It was found that a new type of reflective optical recording material could be formed by the thermal reduction of organic silver salt. In this recording material, metallic particles 30 nm in diameter concentrate near the surface of a hydrophobic binding agent and form island-like structures. The reflectivity can be varied from 20 to 75 percent by controlling the compositions of organic silver salt/reducing agent/binding agent and the condition of the thermal treatment. This material is capable of recording optical pulses from a semiconductor laser with a wavelength of 830 nm, power of 10 mW and pulsewidth of 1 μs at a length of 1 μm. Using the same type of laser (830 nm, 10 mW), a CN ratio of 45 dB can be achieved when the recording speed is 50 cm/s. Since this recording material was formed by using a hydrophobic binding agent, it is stable under high-temperature/high-humidity ambient.