Optical pickup compatible with optical recording media

Abstract: An optical pickup is compatible with at least two types of optical recording media using light beams having respectively different wavelengths for recording and reproduction of information. In the optical pickup, a first laser light source (31) emits a light beam having a relatively shorter wavelength. A first photodetector (34) detects a reflected light beam with respect to the relatively shorter wavelength. An objective lens (38) forms an annular shielding region between a near axis region of a relatively smaller radius and a far axis region of a relatively larger radius. A laser unit (44) emits a light beam having a relatively longer wavelength, and detects only a light beam passing though the near axis region in the objective lens (38) among reflected light beams having the relatively longer wavelength. A plurality of beam splitters (32, 35, 42) directs the light beam emitted from the first laser light source (31) and the laser unit (44) to the objective lens (38), and directs the light beam reflected from each of the optical recording media to a corresponding one of the first photodetector (34) and the laser unit (44). The optical pickup of the present invention has compatibility with respect to disks regardless of the thicknesses and various aspects of the disks, and can detect a good signal. Also, optical pickups according to the present invention can be manufactured and mass-produced at a low cost.

Description: The present invention relates to an optical pickup for a digital versatile disk (DVD) which is compatible with a class of compact disks, and more particularly to an optical pickup capable of recording and reproducing a signal with respect to a digital versatile disk (DVD) and a class of compact disks, by moving a position of a laser unit which emits a light beam having a relatively longer wavelength and detects a reflected light beam, and limiting the size of a photodetector. So far, a high-density optical disk system enlarges a numerical aperture of an objective lens in order to increase a recording density, and uses a short wavelength light source of 635nm or 650nm. The system has been developed to also reproduce a compact disk (CD) having a thickness different from a digital versatile disk (DVD) as well as recording and reproducing a DVD, by using a short wavelength light source. However, to be compatible with a compact disk-recordable (CD-R) being a recent type of a CD, laser light having a wavelength of 780nm should be used. This is due to the recording characteristic of the recording medium of the CD-R. As a result, using light beam wavelengths of 780nm and 635nm in a single optical pickup becomes very important for compatibility of the DVD and the CD-R. A conventional optical pickup which is compatible with the DVD and the CD-R will be described below with reference to Figure 1. Figure 1 shows an optical pickup using two laser light sources and a single objective lens. The optical pickup shown in Figure 1 uses laser light having a wavelength of 635nm when reproducing a DVD, and uses laser light having a wavelength of 780nm when recording and reproducing a CD-R. A light beam having a wavelength of 635nm emitted from a laser light source 11 is incident to a collimating lens 12. The light beam is depicted as a solid line. The collimating lens 12 collimates the incident light beam emitted from the laser light source 11 into a parallel light beam. The light beam passing through the collimating lens 12 is reflected by a beam splitter 13, and then goes to an interference filter prism 14. Meanwhile, a light beam having a wavelength of 780nm emitted from a laser light source 21 passes through a collimating lens 22, a beam splitter 23 and a converging lens 24 in sequence, and then proceeds to the interference filter prism 14, which is depicted as a dotted line. The interference filter prism 14 totally transmits a light beam having a wavelength of 635nm reflected by the beam splitter 13, and totally reflects a light beam of the 780nm wavelength converged by the converging lens 24. As a result the light beam emitted from the laser light source 11 is incident to a wave plate 15 in the form of a parallel beam. The light beam emitted from the laser light source 21 is incident to the wave plate 15 in the form of a divergent beam. The light beam transmitted via the wave plate 15 passes through a variable aperture 16, and is then incident to the objective lens 17. The objective lens 17 is designed to focus a light beam of the 635nm wavelength on an information recording surface of a DVD 18 having a thickness of 0.6mm, and focuses the light beam emitted from the laser light source 11 on the information recording surface of the DVD 18. Therefore, the light beam reflected from the information recording surface of DVD 18 contains information recorded on the information recording surface thereof. The reflected light beam is transmitted via the beam splitter 13, and then incident to a photodetector 19 for detecting optical information. Also, the objective lens 17 focuses a divergent light beam having a wavelength of 780nm emitted from the laser light source 21 on an information recording surface of a CD-R 25 having a thickness of 1.2mm. An optical system having such a structure which can converge a divergent light beam by the objective lens 17, is called a "finite optical system". Spherical aberration is generated due to a difference in thickness between the DVD 18 and the CD-R 25. In more detail, the spherical aberration is due to a fact that the distance between the information recording surface of the CD-R 25 and the objective lens 17 is farther than that between the information recording surface of the DVD 18 and the objective lens 7, along an optical axis. By using the variable aperture 16 to be described later with reference to Figure 2, the light beam of the 780nm wavelength forms an optimized beam spot on the information recording surface of the CD-R 25. The light beam of the 780nm wavelength reflected from the CD-R 25 is reflected by the beam splitter 23, and then detected in the photodetector 26. The variable aperture 16 of Figure 1 has a thin-film type structure as shown in Figure 2 which can selectively transmit the light beams incident to the region whose numerical aperture (NA) is less than or equal to 0.6 which coincides with the diameter of the objective lens 17. That is, the variable aperture 16 is partitioned into two regions. A first region is a region which totally transmits the light beam of 635nm wavelength and 780nm wavelengths and whose numerical aperture (NA) is less than or equal to 0.45. A second region surrounding the first region is a region which totally transmits the light beam having the wavelength of 635nm and totally reflects the light beam of the 780nm wavelength. Also, the first region is composed of a quartz (SiO2) thin film in order to remove any optical aberration generated by the dielectric thin film coated region. The 780nm wavelength light passing through the region having the 0.45 NA or below in the variable aperture 16 forms a beam spot appropriate to the CD-R 25 on the information recording surface thereof. Thus, the optical pickup of Figure 1 forms an optimized optical spot and is compatible with the DVD 18 and the CD-R 25 when an optical recording medium is changed from the DVD 18 and the CD-R 25. The optical pickup of Figure 1 as described above should form a "finite optical system" with respect to the light beam of the 780nm wavelength in order to remove spherical aberration generated when compatibly changing a DVD and a CD-R. However, such a fabricating process of the optical system does not only become complicated but also assembly of optical components is difficult. Also, an optical path difference between the region having the 0.45 NA or below and the region having the 0.45 NA or above, is generated due to the dielectric thin film formed at the region having the 0.45 NA or above in the variable aperture 16. Therefore, the region should be composed of a special optical thin film, i.e., a quartz (SiO 2 ) thin film to remove this difference. For this reason, the first region is composed of a quartz (SiO 2 ) thin film and the region is composed of a dielectric thin film. However, a manufacturing process is complicated and adjustment of the thickness of the thin film should be performed precisely in units of "µm". Thus, it has been difficult in mass-producing the optical pickup. In order to attempt to solve the problems, in the case of constituting an optical pickup (not shown) including a laser unit in which the laser light source 21 for emitting the light beam of the 780nm wavelength and the photodetector 26 are incorporated in a single module, without using the variable aperture 16 and the converging lens 24, spherical aberration is not generated with respect to the CD-R 25. And, the optical pickup forms a finite optical system maintaining the 0.55 NA or above in a numerical aperture of the objective lens, and thus a beam spot having a size of 1.2~1.3µm is formed on the information recording surface of the CD-R 25. However, a most appropriate size of the beam spot when reproducing a general type of compact disk is 1.4~1.6µm. To increase the size of a beam spot converged into the CD-R, the laser unit is moved to a position where no spherical aberration is generated so that a total conjugate length (TCL) is lengthened. The TCL is a distance corresponding to an optical path from an information recording surface of a disk to a laser light source. A beam spot having the size of 1.4µm is formed on the information recording surface of the CD-R according to movement of the laser unit, but spherical aberration is generated and a side lobe is increased. The light beam generating such a side lobe is a light beam passing through a far region having a relatively larger radius in an objective lens, and has a bad effect on a reproduction signal. With a view to solve or reduce the problems it is an aim of preferred embodiments of the present invention to provide an optical pickup compatible with a compact type disk and a DVD, with no separate variable aperture, by moving a laser unit into a direction that a total conjugate length (TGL) is lengthened at a position where no spherical aberration is generated, and lessening the size of a photodetector so that a light beam at a far axis region having a relatively larger radius in an objective lens is not detected, in order to adjust the thickness of disks and variation of wavelengths. EP-A-0 859 356 discloses an optical pickup having an objective lens compatible with a plurality of optical disk formats. The optical pickup comprises a light source, an objective lens for focusing light emitted from the light source into an optimal light spot on an information recording surface, and a light detector to detect light transmitted through the objective lens. The objective lens has an inner area, an annular lens area and an outer area such that the annular lens area divides the inner area from the outer area and has a ring shaped centred at a vertex. This document is cited against the present application under Article 54(3) EPC. According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus and method as set forth in the appended claims. Preferred features of the invention will be apparent from the dependent claims, and the description which follows. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical pickup compatible with at least two types of optical recording media using light beams having respectively different wavelengths for recording and reproduction of information, the optical pickup comprising: a first laser light source to emit a light beam having a relatively shorter wavelength; a first photodetector to detect a reflected light beam with respect to the relatively shorter wavelength; an objective lens to form an annular shielding region between a near axis region of a relatively smaller radius and a far axis region of a relatively larger radius; a laser unit comprising a second laser light source to emit a light beam having a relatively longer wavelength, and a second photodetector to detect only a light beam passing though the near axis region in the objective lens among reflected light beams having the relatively longer wavelength; and a plurality of beam splitters to direct the light beam emitted from the first laser light source and the laser unit to the objective lens , and to direct the light beam reflected from each of the optical recording media to a corresponding one of the first photodetector and the second photodetector; wherein said laser unit is located at a position where the length of an optical path from information recording surfaces of the disks to the second laser light source is longer than the length of an optical path when no spherical aberration is generated. For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how embodiments of the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a view showing the structure of a conventional optical pickup; Figure 2 is a view showing the structure of a variable aperture shown in Figure 1; Figure 3 is a view showing the construction of an optical pickup according to the present invention; Figure 4 is a graphical view showing variation of spherical aberration when a laser unit of Figure 3 is moved; and Figures 5A and 5B are views showing an optical detection state of a photodetector according to a position of the laser unit shown in Figure 3. A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 3 shows an optical pickup according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. An optical pickup shown in Figure 3 includes two laser light sources 31 and 40 for emitting light beams having different wavelengths. A polarizing beam splitter 32 which is next to the laser light source 31, totally reflects a light beam incident from the laser light source 31, and totally transmits a light beam reflected from a disk 39. An optical detection lens 33 and a photodetector 34 for detecting the light beam reflected from the disk 39 are positioned at the left of the polarizing beam splitter 32. A beam splitter 35 for selectively total-transmitting or total-reflecting light beams to be incident according to wavelengths of light beams, is disposed at the right of the polarizing beam splitter 32. A phase plate 36 for transmitting an incident light beam and a collimating lens 37 for collimating an incident light beam into parallel light, are positioned at the right of the beam splitter 35. An annular shielding objective lens 38 for focusing light beams to be incident on information recording surfaces of the disks 39 and 43, is disposed next to the collimating lens 37. Meanwhile, a holographic beam splitter 42 for altering an optical path of the light beam reflected from the information recording surface of the disk 43 so as to direct the light beam toward the photodetector 41, is disposed between the laser light source 40 and the beam splitter 35. The photodetector 41 for detecting the light beam reflected from the disk 43 and the laser light source 40 are incorporated in a single module as a laser unit 44. The photodetector 41 is manufactured to have a small size into a radial direction of a disk so that only a light beam passing through a near axis region having a relatively smaller radius in the objective lens 38 among light beams passing through the annular shielding objective lens 38, is detected. The holographic beam splitter 42 and the laser unit 44 maintain a constant interval therebetween. An operation of the optical pickup as constructed above will be described in more detail below. Here, a DVD 39 and a compact type disk 43 are used as optical recording media. First, in the case of a DVD having a relatively thin thickness, a light beam having a wavelength of 635nm emitted from the laser light source 31 is incident to the polarizing beam splitter 32, which is depicted as a solid line. The incident light beam is transmitted via the beam splitter 35 and the phase plate 36 and then proceeds to the collimating lens 37. The light beam proceeding to the collimating lens 37 is collimated into parallel light, and the collimated parallel light beam is directed to the annular shielding objective lens 38. The annular shielding objective lens 38 focuses the incident light beam on the information recording surface of the DVD 39 and forms an optimized beam spot, using a maximum numerical aperture. The light beam reflected from the information recording surface of the DVD 39 contains information recorded thereon. The reflected light beam is transmitted via the beam splitter 35 and the polarizing beam splitter 32, and then proceeds to the optical detection lens 33. The light beam directed to the optical detection lens 33 is incident to the photodetector 34 for detecting optical information, and the optical information with respect to the DVD 39 is detected by the photodetector 34. Meanwhile, in the case of a compact type disk having a relatively thick thickness, the light beam of a wavelength of 780nm emitted from the laser light source 40 is incident to the holographic beam splitter 42, which is depicted as a dotted line. The incident light beam proceeds to the beam splitter 35 and is totally reflected. The totally reflected light beam is transmitted via the phase plate 36 and then proceeds to the collimating lens 37. The light beam incident to the collimating lens 37 is collimated into parallel light, and the collimated parallel light is directed to the annular shielding objective lens 38. The annular shielding objective lens 38 forms an optimized beam spot on the information recording surface of the compact type disk 43. When the laser unit 44 is disposed at a position where spherical aberration is not generated, that is, when the laser unit 44 is disposed at a position "A", the optical pickup uses a finite optical system maintaining a numerical aperture of 0.55 or above in the objective lens. The optical pickup of the present invention moves the laser unit 44 from the position "A" to a position "B" in order to increase the size of a beam spot focused on the compact type disk 43, and thereby makes an optical path ranging from the information recording surfaces of disks to laser light sources longer than that when no spherical aberration is generated. According to the position movement of the laser unit 44, a beam spot having the size of 1.4µm is formed on the compact type disk 43. However, a side lobe is increased due to spherical aberration generated on the compact type disk 43 as described above. The optical pickup of embodiments of the present invention uses the annular shielding objective lens 38 to shield a light beam passing through a far axis region having a relatively larger radius in the objective lens. The annular shielding objective lens 38 forms an annular shielding region having a thin band form between the near axis region and the far axis region. Also, the photodetector 41 which detects the light beam reflected from the information recording surface of the compact type disk 43 is size-diminished in a radial direction of the disk, and detects only the light beam passed through the near axis region with respect to the objective lens 38. As a result, an effective numerical aperture of the objective lens is maintained to 0.5 or below from 0.55 or above. Thus, the light beam reflected from the information recording surface of the compact-type disk 43 is totally-reflected by the beam splitter 35, and then the totally reflected light beam is incident to the photodetector 41 of the laser unit 44. The photodetector 41 detects only the light beam passed through the near axis region with respect to the objective lens 38. Accordingly, the optical pickup of embodiments of the present invention can perform recording and reproduction of information with respect to the DVD and the compact type disk. Figure 4 is a graphical view showing the variation of spherical aberration when the laser unit 44 of Figure 3 is moved, in which the vertical axis represents spherical aberration and the horizontal axis represents a value that an optical path beyond the centre of the objective lens 38 is standardized to the outermost radius of the objective lens 38. An annular shielding region of the objective lens 38 is denoted by "C", which is in the range between 0.63-0.68 in the horizontal axis of Figure 4. Here, when a region of 0.63 or below is defined as a near axis region and a region of 0.68 or above is denoted as a far axis region, the light beam in the far axis region is beyond the photodetector 41 due to great spherical aberration. Here, "D" represents that the laser unit 44 is disposed at the position "A", and "E" and "F" represent that the laser unit 44 is respectively moved from the position "A" by 1.0mm and 2.0mm to thereby lengthen a total conjugate length (TCL). Figs. 5A and 5B are views showing the optical detection state of the photodetector 41 according to the position of the laser unit 44. Figure 5A represents that all light beams passing through the annular shielding objective lens 38 are detected by the photodetector 41 when the laser unit 44 is disposed at the position "A" as shown in Figure 3. Figure 5B represents that great spherical aberration is generated and the light beam passing through the far axis region of the annular shielding objective lens 38 are beyond the photodetector 41 when the laser unit 44 is disposed at the position "B" as shown in Figure 3. As described above, the optical pickup of embodiments of the present invention has compatibility with respect to disks regardless of the thicknesses and various aspects of the disks, and can detect a good signal. Also, such an optical pickup can be manufactured and mass-produced at a low cost. While only a certain embodiment of the invention has been specifically described herein, it will be apparent that numerous modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the invention. Although a few preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.

Claims: An optical pickup compatible with at least two types of optical recording media using light beams having respectively different wavelengths for recording and reproduction of information, the optical pickup comprising: a first laser light source (31) to emit a light beam having a relatively shorter wavelength; a first photodetector (34) to detect a reflected light beam with respect to the relatively shorter wavelength; an objective lens (38) to form an annular shielding region between a near axis region of a relatively smaller radius and a far axis region of a relatively larger radius; a laser unit (44) comprising a second laser light source (40) to emit a light beam having a relatively longer wavelength, and a second photodetector (41) to detect only a light beam passing though the near axis region in the objective lens (38) among reflected light beams having the relatively longer wavelength; and a plurality of beam splitters (32, 35, 42) to direct the light beam emitted from the first laser light source and the laser unit to the objective lens (38) and to direct the light beam reflected from each of the optical recording media to a corresponding one of the first photodetector (34) and the second photodetector (41); wherein said laser unit (44) is located at a position where the length of an optical path from information recording surfaces of the disks to the second laser light source is longer than the length of an optical path when no spherical aberration is generated. The optical pickup according to claim 1, wherein said laser unit (44) is a single module in which the second laser light source (40) which emits the light beam having the relatively longer wavelength and the second photodetector (41) which detects a reflected light beam with respect to the relatively longer wavelength are incorporated. The optical pickup according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said plurality of beam splitters comprises: a beam splitter (35) to totally transmit the light beam having the relatively shorter wavelength to direct a corresponding one of the objective lens (38) and the first photodetector (34), and to totally reflect the light beam having the relatively longer wavelength to direct a corresponding one of the objective lens (38) and the laser unit (44); and a polarizing beam splitter (32) to totally reflect the light beam emitted from the first laser light source (31) to direct the reflected light beam toward the beam splitter (35), and to totally transmit the light beam transmitted from the beam splitter (35) to direct the transmitted light beam toward the first photodetector (34); and a holographic beam splitter (42) to totally transmit the light beam emitted from the laser unit (44) to direct the transmitted light beam toward the beam splitter (35), and to totally transmit the light beam totally reflected from the beam splitter (35) to direct the transmitted light beam toward the second photodetector (41). The optical pickup according to claim 2 or 3, wherein said second photodetector (41) which detects the reflected light beam having the relatively longer wavelength is size-diminished into a radial direction of the second recording medium so that only the light beam passing through the near axis region in the objective lens (38) is detected. The optical pickup according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein said laser unit (44) and said holographic beam splitter (42) maintain a constant interval therebetween.

Inventors: LEE CHUL-WOO, YOO JANG-HOON, LEE, CHUL-WOO, YOO, JANG-HOON, Yoo, Jang-Hoon, 102-307, 1st Daerim Hyundai
Applicants: SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO LTD, SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: G11B7
IPC codes: G11B7