Patent · US Expired

Optical pickup that uses light sources with different wavelengths for each of multiple recording mediums

US7260047B2 · kind B2 · utility

11Cited by
5References
13Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 22, 2003
Grant dateAug 21, 2007
Priority date
Expiry dateFeb 9, 2025

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG11B2007/0006
  • WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An optical pickup includes: a first projector for projecting a first light beam of a first wavelength so as to record and reproduce information with respect to an optical disk having a first light transmissive layer; a second projector for projecting a second light beam of a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength so as to record and reproduce information with respect to an optical disk having a second light transmissive layer; an objective lens common to the first and second light beams; and a diffraction optical element made of a lens with a diffraction grating and a refracting face and disposed in an optical path between the first and second projectors and the objective lens. The diffraction optical element is set to satisfy a predetermined equation. As a result, an optical pickup is realized that uses a single focusing means to focus light beams of different wavelengths, so as to record and reproduce information with respect to different kinds of optical disks (recording media) respectively having light transmissive layers of different thicknesses and respectively using different optimum wavelengths of light for reproducing.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.