Sectioned Optical Element Patents (Class 369/112.06)
  • Patent number: 8891342
    Abstract: An optical component, a hologram, and a photodetector are configured in an optical head device of an optical disc device such that a +1-order beam or a ?1-order beam of diffracted light generated from light reflected from an information track in the intended information recording layer strikes the interior of the light-receiving surfaces of the tracking error detection light-receiving sections, a +1-order beam or a ?1-order beam of diffracted light generated from light reflected from an information track in an information recording layer one layer deeper than the intended information recording layer strikes outside the light-receiving sections, and a +1-order beam or a ?1-order beam of diffracted light that is generated from light reflected from an information track in an information recording layer one layer shallower than the intended information recording layer strikes outside the light-receiving sections.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 11, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 18, 2014
    Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
    Inventors: Hironori Nakahara, Toshiya Matozaki, Nobuo Takeshita
  • Patent number: 8873166
    Abstract: An objective lens for an optical pickup device is characterized in that compatibility of three types of optical discs, which are a BD, a DVD, and a CD, may be realized by a common objective lens, and a flare can be created by providing an over-spherical aberration when a third optical disc is used from a size relationship between a pitch on a central region side and a pitch on an intermediate region side across a boundary and a relationship of a direction of a step in the base structures superimposed in a central region and an intermediate region of the objective lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: October 28, 2014
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Advanced Layers, Inc.
    Inventor: Kiyono Tateyama
  • Patent number: 8599672
    Abstract: Provided is an objective lens including a diffraction portion provided on a laser beam incident plane or output plane. The diffraction portion includes first second, and third diffraction regions, wherein first laser beams corresponding to a first optical disc having a first transmissive layer are condensed on a data recording portion of the first optical disc, second laser beams corresponding to a second optical disc having a second transmissive layer thicker than the first transmissive layer are condensed on a data recording portion of the second optical disc, and third laser beams corresponding to a third optical disc having a third transmissive layer thicker than the second transmissive layer are condensed on a data recording portion of the third optical disc. An evaluation parameter calculated on the basis of an in-plane efficiency distribution function has a value corresponding to a symbol error rate that is less than a predetermined value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 3, 2013
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Motoo Aiba, Hiroyuki Sakakibara, Taiji Minakawa, Fumihiko Hanzawa, Masashi Abe, Jun Adachi, Katsutoshi Sato
  • Patent number: 8542560
    Abstract: Disclosed are a module to detect a tracking error signal that is easy to be assembled and robust against variation in a track angle, a diffraction grating, an optical pickup, and an optical disc apparatus that enable the module to be realized, wherein a diffraction grating divided into at least three areas, first, second, and third areas, is used; the second area is an area that do not diffract light; and focusing positions of light diffracted by the first and third areas sandwiching the second area therebetween on an optical disc are arranged with a spacing of (2n?1)×t/2 in an optical disc radial direction, respectively, where n is a nonnegative integer and t is a spacing of guide grooves of the optical disc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 2006
    Date of Patent: September 24, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi Media Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kazuyoshi Yamazaki
  • Patent number: 8472299
    Abstract: An optical element which has optical steps each providing a phase difference to transmitted light and has low light amount loss and a high efficiency is provided. The optical element includes a symmetry axis, a plurality of optically functional surfaces which are ring-shaped regions around the symmetry axis, and a plurality of wall regions connecting the optically functional surfaces to each other. The optically functional surfaces and the wall regions constitute the optical steps. On a cross-section taken by, as a cutting plane, a plane including the symmetry axis, the contour line of each wall region is substantially parallel to a light beam which is incident on the optically functional surface on the outer side and passes near the wall region. The maximum value of the angle between the symmetry axis and the light beam passing near the wall region is equal to or more than 25 degrees.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2012
    Date of Patent: June 25, 2013
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Katsuhiko Hayashi, Yasuhiro Tanaka, Michihiro Yamagata
  • Patent number: 8374066
    Abstract: An optical pickup having a one-plane, two-wavelength diffraction grating and a two-wavelength laser generator is provided in which crosstalk noise caused by leakage of a track error signal into a focus error signal is reduced to improve focus control performance. A main beam and sub-beams generated by the one-plane, two-wavelength diffraction grating and reflected from the surface of an optical disc are incident on corresponding light receiving elements among which the one to receive the main beam and those to receive the sub-beams are relatively shifted in a linear-speed direction of the optical disc. The distance of the shifting is determined based on the characteristic, relative to the relative positions of the light receiving elements, of the leakage of the tracking error signal into the focus error signal detected based on the main beam and sub-beams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 12, 2013
    Assignee: Hitachi Media Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kotaro Oishi, Toshiteru Nakamura
  • Patent number: 8325582
    Abstract: A complex objective lens composed of a hologram and an objective lens, capable of realizing stable and high-precision compatible reproducing/recording of a BD with a base thickness of about 0.1 mm for a blue light beam (wavelength ?1) and a DVD with a base thickness of about 0.6 mm for a red light beam (wavelength ?2). In an inner circumferential portion of the hologram, a grating is formed, which has a cross-sectional shape including as one period a step of heights in the order of 0 time, twice, once, and three times a unit level difference that gives a difference in optical path of about one wavelength with respect to a blue light beam, from an outer peripheral side to an optical axis side. The hologram transmits a blue light beam as 0th-order diffracted light without diffracting it, and disperses a red light beam passing through an inner circumferential portion as +1st-order diffracted light and allows it to be condensed by an objective lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: December 4, 2012
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshiaki Komma
  • Publication number: 20120236701
    Abstract: An objective lens for a slim type BD combo disc drive focuses a first light beam onto a first optical disc, a second light beam onto a second optical disc, and a third light beam having a third wavelength onto a third optical disc. The lens may include a first surface through which the first, second, and third light beams emitted from a light source enter the objective lens, and a second surface through which the first, second, and third light beams exit the objective lens and proceed toward the three corresponding optical discs. The first surface may include a diffractive surface which provides focus control in accordance with (i) 0th order light of the first and second light beams which are respectively focused onto the first and second optical discs, and (ii) 1st order diffracted light of the third light beam which is focused onto the third optical disc.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 14, 2011
    Publication date: September 20, 2012
    Applicant: PANASONIC CORPORATION
    Inventor: Yosuke Mizuyama
  • Patent number: 8223612
    Abstract: An optical pickup apparatus according to an embodiment includes a semiconductor laser, an objective lens, a grating, and a light detecting device. The grating is installed between the semiconductor laser and the objective lens to divide the light beam emitted from the semiconductor laser into three beams or more including a main beam and a sub-beam. The light detecting device receives the divided light reflected by the optical recording medium. The grating includes a first diffraction grating and a second diffraction grating. The first diffraction grating has patterns formed for dividing a sub-beam with respect to a first optical recording medium having a first track pitch, and second diffraction grating has patterns formed for dividing the sub-beam divided by the first diffraction grating into sub-beams with respect to a second optical recording medium having a second track pitch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 17, 2012
    Assignee: LG Electronics Inc.
    Inventor: Do Won Kang
  • Patent number: 8159907
    Abstract: An optical pickup device includes a photodetector which receives laser light reflected on a recording medium, and an optical system which guides laser light to the photodetector as convergent light. A light transmitting plate which imparts astigmatism to the laser light is disposed between the optical system and the photodetector with an inclination with respect to an optical axis of the laser light. The optical pickup device further includes an optical element which separates four light fluxes of the laser light from each other. The four light fluxes are obtained by dividing the laser light by two straight lines respectively in parallel to a first focal line direction of the laser light transmitted through the light transmitting plate, and a second focal line direction orthogonal to the first focal line direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2010
    Date of Patent: April 17, 2012
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Kenji Nagatomi
  • Patent number: 8098562
    Abstract: An objective lens includes a diffraction structure for distributing much of a quantity of an incident light beam into two diffracted lights having different diffraction orders from each other, wherein recording or reproduction of information on an optical disk is performed by converging the diffracted light having a longer focal length of the two diffracted lights onto an information recording surface through a protective layer of the optical disk, and a distance from the objective lens to a surface of the protective layer along an optical axis is longer than a distance between focuses of the two diffracted lights along the optical axis when the diffracted light having the longer focal length is converged onto the information recording surface of the optical disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 19, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2012
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Opto, Inc.
    Inventor: Tohru Kimura
  • Patent number: 8094541
    Abstract: An optical pickup free from tracking error signal variation when playing back a double-layered disc, and coping with incompatible optical discs, such as BDs and HD DVDs, includes a laser light source, a first polarization rotation element for rotating a polarization direction of an optical beam from the source, an optical branching element disposed in a position after the polarization rotation element to reflect or transmit an optical beam according to polarization of the beam, first and second object lenses for focusing the reflected and transmitted optical beams onto first and second optical discs, respectively, a photodetector for sensing reflected light from the first and second optical discs, and a second polarization rotation element disposed after reflection or transmission of the reflected light from the first and second optical discs conducted by the branching element, to rotate a polarization direction of the reflected light.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 25, 2008
    Date of Patent: January 10, 2012
    Assignee: Hitachi Media Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Katsuhiko Izumi
  • Publication number: 20110292782
    Abstract: An optical pickup apparatus comprising a first laser unit including a first laser light source and a second laser unit including second and third laser light sources, being respectively disposed on a reflection (transmitting) surface side and a transmitting (reflection) surface side of a first beam splitter, laser lights of the first, second, and third wavelengths being guided onto a common optical path through the first beam splitter and guided to the respective sorts of optical recording mediums, each of the laser lights being divided by a diffraction grating disposed on the common optical path into a main beam and sub-beams, a second beam splitter being disposed on the upstream side of the diffraction grating on a return path of each of the laser lights, the laser lights through the second beam splitter being branched from the common optical path and being received by a photodetector.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 1, 2010
    Publication date: December 1, 2011
    Applicant: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventor: Shigeharu Shirane
  • Patent number: 8064315
    Abstract: An optical pickup includes: a first emission unit emitting an optical beam with a first wavelength corresponding to a first optical disc; a second emission unit emitting an optical beam with a second wavelength, which is longer than the first wavelength, corresponding to a second optical disc different from the first optical disc; a third emission unit emitting an optical beam with a third wavelength, which is longer than the second wavelength, corresponding to a third optical disc different from the first and second optical discs; a condensing optical device condensing, on a signal recording surface of a corresponding optical disc, the optical beams emitted from the first to third emission units; and a diffraction unit provided in the condensing optical device, which is disposed on the optical path of the optical beams with the first to third wavelengths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2009
    Date of Patent: November 22, 2011
    Assignee: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Toshifumi Yasui
  • Patent number: 8045432
    Abstract: Light emitted from a radiation light source 1 passes through a diffraction grating 3a and is separated into transmitted light a and +1st/?1st order diffracted lights b, c. These lights are collected through an objective lens 7 on tracks of an optical disc 8 in a partially overlapped state. Light reflected by the tracks passes through the objective lens 7 and is incident upon light diverging means 13a. Subsequently, light corresponding to the transmitted light “a” diverges into two light beams that are respectively incident upon light detection regions A1, A2, light corresponding to the diffracted lights “b” and “c” respectively diverges into two light beams that are respectively incident upon light detection regions B1, B2, and C1, C2. A tracking error signal associated with the tracks of the optical disc 8 is generated by combining signals detected in the light detection regions A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 2007
    Date of Patent: October 25, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Seiji Nishiwaki, Kazuo Momoo, Junichi Asada
  • Patent number: 8023387
    Abstract: An optical pickup device radiates laser light to a disc having a plurality of recording layers in a direction of lamination. The optical pickup device includes an astigmatic element and a spectral element. The astigmatic element allows reflected light from the disc to converge in a first direction and form a first focal line at a first position, and allows reflected light to converge in a second direction and form a second focal line at a second position closer to the disc than the first position. The spectral element splits a reflected light flux in two along a straight line parallel to the first direction and turns traveling directions of the split two light fluxes into directions separated from each other. Here, the spectral element is interposed between the second focal line of the reflected light from a target recording layer and the second focal line of the reflected light from a deeper recording layer than the target recording layer.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Kenji Nagatomi, Katsutoshi Hibino
  • Patent number: 8023368
    Abstract: A tilt sensor includes a photodetector having a photosensitive plane and detecting a light beam in multiple areas and outputting detection signals representing its intensities and a tilt detector for generating a tilt error signal, including information about the tilt of a disk, based on the detection signals. The light beam forms a beam spot on the photosensitive plane. The beam spot includes a +first-order light area in which zero-order and +first-order light rays, diffracted by a track on the disk, are superposed, ?first-order light area in which zero-order and ?first-order light rays are superposed, and a zero-order light area which is sandwiched between the +first-order and ?first-order light areas, includes neither the +first-order nor ?first-order light ray, but includes a zero-order light ray. The photodetector generates the detection signals except for light entering an opaque area provided for at least part of the zero-order light area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 13, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Akihiro Arai
  • Publication number: 20110211438
    Abstract: An optical pickup device that can reduce interlayer crosstalk, without changing the configuration of the optical system, and without excessively increasing the size of the optical system. The optical pickup device reproduces a signal from a multilayered optical information recording medium having a plurality of information recording layers. The optical pickup device uses a collimating lens unit as a collimating optical system that collimates light from a light source, and the collimating lens unit includes a first and second lens group arranged at a predetermined distance from each other so as to form a converged light spot in the interior of the collimating lens unit, and an optical element provided between the first lens group and the second lens group so as to form a light spot at a position defocused from the position of the converged light spot, thereby decreasing quantity of light passing through the collimating lens unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 9, 2011
    Publication date: September 1, 2011
    Applicant: HITACHI MAXELL, LTD.
    Inventor: Takeshi SHIMANO
  • Patent number: 8007877
    Abstract: To provide a liquid crystal optical modulation element which is excellent in durability against blue laser and which can maintain the characteristics for a long period of time. A liquid crystal optical modulation element to modulate a laser beam having a wavelength of at most 500 nm, which comprises a layer of a polymer liquid crystal composition sandwiched between a pair of transparent substrates facing each other, characterized in that each of the pair of transparent substrates has an alignment film on the surface which faces the other transparent substrate, and the polymer liquid crystal composition is a polymer liquid crystal containing a hindered amine compound and a hindered phenol compound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2011
    Assignee: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Kara Yoshida, Yuriko Kaida, Hiromichi Nagayama, Hiroshi Kumai
  • Publication number: 20110194396
    Abstract: An optical pickup apparatus according to the present invention includes: a first light source for emitting a first light flux; a second light source for emitting a second light flux; a third light source for emitting a third light flux; and an objective optical element. The objective optical element has an optical surface including at least two areas provided with optical path difference providing structures. The objective optical element converges the first to third light fluxes each passing through the predetermined areas on the objective optical element onto respective information recording surfaces of the first to third optical disks. The optical pickup apparatus provides a wavelength dependency of a spherical aberration so as to correct a change in a spherical aberration due to a refractive index change with a temperature change of the objective optical element.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 19, 2011
    Publication date: August 11, 2011
    Inventors: Kentarou NAKAMURA, Kohei Ota, Nobuyoshi Mori, Eiji Nomura
  • Patent number: 7990834
    Abstract: An optical pickup device has a semiconductor laser emitting light which is in turn branched via a diffraction grating into at least three beams of light including a main beam and two sub beams which are in turn condensed via an objective lens on an optical disk at a guide groove and reflected by the optical disk to provide three reflections of light which are in turn received by detectors, each divided into two regions, respectively, to generate a tracking error signal. The diffraction grating is divided into three regions including a first region, a second region and a third region located intermediate therebetween, each having a periodical structure out of phase, the periodical structure having grating grooves in a direction determined depending on the phase of the second region to incline relative to a direction perpendicular to the guide groove of the optical disk.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 28, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Tetsuo Ueyama, Osamu Miyazaki, Yukio Watanabe, Yasuo Nakata, Tomio Mashiyama
  • Patent number: 7990833
    Abstract: An optical pickup device, which reduces the size of an optical spot formed on an optical disk, and prevents the degradation of a tracking error signal due to coherent light from a layer adjacent a target recording/reproducing layer of the optical disk. The optical pickup device includes a light source emitting light at a designated wavelength; an object lens concentrating the light incident from the light source thereupon and forming an optical spot on an optical disk having multiple recording layers; and an optical detector receiving the light reflected by the optical disk and detecting a data signal and an error signal, wherein at least one diffraction pattern region partially diffracting or intercepting the light, emitted from the light source and being incident upon the object lens, and the light, reflected by optical disk and being incident upon the object lens, is formed on the object lens.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 2006
    Date of Patent: August 2, 2011
    Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Tae Youn Heor, Soo Han Park, Young Man Ahn
  • Patent number: 7969850
    Abstract: The optical element comprises a first diffraction structure for generating three beams by diffracting light from a light source and a second diffraction structure that exhibits structural birefringence for a prescribed polarized light returning to the light source. The first diffraction structure is formed on a first face of a translucent optical base material and the second diffraction structure is formed on a second face of the optical base material. The optical base material, the first diffraction structure and the second diffraction structure are formed of a single material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 28, 2011
    Assignee: Enplas Corporation
    Inventor: Yasukazu Hamano
  • Publication number: 20110110216
    Abstract: An optical system for use in an optical pickup apparatus comprises a first optical surface having a superposition type diffractive structure including a plurality of ring-shaped zones which are formed concentrically around an optical axis, wherein each ring-shaped zone is composed of a plurality of stepped sections stepwise, and a second optical surface having a diffractive structure including a plurality of ring-shaped zones which are formed concentrically around an optical axis, wherein each of the plurality of ring-shaped zones are divided by a stepped section to generate a diffractive light ray of diffractive order whose absolute value is not small than 1 for the light flux.
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 13, 2011
    Publication date: May 12, 2011
    Inventors: Tohru Kimura, Kiyoshi Yamashita, Nobuyoshi Mori, Yuichi Atarashi
  • Patent number: 7940631
    Abstract: An optical pickup device includes a diffraction grating 12 for separating an emitted light beam into at least three light beams. The diffraction grating 12 is divided into three regions by dividing lines D1 and D2 extending in a first direction parallel to a tangent line of a track of an optical information recording medium. A second region 12B is divided into four sub-blocks by a dividing line D3 extending in the first direction and a dividing line D4 extending in a second direction that crosses the first direction. The sub-blocks located diagonally opposite to each other have a same phase, and the sub-blocks located adjacent to each other have a phase difference of approximately 180 degrees. The first region 12A has a phase difference of approximately 90 degrees from each sub-block of the second region 12B, and the first region 12A has a phase difference of approximately 180 degrees from the third region 12C.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 18, 2007
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2011
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Naoto Shimada, Hiroaki Yamamoto, Naoki Nakanishi, Masahiko Nishimoto, Takuya Okuda
  • Patent number: 7855944
    Abstract: An optical element for use in an optical pickup device to conduct reproducing and/or recording information for a first disk including a protective substrate by the use of a first light flux emitted from a first light source and to conduct reproducing and/or recording information for a second disk including a protective substrate by the use of a second light flux emitted from a first light source, the optical element includes: an optical surface on which a first phase structure is formed to have a function to correct a spherical aberration; an optical surface on which a second phase structure is formed such that when the wavelength of the first light flux changes, the second phase structure generates a spherical aberration in a direction reverse to the direction of a spherical aberration generated by the first phase structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2009
    Date of Patent: December 21, 2010
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Opto, Inc.
    Inventor: Tohru Kimura
  • Patent number: 7846515
    Abstract: To provide a liquid crystal optical modulation element which is excellent in durability against blue laser and which can maintain the characteristics for a long period of time. A liquid crystal optical modulation element to modulate a laser beam having a wavelength of at most 500 nm, which comprises a layer of a polymer liquid crystal composition sandwiched between a pair of transparent substrates facing each other, characterized in that each of the pair of transparent substrates has an alignment film on the surface which faces the other transparent substrate, and the polymer liquid crystal composition is a polymer liquid crystal containing a hindered amine compound and a hindered phenol compound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 26, 2010
    Date of Patent: December 7, 2010
    Assignee: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
    Inventors: Kara Yoshida, Yuriko Kaida, Hiromichi Nagayama, Hiroshi Kumai
  • Patent number: 7835235
    Abstract: An optical pickup apparatus and an optical recording/reproducing system including the same, the optical pickup apparatus includes at least two optical systems for different types of optical recording media, one of objective lenses of the optical systems being offset from a central line of the optical recording medium, wherein the optical system including the offset objective lens having a diffraction grating diffracting light emitted from a light source to form a main beam and sub-beams, wherein the diffraction grating includes first and second diffraction regions having different grating patterns arranged alternately thereon, and a center of each sub-beam is arranged at a boundary of the first and second diffraction regions of the diffraction grating, and a center of the diffraction grating and an optical axis of the light source are adjusted to be coincided with each other, preventing generation of an alternating current in a Push-Pull signal of the sub-beams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2007
    Date of Patent: November 16, 2010
    Assignee: Toshiba Samsung Storage Technology Korea Corporation
    Inventors: Sun-mook Park, Ui-yol Kim, Jong-kook Lee, Pyong-yong Seong
  • Patent number: 7821899
    Abstract: The present invention provides an optical pickup device requiring no position adjustment of a diffraction grating at the time of assembling the optical pickup device, and capable of suppressing fluctuations in a differential push-pull signal amplitude and cancelling a push-pull offset. An optical pickup device 200 of an embodiment of the present invention has a diffraction grating 230 of a special shape including predetermined grooves and two kinds of lattice grooves arranged at a pitch determined on the basis of a pitch of grooves formed in the surface of an optical disk 50, numerical aperture, wavelength of a light beam, and effective diameter of the light beam applied on the optical disk 50.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 3, 2006
    Date of Patent: October 26, 2010
    Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
    Inventors: Takuma Yanagisawa, Masakazu Ogasawara
  • Patent number: 7801008
    Abstract: A diffractive optical element includes a first optical part and a second optical part bonded to each other with a bonded surface therebetween configured as a diffraction surface. In this diffractive optical element, the diffraction order of diffracted light with the largest quantity of light out of diffracted light for one of a plurality of kinds of laser beams obtained on the diffraction surface is different from the diffraction order for at least another laser beam.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 1, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Tanaka, Michihiro Yamagata, Katsuhiko Hayashi
  • Patent number: 7801009
    Abstract: In an optical head device responding to optical disc of different track pitches, an effect of both obtaining the tracking error signal by the optimum DPP method using a single diffractive element and suppressing the lowering amount in the amplitude of the tracking error signal in a state the object lens is moved by track following is obtained. In the optical head device, the grating phase of left and right regions of a sub-beam generating diffractive element differ from each other by 180 degrees. A central region of the sub-beam generating diffractive element has a grating pattern different from the left and right regions, and is divided into a plurality of regions to form different gratings different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 23, 2007
    Date of Patent: September 21, 2010
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshiaki Komma
  • Patent number: 7738345
    Abstract: There is provided an objective lens used for three types of optical discs including by selectively using one of three types of light beams. At least one of surfaces of the objective lens is provided with a first region converging the third light beam on a recoding surface of the third optical disc. The first region has a step structure configured to have concentric refractive surface zones and to give an optical path length difference to an incident beam at each step formed between adjacent refractive surface zones. The step structure is configured such that the optical path length difference given by each step is substantially equal to an odd multiple of a wavelength of a first light beam, and a value of differentiation of an optical path difference function defining the step structure crosses zero in a height ranging from 30% to 70% of an effective diameter of the first region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 12, 2006
    Date of Patent: June 15, 2010
    Assignee: Hoya Corporation
    Inventors: Daisuke Koreeda, Koichi Maruyama, Shuichi Takeuchi, Yoshiyuki Tashiro
  • Patent number: 7701832
    Abstract: An optical scanning device scans optical record carriers, such as three optical record carriers, where each optical record carrier has an information layer having a depth which is different from the information layer depth of other optical record carriers, where d3<d2<d1, and where d1, d2, d3 are the information layer depths of the first, second, and third optical record carriers, respectively. The scanning device includes a radiation source system for producing three radiation beams of different wavelengths for scanning the three record carriers. The scanning device further includes a diffraction structure for introducing three different wavefront modifications into the three radiation beams, respectively. The diffraction structure is arranged to operate at selected diffraction orders m1, m2, m3, for the three radiation beams, respectively.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2010
    Assignee: CP-Mahk Japan Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Teunis Willem Tukker, Joris Jan Vrehen
  • Patent number: 7684306
    Abstract: There is provided an optical pickup apparatus that can obtain a stable servo signal by reducing stray light generated by diffraction in a recording layer other than a recording layer on which light is condensed. A hologram element provided in an optical pickup apparatus for recording information onto a recording medium and/or reproducing information on the recording medium by use of light includes fourth and fifth divisions where at least first-order diffracted light among diffracted light beams obtained by reflection and diffraction on a recording layer other than a light-condensed recording layer on which light is condensed by an objective lens so as not to be directed toward first and second light-receiving elements for detecting focus position information and third to eighth light-receiving elements for detecting track position information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 31, 2006
    Date of Patent: March 23, 2010
    Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Kazunori Matsubara, Shinzoh Murakami, Tetsuo Ueyama, Kazuhiro Tsuchida, Yukio Watanabe, Osamu Miyazaki
  • Patent number: 7640651
    Abstract: Embodiments of the invention provide fabrication processes for the co-fabrication of microprobe arrays along with one or more space transformers wherein the fabrication processes include the forming and adhering of a plurality of layers to previously formed layers and wherein at least a portion of the plurality of layers are formed from at least one structural material and at least one sacrificial material that is at least in part released from the plurality of layers after formation and wherein the space transformer includes a plurality of interconnect elements that connect one side to the array of probes that has a first spacing to another side that has a second spacing where the second spacing is greater than the first spacing. In some embodiments, the fabrication process includes a plurality of electrodeposition operations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 3, 2005
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2010
    Assignee: Microfabrica Inc.
    Inventors: Adam L. Cohen, Vacit Arat, Michael S. Lockard, Christopher A. Bang, Pavel B. Lembrikov
  • Patent number: 7613096
    Abstract: A converging optical element for use in an optical pickup apparatus reproducing and/or recording information on a first optical disc using a first light flux with a wavelength ?1 emitted by a first light source, reproducing and/or recording information on a second optical disc using a second light flux with a wavelength ?2 emitted by a second light source, and reproducing and/or recording information on a third optical disc using a third light flux with a wavelength ?3 emitted by a third light source, the converting optical element includes: a phase structure arranged on at least one surface of the converging optical element, wherein when f3 is a focal length of the converging optical element for the third light flux, the focal length f3 satisfies a predefined condition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2005
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2009
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Opto, Inc.
    Inventor: Mika Wachi
  • Patent number: 7587112
    Abstract: In order to prevent a spectrum of a wavelength channel from becoming narrower, a device according to the present invention includes a light dividing section capable of dividing a wavelength spectrum in an input light beam and outputting a plurality of divided light beams, which are spatially separated and have wavelength spectrum portions different from each other, and a wavelength-to-special-position-converter capable of spatially multiplexing the wavelength spectrum portions of the plurality of divided light beams from the light dividing section.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 10, 2005
    Date of Patent: September 8, 2009
    Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
    Inventor: Haruhiko Tabuchi
  • Patent number: 7564764
    Abstract: An optical element for use in an optical pickup device to conduct reproducing and/or recording information for a first disk including a protective substrate by the use of a first light flux emitted from a first light source and to conduct reproducing and/or recording information for a second disk including a protective substrate by the use of a second light flux emitted from a first light source, the optical element includes: an optical surface on which a first phase structure is formed to have a function to correct a spherical aberration; an optical surface on which a second phase structure is formed such that when the wavelength of the first light flux changes, the second phase structure generates a spherical aberration in a direction reverse to the direction of a spherical aberration generated by the first phase structure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 27, 2004
    Date of Patent: July 21, 2009
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Opto, Inc.
    Inventor: Tohru Kimura
  • Patent number: 7542637
    Abstract: The present invention relates to a coupling optical system, an optical element, and an optical pickup apparatus. A coupling optical system is provided for use in an optical pickup apparatus and is arranged between a light source and an objective lens of the optical pickup apparatus. The coupling optical system includes: a first optical element with a power; and a second optical element with a positive power. The first optical element includes an optical surface, an out-effective-aperture section surrounding the optical surface, and a light-reduction structure arranged on the out-effective-aperture section. When a non-parallel light flux emitted from the light source enters into the out-effective-aperture section, the light-reduction structure reduces a light flux to be emitted from the second optical element in a direction getting closer to an optical axis of the second optical element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 20, 2007
    Date of Patent: June 2, 2009
    Assignee: Konica Minolta Opto, Inc.
    Inventor: Tohru Kimura
  • Patent number: 7539117
    Abstract: An optical pickup has a semiconductor laser, a diffractive optical element that has first diffraction regions and second diffraction regions and diffracts a beam emitted by the semiconductor laser, an objective lens that focuses the diffracted beam on an optical disc, and a detection unit that detects a tracking error signal using the diffracted beam reflected by the optical disc. When a zero order diffraction beam is focused on the optical disc, a first order diffraction beam is diffracted by the first diffraction regions to be focused at a position between the objective lens and the optical disc, and diffracted by the second diffraction regions to be focused at a position beyond the optical disc. The first order diffraction beam has a beam width that, on the optical disc in a radial direction thereof, is two times or greater a track pitch of the optical disc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2006
    Date of Patent: May 26, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Tatsuya Nakamori, Masayuki Ono, Naoki Nakanishi, Masahiko Nishimoto
  • Patent number: 7486606
    Abstract: An optical head which is capable of realizing a stable tracking control, even if the rotational center of an information recording medium is not located on the extension line of the transfer directions of a light-concentrating element, includes: a semiconductor laser which emits a beam of light; an objective lens which concentrates the beam of light on an optical disk; a transfer mechanism which transfers the objective lens between the outermost circumference and the innermost circumference of the recording area of the optical disk along the optical disk; and a photo-detector which detects a beam of light that returns from the optical disk. The photo-detector includes a plurality of areas which are divided by a division line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 2005
    Date of Patent: February 3, 2009
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kousei Sano, Yoshiaki Komma, Sadao Mizuno
  • Patent number: 7466642
    Abstract: The present invention provides a first light source (21) that emits light of a first wavelength, that at least either records onto or reproduces information from an information recording medium (30), a light source (22) that emits light of a second wavelength that records onto or reproduces information from an information recording medium (33), a light source (23) that emits light of a third wavelength that records onto or reproduces information from an information recording medium (23), focusing means, an optical element (28) that passes light of the first wavelength and diffracts light of the second and third wavelengths, wherein the optical element (28) is an optical element in which grooves are formed in a substrate, wherein the expression: 380 nm?(n?1)×d?420 nm is satisfied, where n is a refractive index of the substrate at a wavelength of 400 nm, and d (nm) is a depth per step of the grooves, and wherein the grooves are formed in two steps of depth d and depth 2d.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 18, 2003
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2008
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventors: Kousei Sano, Yoshiaki Komma, Hidenori Wada, Akihiro Yasuda
  • Publication number: 20080175128
    Abstract: An optical pickup apparatus for reproducing information from an optical information recording medium or for recording information onto an optical information recording medium, is provided with a first light source for emitting first light flux having a first wavelength; a second light source for emitting second light flux having a second wavelength, the first wavelength being different from the second wavelength; a converging optical system having an optical axis and a diffractive portion, and a photo detector; wherein in case that the first light flux passes through the diffractive portion to generate at least one diffracted ray, an amount of n-th ordered diffracted ray of the first light flux is greater than that of any other ordered diffracted ray of the first light flux, and in case that the second light flux passes through the diffractive portion to generate at least one diffracted ray, an amount of n-th ordered diffracted ray of the second light flux is greater than that of any other ordered diffracted
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 19, 2007
    Publication date: July 24, 2008
    Inventors: Norikazu Arai, Toshiyuki Kojima, Toshihiko Kiriki, Kohei Ota, Shinichiro Saito
  • Patent number: 7106525
    Abstract: There is provided an objective lens for an optical pick-up used for different types of optical discs. The objective lens has at least one surface on which a plurality of annular zones are formed. The at least one surface is divided into an inner area having a low NA and an outer area having high NA outside the inner area. Further, with regard to a light beam used for a second optical disc (e.g., a DVD), an optical path difference generated between at least one of steps formed between adjacent annular zones of the plurality of annular zones within the outer area is lower by a predetermined amount than an integral multiple of a wavelength of the light beam used for the second optical disc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 8, 2004
    Date of Patent: September 12, 2006
    Assignee: PENTAX Corporation
    Inventors: Shuichi Takeuchi, Koichi Maruyama
  • Patent number: 6995909
    Abstract: Conventional lenses for DVD/CD compatible writing/reading are liable to CD jitter deterioration due to phase shifts in a central area. Setting a corresponding base material thickness of an intermediate area of the circumference A2 to greater than 1.2 mm which is the base material thickness of the CD, that is, converging luminous flux that has passed through the intermediate area of the circumference A2 onto a farther place than the information recording surface of the base material thickness of the CD makes it possible to reduce jitter deterioration due to phase shifts. Further, it makes possible to provide a system with higher precision and higher reliability.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 5, 2000
    Date of Patent: February 7, 2006
    Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Hideki Hayashi, Sadao Mizuno
  • Patent number: 6956807
    Abstract: A device for scanning a first and second type of optical record carriers (2; 40) generates a first and a second radiation beam for scanning the first and second type of record carriers, respectively, the first radiation beam having a first numerical aperture larger than the second numerical aperture of the second radiation beam. The device includes a non-periodic phase structure that does not affect the first radiation beam. The phase structure introduces an amount of spherical aberration in the second radiation beam for scanning the second type of record carriers for compensating the difference in spherical aberration required for scanning through the different thickness of the transparent layer (3; 41) of the first and second type of record carriers (2, 40).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2001
    Date of Patent: October 18, 2005
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventors: Jorrit Ernst De Vries, Bernardus Hendrikus Wilhelmus Hendriks
  • Patent number: 6930962
    Abstract: An optical information reading apparatus includes a semiconductor laser, a beam splitter, a collimating lens, a super-resolution cut-off filter, an objective lens having a high numerical aperture, and a photodetector. The super-resolution cut-off filter is disposed immediately in front of the incident side of the objective lens. The photodetector is a well-known eight-division photodetector with a signal processing circuit, reads recorded information and also outputs tracking and focusing control signals to a control circuit. The laser beam is separated into a 0-th order laser beam and ± primary laser beams, which are made incident on the objective lens, pass therethrough, and are made incident on the recording surface of a disk. The 0-th order laser beam is used to read information and to control focussing while the ± primary laser beams are used to control tracking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 10, 2002
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2005
    Assignee: Minebea Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Atsushi Kitamura, Kozo Matsumoto, Mizuki Nakamura, Motoji Egawa
  • Patent number: 6930973
    Abstract: An optical element (16) introduces a first wavefront deviation when a first radiation beam having a first wavelength passes through it and a second wavefront deviation when a second radiation beam having a second wavelength different from the first wavelength passes through it. One surface of the optical element comprises a phase structure in the form of annular areas (52, 53, 54, 55), the areas forming a non-periodic pattern of optical paths of different length. The optical paths for the first wavelength form the first wavefront deviation and the optical paths for the second wavelength form the second wavefront deviation, the difference between the two deviations being proportional to the difference between the first and second wavelength.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 19, 2000
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2005
    Assignee: Koninklijke Phillips Electronics N.V.
    Inventors: Bernardus Hendrikus Wilhelmus Hendriks, Jorrit Ernst De Vries
  • Patent number: 6928043
    Abstract: A device for scanning a first and second type of optical record carriers (2, 40) generators a first and a second radiation beam for scanning the first and second type of record carriers, respectively. The information layers (4, 42) of the first and second type of record carriers is scanned through transparent layers (3, 41) of different thickness. The first radiation beam (17) has a first wavelength and a first numerical aperture NA?1. The second radiation beam (46) has a different, second wavelength and an effective second numerical aperture NA2 smaller NA1. The rays of the second radiation beam having an NA smaller than NA2 form a central sub-beam (48), the rays having a larger NA form an outer sub-beam (49). The device includes a non-periodic phase structure that does not affect the first radiation beam. The phase structure introduces an amount of spherical aberration in the central sub-beam (48). The phase structure is transparent for the central and outer sub-beam (48, 49).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 8, 2001
    Date of Patent: August 9, 2005
    Assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.
    Inventors: Jorrit Ernst De Vries, Bernardus Hendrikus Wilhelmus Hendriks
  • Patent number: RE43961
    Abstract: In an optical head device responding to optical disc of different track pitches, an effect of both obtaining the tracking error signal by the optimum DPP method using a single diffractive element and suppressing the lowering amount in the amplitude of the tracking error signal in a state the object lens is moved by track following is obtained. In the optical head device, the grating phase of left and right regions of a sub-beam generating diffractive element differ from each other by 180 degrees. A central region of the sub-beam generating diffractive element has a grating pattern different from the left and right regions, and is divided into a plurality of regions to form different gratings different from each other.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 5, 2013
    Assignee: Panasonic Corporation
    Inventor: Yoshiaki Komma