Objective lens and method for manufacture thereof

Abstract

Lens aberration in an objective lens for recording and reproducing optical information, which is composed of a molded aspherical single lens, is inhibited while at the same time good lens productivity is attained. Also attained are excellent optical properties and high production efficiency in a mold processing step and a press molding step conducted to manufacture the lens. To this end there is provided an objective lenshaving a convex aspherical surface formed at a first surface and a numerical aperture NA which satisfies the condition NA≧0.8. It is preferable to have an aspherical surface also at the second surface. A molding material that was premolded to a prescribed shape and is in a heated and softened state is press molded by using a pair of upper and lower molds having opposing molding surfaces, a molding surface shape is transferred by using a spherical molding material with a radius r and pressing the molding material between a pair of upper and lower molds, and the paraxial curvature radius R of the convex aspherical surface satisfies the following relation r/R≦1.35.