Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Panasonic Corporation

Hidenori Wada

Yoshiaki Komma

Seiji Nishino

Keiichi Matsuzaki

Kousei Sano

Sadao Mizuno

Kanji Wakabayashi

Tetsuo Saimi

Daisuke Ogata

Hiroaki Yamamoto

Toshiyasu Tanaka

Shin-ichi Kadowaki

Hideki Hayashi

Teruhiro Shiono

Ken'ichi Kasazumi

Kazuhisa Yamamoto

Shinichi Tanaka

Yasuo Kitaoka

Katsuhiko Kumagawa

Akihiro Yasuda

Noboru Ito

Katsuhiko Yasuda

Naoya Hotta

Tatsuya Takaoka

Hideki Nakata

Makoto Kato

Toshio Matsumoto

Yasuhiro Tanaka

Hideki Aikoh

Kenichi Kasazumi

Takeharu Yamamoto

Masahiro Inata

Yoshihiro Kanda

Takeshi Shimamoto

Masanari Mohri

Osamu Kajino

Tomotada Kamei

Eishin Mori

Yoshihiro Ikawa

Masahito Nakao

Yukihiro Chokyu

Haruhisa Yagi

A light modulator () includes a waveguide () through which guided light propagates, a metal layer () formed adjacent to the waveguide (), a conductive oxide layer () having electrical conductivity and formed on a surface of the metal layer () which is not adjacent to the waveguide (), an insulating layer () formed adjacent to the conductive oxide layer (), and a modulation circuit () that applies a voltage between the metal layer () and one of the conductive oxide layer () and the insulating layer (). An interface () at which the conductive oxide layer () and the insulating layer () are adjacent to each other is formed at a distance shorter than a wavelength of the guided light in vacuum, from the surface of the metal layer () which is not adjacent to the waveguide ().

Light modulator, optical pickup, and light modulation module

An optical information device is provided with a first scattering medium (), a second scattering medium (), a third scattering medium (); a diffraction element () which generates a plurality of light beams; an objective lens () which guides, to the first scattering medium () and to the third scattering medium () out of the first scattering medium (), the second scattering medium (), and the third scattering medium (), two light beams out of the plurality of the light beams; and an arithmetic circuit () which detects a gap interval between the first scattering medium () and the third scattering medium (), and an information medium (), based on a change in an amount of reflected light from the first scattering medium () and from the third scattering medium ().

Optical information device, optical disc driving device, optical information recording device, optical information reproducing device, gap control method, and optical pickup

An optical disc () has a first mark () disposed at the center of a track, a second mark () disposed away from the center of the track in a tracking direction thereof by a distance b, and disposed away from the first mark () in the direction along the track by a distance L, and a third mark () disposed away from the center of the track in the tracking direction opposite to that of the second mark () by a distance b, and disposed away from the first mark () in the direction along the track by a distance L. The second and third marks () and () generate scattered light depending on the distance between a scattering medium () and each of the marks by irradiating the scattering medium () in an optical information apparatus with light. The distances band bare smaller than 50 nm.

Information recording medium, tracking method, and optical information apparatus

An objective lens unit according to the present invention includes a first objective lens; and a first lens holderfor supporting the first objective lens. The first lens holderis formed of a material which transmits ultraviolet. Preferably, the first lens holderincludes a through-hole, having first and second openingsand, through which light incident on the first objective lenspasses, and an opening limiting sectionprovided along a circumferential direction of the through-hole and projecting toward a central axis of the through-hole. The first objective lensis supported so as to block the first opening. The opening limiting sectionguides light incident thereon from the second openingin a direction away from an optical axis of the first objective lens.

Objective lens unit, optical pickup, and optical information apparatus

There are provided an optical head and an optical information device capable of downsizing the optical head, and capable of improving the qualities of a focus error signal, a tracking error signal, and a reproduction signal. A light detector () includes a light-receiving unit () for receiving a reflected light beam from an optical disc, and a package () for covering the light-receiving unit (). The package () has a plurality of light guides () formed on a light-receiving surface on the light beam incident side of the light-receiving unit (), and for guiding a reflected light beam to the light-receiving unit (), and a light shield () for shielding a region except for a plurality of the light guides () from light.

Optical head and optical information device

Provided are an optical head and an optical information device capable of inhibiting the temperature rise of a photodetector. An optical head () includes a semiconductor laser () which emits a luminous flux, an objective lens () which focuses the luminous flux emitted from the semiconductor laser () on the optical disk (), and a photodetector () which detects the luminous flux reflected by the optical disk (). The photodetector () includes a light receiving part () which receives the luminous flux reflected by the optical disk (), a package () which covers the light receiving part (), and a heat transfer adhesion layer () disposed between the package () and the light receiving part (). The heat transfer adhesion layer () is formed in a region that is on the light receiving part () and includes a light path through which the luminous flux reflected by the optical disk () passes.

An optical pickup, an inclination angle detection method, an optical information device, and an information processing device capable of reliably and accurately detecting a relative inclination angle between an end face of a solid immersion lens and a surface of an optical recording medium are provided. A convergence position modifying unit modifies convergence states of a first beam and a second beam according to layers of an optical recording medium, a first optical detector includes a first light receiving section which receives the converged first beam and a second light receiving section which receives the converged second beam, and the first optical detector detects a relative inclination angle between an end face of a solid immersion lens and a surface of the optical recording medium based on a difference in quantities of received light between the first light receiving section and the second light receiving section.

Optical pickup, inclination angle detection method, optical information device and information processing device

A small optical pickup of wide spherical aberration correction range includes a rising mirror for perpendicularly deflecting a light beam and guiding the light beam to an objective lens; a spherical aberration correction lens having one surface formed to a larger curvature than the other surface; a lens holder for holding the correction lens so that the surface of large curvature projects towards the rising mirror side; an axially extending guide member; and a slidable part slidable along the guide member. The projecting portion of the slidable part is configured to be fitted within the side surface of the reflecting surface of the rising mirror, and the projecting portion from the lens holder of the spherical aberration correction lens overlaps the reflecting surface of the rising mirror when the spherical aberration correction lens approaches the rising mirror the most.

Optical pickup, optical disc drive device, and optical information device

A deterioration of reproduction light is occurred by a laser drive current on which a high-frequency current is superimposed. The present invention, for example, is an optical information reproducing apparatus which irradiates a laser beam to an optical discand reads an information, the optical information reproducing apparatus includes a semiconductor laserwhich generates the laser beam, a laser drive unitwhich supplies a drive current on which a high-frequency current are superimposed to the semiconductor laser, a spindle motorwhich drives the optical discand a control unitwhich controls the laser drive unitand the spindle motor, and the control unitdetermines a parameter of the high-frequency current based on magnitude of a current on which the high-frequency current is to be superimposed.

Optical information reproducing apparatus, information reproducing method of optical information reproducing apparatus, program and recording medium

An optical disc device is provided with an optical head including a light source, a condensing optical system including an objective lens for receiving a light beam emitted from the light source and forming a microspot on a multilayer optical recording medium, a photodetector for receiving the light beam reflected by the multilayer optical recording medium and outputting an electrical signal corresponding to the amount of light and a coma aberration correcting element for correcting a coma aberration of the condensing optical system, and a processing circuit for controlling the condensing optical system and the coma aberration correcting element. The processing circuit controls the condensing optical system and the coma aberration correcting element so that the correction of the coma aberration from a value suitable for a first recording layer to a value specified for a second recording layer is started before a movement of a focus position of the microspot from the first recording layer to the second recording layer is completed.

Optical disc device, video reproducing apparatus, server, car navigation system using the optical disc device, integrated circuit and recording/reproducing method

An optical head for recording or reproducing a signal on or from an optical recording medium including a light source, an objective lens for condensing light emitted from the light source to the optical recording medium, and a light-separating device arranged between the light source and the objective lens in order to separate the light reflected from the optical recording medium from the light emitted from the light source. The light-separating device includes a first glass, a multilayer film formed on the first glass, and an adhesive layer arranged on the multilayer film in order to bond a second glass onto the multilayer film. The majority of the light emitted from the light source enters into the light-separating device through the first glass and is reflected by the multilayer film.

Optical head for optical recorder/reproducer

An optical head according to the present invention includes: a first light source that emits light with a first wavelength; a beam splitter that splits the light emitted from the first light source into a first light beam traveling in a first direction and a second light beam traveling in a second direction different from the first direction; a first collimator lens for changing degrees of divergence of the first light beam; a first mirror that changes the traveling directions of the first light beam, of which the degrees of divergence have been changed; a first objective lens for converging the first light beam, which has had its traveling directions changed, toward a storage layer of a first optical disk; a mover that holds the first objective lens; a first photodetector that receives the first light beam reflected from the storage layer of the first optical disk and converts it into an electrical signal; a condenser lens for condensing the second light beam; and a second photodetector that receives the second light beam condensed by the condenser lens and converts it into an electrical signal.

An optical pickup includes: a laser light source which outputs an divergent beam having an elliptical far-field pattern; a beam shaping element having at least one cylindrical plane and which shapes the divergent beam outputted from the laser light source into an divergent beam having a prescribed shape in which at least the length in the major axis direction of the elliptical shape is shortened; a light collecting portion having a beam splitter which perpendicularly collects the divergent beam that is outputted from the beam shaping element and which has a prescribed shape on the recording surface of an optical disk , and a mirror or the like; and a light detecting portion The optical axis of the divergent beam is rotated so that the direction in which the major axis of the divergent beam having a prescribed shape is shortened conforms to the radial direction of an optical information recording medium.

Optical pickup, optical element, optical information device, computer, optical information medium player, car navigation system, optical information medium recorder and optical disk server for use with a light source which emits a divergent beam

Objective lens unit, optical pickup, and optical information device having ultraviolet-transmissive lens holder

Growing community of inventors

Uji, Japan

Hidenori Wada