The burning laser diodes in CD recorders are near-IR (780nm), DVD recorders are red (~650nm) and Bluray recorders are, well, blue (405nm) with the latter getting sort of kinda close to UV though probably not close enough.
I've never seen Lightscribe resolution mentioned anywhere but, given that the stepper-driven worm cannot position the diode sled better than approx. 0.15mm (20 steps per rev stepper directly coupled to a 3mm lead worm) the resolution would have been probably OK for PCB printing. Looks like it converts to 169 dpi which is decent enough. In fact, given that the DVD-R/RW optics are usually spec'ed as "better than 0.05mm beam" and the lens can adjust itself relative to the stepper-driven sled, the actual resolution may even be better than 169 dpi but I doubt they use precise adjustments for such a crude operation as burning a visible image on the back of a CD...
--- In Homebrew_PCBs@yahoogroups.com, Tim Hills <thills@...> wrote:
>
> 2 things come to immediately to mind.
>
> CD/DVD recorders use Infrared lasers and most photoresist is UV sensitive.
>
> I don't know if the resolution of a lightscribe would be fine enough.
>
> Worth a shot though if you can find IR sensitive resist.
>
> TIm
>
> On 4/13/2011 8:31, Boman33 wrote:
> >
> > Here is a crazy idea that might just work:
> >
> > A first requirement is being able to cut out a PCB the to look just like a
> > CD. It needs to be accurate and typically a lathe would be used. Apply a
> > layer of paint or other protective coating over the copper.
> >
> > Pop it into a CD burner that has the Light Scribe or whatever it is called
> > feature to mark CDs. Take the layout and convert it to a JPG and use the
> > marking software to place it on the CD. Several small SMT PCBs will fit on
> > a CD. "Write" the picture to the "CD" and hopefully it will vaporize the
> > paint. Afterwards etch the boards as usual.
> >
> > If the power is controllable, it might also be used to expose a
> > photoresist
> > as an alternative.
> >
> > Bertho
> >
> >
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>