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:
May. 18, 2004
Filed:
Mar. 16, 2000
Hidetaka Maeda, Chiba, JP;
Takashi Niwa, Chiba, JP;
Kenji Kato, Chiba, JP;
Susumu Ichihara, Chiba, JP;
Norio Chiba, Chiba, JP;
Yasuyuki Mitsuoka, Chiba, JP;
Manabu Oumi, Chiba, JP;
Nobuyuki Kasama, Chiba, JP;
Seiko Instruments Inc., Chiba, JP;
Abstract
There is disclosed a near-field optical head having an microscopic aperture whose size can be varied. The optical head comprises a substrate of silicon. A hole in the form of an inverted cone is formed in the substrate. The top portion of this hole forms the microscopic aperture. A support portion for supporting an actuator is formed on the substrate. The actuator holds a light-blocking film in such a way that the light-blocking film stays in the hole and that the bottom surface of the light-blocking film is flush with the bottom surface of the microscopic aperture. The light-blocking film is moved by the actuator to change the aperture to desired size.