Abstract: An optical disk drive according to the present invention has the ability to read data from multiple types of optical disks, each of which includes at least one information storage layer. The drive includes: a driving mechanism 120, which is loaded with a selected one of the optical disks of the multiple types and which rotates the optical disk 102; an optical pickup 30 for irradiating the optical disk 102, which has been loaded into the driving mechanism 120, with a converged light beam, thereby generating an electrical signal based on light that has been reflected from the optical disk 102; and a control section (ODC 50) for controlling operations of the driving mechanism 120 and the optical pickup 30. The control section 50 includes a right/wrong side determining section for determining, by reference to the electrical signal generated by the optical pickup 30, whether or not the optical disk 102 has been loaded into the driving mechanism 120 with the other surface opposed to the optical pickup 30.

Abstract: An optical disc drive according to the present invention is designed to read data from a multilayer optical disc 100, from/on which data can be read or written using a light beam. The drive includes a light source 222 for emitting a light beam, an objective lens 230 for converging the light beam, a photodetector 236 for detecting the light beam that has been reflected from the disc, and a control section 246 for setting a read power for a particular one of the multiple storage layers of the disc by reference to a read power table 501b. The table 501b stores multiple read powers for the respective storage layers in order to make S-curves of a focus error signal obtained from the respective layers have predetermined amplitudes. In this manner, the optical disc drive of the present invention can be loaded with a multilayer optical disc more smoothly by setting the best read powers for the respective storage layers of the disc.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method for recording/reproducing information on/from an optical disc, wherein the optical disc has a first to an n-th recording layers (n is an integer of 2 or greater) laminated on a substrate, each of the first to the n-th layers having data regions segmented into a first to an m-th data zone groups (m is an integer of 2 or greater) along a radial direction of the optical disc, each of the first to the m-th data zone groups including at least one data zone, the method comprising the steps of: a) recording/reproducing information in/from data zone groups from a j-th data zone group of a first recording layer to a j-th data zone group of an n-th recording layer; and b) repeating step a) for j=1, 2, . . . , m.

Abstract: An optical disc apparatus includes: a defect detecting section 124 for detecting, based on a light detection signal and with respect to a preset detection reference level, a fingerprint or a bubble on the disc 102 as a defect to output a defect detection signal; and a waveform shaping section 126 to output a hold signal that holds, in response to the defect detection signal, a signal from a tracking control section 109 at a level just before the defect has occurred. The apparatus is initially operated not to hold the signal from the tracking control section 109 even if there is a defect. But once a tracking failure has occurred during a read operation, settings are changed to hold the signal from the tracking control section 109 against the defect while the read operation is retried.

Abstract: In a recording medium including stacked recording layers, management data requiring reliability is recorded in the recording layer far from the surface of the recording medium and data bodies are recorded in the recording layer close to the surface of the recording medium. Thus a data file can be read even if defects such as fingerprints and scratches occur on the surface of the recording medium.

Abstract: An observation field of view of a microscope can be moved without moving or changing an objective lens and without varying position or state of a sample. A microscope optical system has a mirror that changes the direction of the optical path by reflection and is located in the optical path between an objective lens of the microscope and an image to be observed. The mirror is able to be tilted by changing the position of a reflecting surface of the mirror. Accordingly, the observation field of view is moved by tilting the mirror. In other words, the observation field of view can be moved without changing a positional relationship between the objective lens of the microscope and the sample.

Abstract: This optical disc drive can read and/or write data from/on an optical disc 20 with multiple information layers including first and second information layers. The drive includes: a light source 3, 4 that emits the light beam; an objective lens 1; an actuator 2 for moving the objective lens perpendicularly to the information layers; a focus error generator 7 for generating a focus error signal representing how much the light beam has been converged on a target one of the information layers; and focus control means for forming a focal point of the light beam on the target information layer by driving the actuator in accordance with the focus error signal. According to the present invention, while a focus jump is being made to shift the focal point of the light beam from the first information layer of the optical disc 20 to the second information layer thereof by moving the objective lens 1, wavelengths and/or numerical apertures for the light beam are changeable while the objective lens 1 is moving.

Abstract: A light irradiation device that is capable of good irradiance uniformity in the lengthwise direction and that is applicable to an inkjet printer. A light-emitting portion of a short-arc type discharge lamp is positioned at the first focal point of a reflector that has a reflecting surface in the shape of an ellipsoid of revolution, and the light from the discharge lamp is reflected by the reflector and is focused at the second focal point; after which the light is incident on multiple, columnar rod lenses 14. Of the light that is incident on the rod lenses, the light along the axial direction is focused at the second focal point of an elliptical reflector without being affected by the rod lenses, and the light along the direction perpendicular to the axial direction is focused by the rod lenses and then spreads and irradiates the light irradiation surface.

Abstract: A layer-to-layer jumping method according to the present invention includes, after a layer-to-layer jump has been started in a multilayer optical disc, the step ST7 of detecting an S-curve signal from an information layer, which is located shallower than the target information layer of the layer-to-layer jump, with a spherical aberration correction made adaptively to that shallower information layer, and the step ST8 of generating a deceleration signal based on the S-curve signal detected to get the layer-to-layer jump done.

Abstract: An optical disk drive according to the present invention includes: an optical pickup 6 including a light source 23 that radiates a light beam 21 to irradiate an optical disk 100, at least one objective lens 22 for converging the beam 21, and an actuator that can move the lens 22 perpendicularly to the disk 100; a transport stage 11 for displacing the pickup 6 in a disk radial direction; a rim detecting section 30 for sensing if the irradiated position of the beam 21 has passed an outer edge of the disk 100 while the pickup 6 is being displaced from an inner area of the disk toward the outer edge thereof to conduct a seek operation; and a control section 40 for getting the lens 22 retracted away from the disk 100 by the actuator and getting the pickup 6 displaced toward the inner area of the disk by the transport stage 11 if the irradiated position of the light beam 21 has been sensed to have passed the outer edge of the disk 100.

Abstract: An optical disk apparatus according to the present invention is an optical disk apparatus for performing at least one of: recording data to a plurality of types of optical disks including a recordable optical disk and a read-only optical disk which are produced according to the BD specifications; and reproducing data from the optical disks. This apparatus includes: a means (506, 507) for irradiating a management area 502 of an optical disk 501 with a light beam while not performing tracking control, and generating a track position signal (push-pull TE or phase difference TE) from light which is reflected by the management area 502; and a disk determination means for determining, based on the track position signal obtained from the management area 502, whether the optical disk 501 mounted in the optical disk apparatus is a recordable optical disk or a read-only optical disk.

Abstract: In a conventional multilayer optical disc, management information needs to be retrieved from the control area of its reference layer to find how many information layers there are in the optical disc. A multilayer optical disc according to the present invention has multiple information layers that are stacked one upon the other. The information layers include at least one layer on which layer number information, indicating its own place in the multiple information layers, and information about the total number of information layers included are both stored.

Abstract: An immersion microscope objective lens of the present invention has: in order from an object, a first lens group G1 having positive refractive power and having a cemented lens of a plano convex lens having a plane facing the object and a meniscus lens having a concave surface facing the object, and a single meniscus lens having a convex surface facing the object; a second lens group having positive refractive power and having a plurality of cemented lenses; and a third lens group having negative refractive power and having a cemented meniscus lens having a concave surface facing an image, and a cemented meniscus lens having a concave surface facing the object. And the following conditional expressions 0.12<d0/f<0.25, 0.04<?Ct(p)??Ct(n)<0.09 and ?0.03<?hg(p)??hg(n)<0.00 are satisfied.

Abstract: An optical disk apparatus according to the present invention is capable of reading data from an optical disk 102 which has a plurality of information recording layers, including a first information recording layer whose distance from a disk surface is relatively small and a second information recording layer whose distance from the disk surface is relatively large. This optical disk apparatus includes: a focus control section 117 for causing a converging point of the light beam to be positioned on an arbitrary information recording layer of the optical disk 102; a tracking control section 118 for causing the converging point of the light beam to be positioned on a predetermined track of the information recording layer; and a gain switching section 108 capable of changing gain characteristics of at least one of the focus control section 117 and the tracking control section 118.

Abstract: A microscope system is characterized in comprising a transmission illumination optical system having a light source (11) and a condenser lens (13); a first dry objective (15a) having a magnification of from 20 or higher to 40 or lower and capable of viewing by at least one of a differential interference viewing method and a modulation contrast viewing method; and a second dry objective (15b) having a magnification of from 60 or higher to 100 or lower and capable of viewing by a differential interference viewing method; the first objective (15a) and the second objective (15b) being exchangeable.

Abstract: An optical disc apparatus according to the present invention includes: a laser light source for emitting multiple light beams, of which the wavelengths are different from each other and include a first wavelength and a second wavelength that is longer than the first wavelength; an optical system for converging an arbitrarily selected one of the light beams on an optical disc that has a surface and at least one information storage layer; a focus control section for controlling the focus position of the light beam with respect to the optical disc; and a defect detecting section, which senses light reflected from the surface of the optical disc with the focus position of the light beam set on the surface, thereby determining, based on the intensity of the reflected light, whether or not there is a fingerprint on the optical disc.

Abstract: After an optical disk drive according to the present invention has been loaded with an optical disk and before the operation of recognizing the type of the given disk is finished, the drive presumes one of multiple types of candidate optical disks, from/on which data is readable and writable using a light beam with the shortest wavelength among the candidate disks, to be the disk being driven by the motor now and gets the beam for the presumed type of disk radiated from a light source (Step (A)). Next, the drive gets the disk spun at a rotational velocity that realizes a linear velocity equal to or higher than a standardized normal velocity when data is read from the presumed type of disk (Step (B)). Thereafter, the drive starts a focus control in a situation where the spot of the beam being formed on the disk is moving on the disk at the linear velocity equal to or higher than the normal velocity (Step (C)).

Abstract: A catalytic cracking catalyst is provided which has high cracking activity and with which the production of FCC gasoline having a high octane number can efficiently proceed without lowering a gasoline yield. Also provided are a process for producing the catalyst and a method of the catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon oil with the catalyst. The catalyst for catalytic cracking of a hydrocarbon oil comprises a crystalline aluminosilicate, a binder, and a clay mineral in a certain proportion, wherein the content of sodium and potassium therein is 0.5% by mass or lower in terms of oxide (Na2O and K2O) amount, the content of at least one rare earth metal therein is 3.0% by mass or lower in terms of oxide (RE2O3, wherein RE is a rare earth element) amount, the [RE2O3+Na2O+K2O]/[crystalline aluminosilicate] ratio by mass is 0.1 or lower, and the catalyst has a xenon adsorption amount, as measured at an adsorption temperature of 25° C. and a partial xenon pressure of 650 torr, of 2.

Abstract: The optical disc apparatus of this invention includes: an optical pickup 104 to converge a light beam on an information layer of an optical disc 102; a drive section 105 to move the beam along the radius of the disc 102; a tracking error detecting section 108 for generating a tracking error signal based on a light detection signal; a tracking control section 109 to drive the drive section 105 based on the tracking error signal to make the beam follow tracks on the disc 102; a defect detecting section 124 for detecting, based on the light detection signal and with respect to a preset detection reference level, a fingerprint or a bubble on the disc 102 as a defect to output a defect detection signal; and a waveform shaping section 126 to output a hold signal that holds, in response to the defect detection signal, a signal from the tracking control section 109 at a level just before the defect has occurred.

Abstract: An optical disc 1 according to the present invention has a first defect management area 6, to which a first kind of defect management information about non-permanent defects may be added, and a second defect management area 7, to which a second kind of defect management information about permanent defects may be added. The second kind of defect management information added to the second defect management area 7 is non-rewritable.