Patent ID: 6950376
Filing Date: 2005-09-27
Classification: G11B

Abstract:
1. An optical head which focuses a light beam emitted from a light source, on an optical disk through an objective lens, and which receives a light beam reflected from the optical disk and applied through the objective lens and converts the received light beam, into an electric signal, said optical head comprising: a first optical system which guides the light beam emitted from the light source, to the objective lens, and which comprises a polarized light splitter transmitting the light beam from the light source and a first hologram provided between the polarized light splitter and the objective lens and having a first region and a second region, said first region being incapable of diffracting light beams and said second region being capable of diffracting light beams; a second optical system which comprises a second hologram, which splits a light beam reflected from the optical disk, applied through the objective lens, and reflected from the polarized light splitter into a first light beam and a second light beam, said first light beam having passed trough the first region of the first hologram, and said second light beam having passed through the second region of the first hologram, a photodetector which converts the first and second light beams generated by the second hologram, into electric signals, wherein the first optical system is configured to cause the objective lens to focus the light beam on a recording surface of the optical disk after the light beam has passed through the first region of the first hologram, and to focus the light beam on a surface, which faces the objective lens, of a transparent substrate of the optical disk after the light beam has passed through the second region of the first hologram, wherein the photodetector includes a first light-receiving region which receives the first light beam split by the second hologram and a second light-receiving region which receives the second light beam split by the second hologram, wherein the first and second light-receiving regions are spaced apart to generate signals that are to be processed to correspond to a focusing error of the objective lens, and wherein the first optical system comprises a spherical aberration-compensating element for imparting spherical aberration to the light beam applied to the objective lens through the first hologram.