Patent ID: 6633530
Filing Date: 2003-10-14
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
An optical pickup apparatus including a first light source that emits a first light, a second light source that emits a second light having a wavelength different from a wavelength of the first light, an objective lens that converges the first light and the second light on a recording medium, first and second light-receiving sections that receive the first and second light reflected from the recording medium and passed through the objective lens, the optical pickup apparatus comprising:a light source unit that includes the first light source and a common light-receiving device that includes the first and second light-receiving sections; a second light source that is not included in the light source unit; an optical path composition element that guides the first light and the second light into an optical path that passes the objective lens; and an optical path polarization element that guides the reflected lights of the first and the second lights to the common light-receiving device in the light source unit, wherein the optical path polarization element is a diffraction type optical element that is mounted on the light source unit to form an integral part of the light source unit, and is rotatably adjustable about an optical axis of the first light emitted; wherein the first and second light-receiving sections are formed on a semiconductor substrate and include a first group and a second group of light-receiving elements that respectively receive the reflected lights of the first light and the second light.