The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 04, 2003
Filed:
Jun. 26, 2000
Yasuyuki Mitsuoka, Chiba, JP;
Norio Chiba, Chiba, JP;
Nobuyuki Kasama, Chiba, JP;
Takashi Niwa, Chiba, JP;
Kunio Nakajima, Chiba, JP;
Seiko Instruments Inc., , JP;
Abstract
A near-field optical probe has a hole penetrating through a substrate and defining a microscopic aperture at an apex thereof for generating or scattering near field light. The probe is simple and inexpensive to produce and may be manufactured in an array form by forming plural holes in the substrate so that it may be used in an optical memory device. A lens is disposed above the microscopic aperture for focusing incident light and a light source is arranged thereover to introduce light to the lens. A focal point of the lens is positioned at the microscopic aperture, so that the light emitted by the light source can be efficiently collected at the microscopic aperture. The structure can be mass produced using known silicon processing techniques, thus being adapted for use as an optical memory head.