LOS ANGELES — Backers of polymethyl methacrylate resin are gaining confidence in their efforts to displace polycarbonate in digital versatile discs.
"We are convinced that we will have significant success for the DVD form during 2001 or next year," said Rudolf Blass, who heads Rohm GmbH's worldwide marketing of molding extrusion compounds.
Rohm of Darmstadt, Germany, and North American joint-venture-partner Cyro Industries of Rockaway, N.J., market Acrylite DQ 501 acrylic molding compound.
Another acrylic producer, Atoglas of Philadelphia, is refining PMMA properties for DVDs on a recently installed replication line at a Serquigny, France, research and development center.
Atoglas has used production lulls in recent months as an opportunity to get replicators to try PMMA in DVDs. Atoglas, a subsidiary of TotalElfFina SA's Atofina chemical unit, markets PMMA as Plexiglas in North and South America and Oroglas elsewhere.
The PMMA makers seek to penetrate an optical-media market dominated by PC operations of General Electric Co., Bayer AG, Teijin Ltd. and Dow Chemical Co.
In other news, Dow introduced Grant Fisher as transatlantic marketing manager for optical media.
Fisher is based in Horgen, Switzerland, and will head sales and marketing for Dow optical- media products including Calibre PC and potential use of polycyclohexylethylene for emerging formats under development in Freeport, Texas; Midland, Mich.; and Plaquemine, La.
At Replitech, Bayer promoted the expanded DVD capabilities of its Pittsburgh optical- media laboratory through a major upgrade in late 2000.
