Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Corporation

Other

Hideaki Sato

Nobuo Ogata

Yasuo Nakata

Yukio Kurata

Yoshihiro Sekimoto

Junji Hirokane

Yoshiteru Murakami

Junichiro Nakayama

Michinobu Mieda

Tetsuya Inui

Yoshio Yoshida

Naoyasu Iketani

Akira Takahashi

Kunio Kojima

Takahiro Miyake

Tetsuo Ueyama

Toshiharu Inui

Kenji Ohta

Shigemi Maeda

Toshiyuki Tanaka

Hiroshi Fuji

Tomoyuki Miyake

Hiroyuki Yamamoto

Jun Akiyama

Shozou Kobayashi

Katsuhiro Kubo

Tetsuo Ueyema

Teruaki Inoue

A reproducing light quantity control method for an optical memory device includes the steps of (1) recording test data on an optical recording medium; (2) reproducing the test data recorded on the optical recording medium by changing a reproducing light quantity in a plurality of light quantity values; (3) measuring a quality value and a signal quantity of each of a plurality of reproducing signals from the test data; (4) selecting an optimum reproducing signal quantity from a plurality of reproducing signal quantities in accordance with quality values of the plurality of reproducing signals so as to decide a target value of reproducing signal quantity; and (5) recording the target value on a target value recording region of the optical recording medium. This method reduces the time required to obtain a target value of a reproducing signal quantity and speeds up an operation from installing of the optical recording medium to finishing of preparation for recording and reproducing.

Reproducing light quantity control method for optical memory device, and reproducing light quantity control device, and optical recording medium

An optical disk has address recording sections each of which has a wobbled part of one of side walls of a groove. Each address recording section is formed by providing convexes of a groove in an adjacent land so as to widen the groove. With the wobbles thus provided in a concavo-convex form, address information is recorded. Besides, the address recording sections thus provided in the grooves are linearly disposed in radial directions of the optical disk. By thus arranging the optical disk on whose grooves and/or lands information is recorded, mixing of wobble frequency components in reproduced information signals does not occur, the sector method is applicable to the optical disk, and information signals of high quality can be obtained.

Optical recording medium having tracks, each track having a plurality of wobble sections/one-side wobble regions

Optical recording medium, method for manufacturing the same, and optical

In an optical information recording-reproduction apparatus, a focus servo control circuit generates a focus error signal and a light beam is accurately converged on a surface of an optical disk according to a focus servo control signal based upon the focus error signal. In accordance with the present invention, the focus error signal is compensated by selecting a land section focus offset amount by a switch when land sections are tracked, and it is compensated by selecting a groove section focus offset amount when groove sections are tracked. As a result, since the land sections and the groove sections are controlled by different focus servo control signals, recording and reproducing operations are carried out at the most optimal focusing positions respectively obtainable, thereby making it possible to significantly improve the quality of a reproduced signal.

Optical information recording/reproducing apparatus having focus servo

Optical recording medium having a wobbling section for recording address

A light sensor is divided into two light receiving sections which receive light reflected by an optical disk. A first intermediate address signal is generated from a difference signal of outputs of the light receiving sections. A second intermediate address signal is generated from a sum signal of outputs of the light receiving sections. An address generating circuit generates an address signal by using the first and second intermediate address signals. An optical disk device stably generating an address signal regardless of a displacement of an objective lens and a change in reflectance of the optical disk is thus provided.

Optical disk device for reproducing address information from wobbled

In an objective lens driving apparatus used in an optical information recording and reproducing apparatus or the like, a vibration is suppressed and a resonance peak on transfer function is suppressed when movable portions are moved in focusing and tracking directions and when these portions are turned around focusing and tracking directions. An elastic body which supports the movable portions movably in two directions, i.e., focusing direction and tracking direction to a fixed portion includes a bent portion in an intermediate portion between the side of movable portion and the side of fixed portion. A damper member is adhered to bridge a gap between a branched arm portion branching from a linear portion extending from the side of movable portion, and a fixed portion. The bent portion couples two linear portions and which are not on the same line.

Objective lens drive device with support system

A diffraction element is positionally adjusted on a substitute optical head arrangement while an objective lens is positionally adjusted so as to maximize a total signal calculated in a photodetector, whereby predetermined focusing error signal and tracking error signal are obtained. The thus adjusted diffraction element is adhesively secured on a package housing a light source and a photodetector to form a light source unit. The thus prepared light source unit is positioned on and assembled into an optical head by angularly adjusting the light source and an objective lens on the optical head individually so that both the optical axis of the light, emitted from the light source, and incident on a recording medium and the axis of the objective lens are aligned normal to the recording medium and by coinciding the optical axis of the objective lens with the center of intensity distribution of the incident light on the objective lens. This configuration eliminates the necessity of mechanical parts on the optical head for adjusting the diffraction element and the necessity of a space for the adjustment, so that it is possible to promote the optical head small and light-weighted. In addition, by effecting the optical adjustment when the light source unit is assembled into the optical head, error signals can be adjusted. Therefore, the adjustment step can be omitted.

Light source unit and method of adjusting for maximizing focus and

An optical information recording and reproducing device is provided. The device includes a light source for emitting a light beam, a first diffraction element for splitting the light beam into at least three diffracted beams, an optical system guiding the diffracted beams to a recording medium, and a second diffraction element including at least one division line and a diffraction surface from which the diffracted beams are diffracted. The diffraction surface is divided into at least two regions by the division line or lines. One of the division lines is at a predetermined angle against the direction of a track on the recording medium, and the regions split each of the diffracted beams into at least two parts to diffract the parts in different directions. The device also includes an optical detecting element for detecting the light beams diffracted with the second diffraction element.

Optical information recording and reproducing device

An optical head comprising a diffracting element having two tracking diffracting regions separated by a division line extending in a direction corresponding to a track direction of a recording medium, and one focusing diffracting region separated from the tracking diffracting regions by a division line extending in a direction corresponding to a radial direction of the recording medium. The optical head further comprises a light receiving element having two tracking light receiving regions for receiving diffracted lights produced in the tracking diffracting regions, and two adjoining focusing light receiving regions for receiving a diffracted light produced in the focusing diffracting region. The diffracted light produced in the focusing diffracting region always has a substantially constant light intensity, even when a tracking error occurs. As a result, an offset can be prevented from occurring in a focus error signal by finely adjusting the diffracting element.

Optical head

An optical head, for an optical disk recording/reproducing apparatus, for irradiating a recording medium by a light beam emitted from a light source and introducing an information light formed by a light beam reflected from the recording medium to a photo detector, a shift of an optical axis of the information light being minimized. The optical head includes a unit for receiving the information light which is reflected from the recording medium, a first reflecting unit for reflecting such information light, a second reflecting unit for reflecting the information light reflected by the first reflecting unit and for directing the reflected information light toward the photo detecting system, and a unit for emerging the information light reflected by the second reflecting unit to the photo detecting system. The first reflecting unit has a surface for reflecting the information light thereby, and the second reflecting unit also has a surface for reflecting the reflected information light from the surface of the first reflecting unit. The surface of the first reflecting unit is substantially parallel to the surface of the second reflecting unit. The emerging surface has a surface from which the information light reflected by the surface of the second reflecting unit emerges. An angle between the surface of the receiving unit and the surface of the first reflecting unit is substantially equal to an angle between the surface of the second reflecting unit and the surface of the emerging unit.

Optical head for optical disk recording/reproducing apparatus including

A reproducing apparatus for reproducing information from recording elements formed with very small pits on a planar surface. The reproducing apparatus includes a probing unit positioned at a very small distance apart from the surface of the recording element and a scanning unit for scanning the probing unit at a very small distance apart from the surface of the recording element. The reproducing apparatus also includes a detecting unit connected to the probing unit and the recording element respectively, for detecting interactions generated between the probing unit and the surface of the recording element and a regeneration unit connected to the detecting unit for inputting a signal output from the detecting unit and for regenerating information by detecting a pattern of the pits by the input signal.

Reproducing apparatus

An optical element comprises a polarization diffraction element that is provided with diffraction gratings that are respectively mounted on different faces of a transparent substrate of a flat plate shape, which grating pitches are equal to each other and approximately equal to the wavelength of an incident light, and which grating lines are parallel. The thickness of the substrate is set such that the difference that occurs between the phases of the P and S polarizations of a light due to the grating, and the difference that occurs between the phases of the two polarizations when the light propagates through the substrate cancel out. The optical pickup device comprising the optical element includes a polarized light detecting unit provided with a diffraction grating which grating pitch is approximately equal to the wavelength of an incident light; a first photodetector that is mounted integrally and virtually in parallel with the substrate, and that receives a zero-order diffracted light produced by the diffraction grating; and a second photodetector that is located in the same plane as the first photodetector and mounted integrally with the first photodetector and the substrate, and that receives a first-order diffracted light produced by the diffraction grating.

Optical element and optical pickup device comprising it

A pick-up device which includes a light source and a condenser lens for effecting recording and reproduction of information by projecting a light beam as collected by the condenser lens onto a recording medium. A diffraction grating is provided between the light source and the condenser lens for dividing light returning from the recording medium by a diffraction grating so as to be directed to a photo-detector, to thereby obtain an optical detection signal.

Growing community of inventors

Yamatokoriyama, Japan

Hideaki Sato