coat layer on an other surface of the supporting substrate,
wherein the medium is configured to have a recordingreproducing beam incident into the information recording layer through the hard coat layer and the supporting substrate, and
a surface of the medium which is on a side on which the recordingreproducing beam is incident is configured such that, in which when an evaluation dispersion liquid containing a fine-particle-form substance and a dispersion medium capable of dispersing the fine-particle-form substance is adhered onto the surface of the medium, a structure of the surface of the medium interacts with the evaluation dispersion liquid such that an area ratio of the medium surface occupied with the evaluation dispersion liquid droplets adhered per unit area of the medium surface is 25% or less.
5. The optical information medium according to claim 4, which is used in a system wherein the smallest diameter of the recordingreproducing beam on the surface which is on the incident side of the recordingreproducing beam is larger than 500 \u03bcm.
6. The optical information medium according to claim 4, which is used in a recordingreproducing system using a blue laser beam.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. For generating vapor from a liquid, a method comprising:
A) providing a heat exchanger that includes heat-transfer surfaces, forming at least one condensation chamber and at least one evaporation chamber, by which heat passes from the at least one condensation chamber to the at least one evaporation chamber;
B) irrigating each said evaporation chamber at a respective irrigation rate, whose average is a respective average irrigation rate, that so varies as repeatedly to reach a respective peak irrigation rate that is at least twice the respective average irrigation rate; and
C) directing into the at least one condensation chamber vapor thereby produced in the at least one evaporation chamber.
2. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein each said evaporation chamber’s irrigation rate reaches its peak irrigation rate periodically.
3. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein the method further includes so compressing vapor in the vapor path as to make the vapor pressure in the at least one condensation chamber exceed that in the at least one evaporation chamber.
4. A method as defined in claim 3 wherein each said evaporation chamber’s irrigation rate reaches its peak irrigation rate periodically.
5. A method as defined in claim 1 wherein:
A) the peak irrigation rate for each said evaporation chamber exceeds the steady-state rate required to keep the heat-transfer surfaces thereof wetted; and
B) the average irrigation rate for each said evaporation chamber is no more than half the steady-state rate required to keep the heat-transfer surfaces of that evaporation chamber wetted.
6. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein each said evaporation chamber’s irrigation rate reaches its peak irrigation rate periodically.
7. A method as defined in claim 5 wherein the method further includes so compressing vapor in the vapor path as to make the vapor pressure in the at least one condensation chamber exceed that in the at least one evaporation chamber.
8. A method as defined in claim 7 wherein each said evaporation chamber’s irrigation rate reaches its peak irrigation rate periodically.