[clebio]

I wondered about the etching process too. It might not be at all like a normal R/W pattern for a DVD. They could conceivably be scanning radially, or using a very slow revolution, or (is this possible?) re-tuning the beam's frequency. Not insurmountable, but might require low-level re-writing of the driver, depending.

[wyager]

>(is this possible?) re-tuning the beam's frequency.

No. DVD burners simply use a 630nm or 650nm red laser diode. It can not be re-tuned more than a few nm, by regulating the temperature of the diode.

You could replace the diode, but that is more effort than it's worth, and there's not much else to replace it with. If you wanted more power you might use a different diode, but the diodes are almost always buried really far in there and you would have to replace the electronics as well.

[warmwaffles]

or just rig your own device and grab the high powered laser off of a blue ray player and slowly pull it to the outer edge. Seems a whole lot easier than having to deal with it messing up a drive within a computer.