Patent ID: 8130601

Claim:
An optical disk device, comprising: a pickup which irradiates laser light upon an optical disk having a plurality of recording layers via a correction lens for correction of spherical aberration and an objective lens, and which detects light reflected back from the optical disk; offsetting means which generates a focus error signal on the basis of the reflected light, and which applies an offset voltage to the focus error signal; focus servo means which performs focusing servo to shift the objective lens in the direction to approach the objective lens towards the optical disk or to withdraw objective lens from the optical disk, on the basis of the focus error signal outputted from the offsetting means; layer jump means which performs layer jumping to move the objective lens from a first position in which the focusing servo is performed against a first recording layer among the plurality of recording layers, to a second position in which the focusing servo is performed against a second recording layer among the plurality of recording layers; and shift means which shifts the correction lens to an intermediate position corresponding to a value intermediate between a first correction value of spherical aberration optimum for the first recording layer, calculated in advance, and a second correction value of spherical aberration optimum for the second recording layer, calculated in advance; wherein: before recording of information upon the recording layers, deletion of information therefrom, or reading of information therefrom, the offsetting means measures the focus error signal which has a letter-S shaped waveform for each recording layer, by shifting the objective lens in the approach and withdrawal direction in the state in which the shift means has shifted the correction lens to the intermediate position, and, from the result of this measurement, calculates a balance value which is the voltage value of the offset voltage at which the balances between the upwards and downwards amplitudes of the focus error signal become the same for the first recording layer and for the second recording layer; when recording information upon the recording layers, deleting information therefrom, or reading information therefrom, before executing the layer jumping, the focus servo means displaces the correction means with the shift means to the intermediate position, after having adjusted the offset voltage to the balance value calculated by the offsetting means and turns the focusing servo upon the first recording layer to OFF; the layer jump means performs the layer jumping when the focusing servo is OFF; and the focus servo means turns the focusing servo upon the second recording layer to ON when the layer jumping by the layer jump means terminates.