Archival CDs or Gold CDs Storing Digital Photos and Other Files

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ARCHIVAL CDs or GOLD CDs

Archival CDs or gold CDs are a good choice for the long-term storage of digital photos and other digital files. However, what is an archival CD? An archival CD is not one that lasts forever, but rather the longest lasting disc that is available.

When considering the storage of digital information on CDs it basically comes down to two types of formats – the CD-R or the CD-RW. The other CD format like the CD-audio disc or a CD that you purchase and contains software or other information on it, is a read-only format. You cannot use this type of disc to store information, since it already comes with the information already manufactured into it. Read-only CDs are primarily used for the wide distribution of information.

For storing your own digital information, the remaining options are the CD-R and CD-RW formats. The erasable CD, otherwise known as the CD-RW disc, can be used to store digital photos or other digital files, but the disc is less secure because it can be erased. Also, tests have shown that the CD-RW does not show great stability because of the materials that are used to make this type of disc. Therefore, the CD-RWs are not considered archival CDs.

The last option for storing information on CDs is the recordable CD format or the CD-R. Different types of materials when compared to CD-RWs are used to construct CD-Rs. Some of these materials have shown excellent stability in scientific tests and can be used to construct archival CDs. Recordable CDs store information in a dye layer. The dye layer is either a cyanine dye (which is blue to light blue in color), an azo dye (which is also blue but generally a darker blue), and a phthalocyanine dye which is light green in color. The phthalocyanine dye is very stable and does not react to light, heat, or humidity and therefore is a good choice for a long lasting CD-R. Another key layer in the CD-R structure is the metal layer, which reflects the reading laser light back to the player’s detector in order to register a signal after the dye layer has been read. Without this metal layer, the laser light would shine right through the disc and there would be no signal. In CD-Rs, the metal layer can either be silver based such as a silver alloy or gold. Silver can corrode, but gold is inert and does not react and is the best choice for longevity.

Therefore, archival CDs are CD-Rs that contain the light green phthalocyanine dye and the gold metal layer. The main manufacturer of this type of archival optical disc media or gold CD is MAM (Mitsui Advanced Media) in the United States. Several other companies such as Delkin and Kodak purchase these MAM gold CDs and rebrand them. The manufacturer of this gold CD-R advertises that it will last 300 years. Whether this figure is accurate is not really important. What is important is that this type of CD-R is the most stable CD-R.

Another type of disc that is available on the market is from Verbatim or Falcon and it is being advertised as an archival CD. This type of disc uses the stable phthalocyanine dye but has two metal layers – a silver metal layer to reflect the laser light and a gold metal layer as a protective barrier for the more reactive silver metal. No in depth research has been performed to evaluate the stability of this type of disc versus the MAM gold CDs. It is anticipated that the stability is better than the average CD-R, but not as good as the all gold disc.

Below is a list of CD-R stability from highest stability to lowest in order to clarify the information presented above.

Summary of CD-R Stability

CD-R with phthalocyanine dye and gold metal layer
CD-R with phthalocyanine dye and silver metal layer with gold barrier layer
CD-R with phthalocyanine dye and silver metal layer
CD-R with cyanine or azo dye and silver metal layer

The archival CDs can be identified by their gold appearance when viewing the base of the disc as shown below.

archival recordable CD with phthalocyanine dye and gold metal layer

CD-Rs with the phthalocyanine dye and silver metal layer appear silver to light green in color as shown below.

recordable CD with phthalocyanine dye and silver alloy metal layer

CD-Rs with azo or cyanine dye appear as a shade of blue as shown below.

recordable CD with cyanine dye and silver alloy metal layer

Even if an archival CD is used to store digital photos and other digital files, it is good practice to always have a second copy of the information on a different type of storage media. Another point to note is that eventually the CD technology will become obsolete. Therefore, regardless how long archival CDs last, eventually the information on them will have to be transferred to another format if the information is to remain readable well into the future.