Patent ID: 6850476

Claim:
An optical recording medium on which information is recorded and/or reproduced by irradiating with a beam, comprising: a plurality of recording tracks having a minimized track pitch, wherein the track pitch between the recording tracks is substantially equal to a distance from a center of a beam spot on a light-applied plane of the medium to a radially disposed intensity threshold point within the beam spot, wherein the beam spot includes at least three regions including, a first region located between the center of the beam spot and the radially disposed intensity threshold point, wherein an intensity of the beam spot is greater than a threshold intensity and sufficient to record and/or reproduce information when the medium is irradiated, a second region located beyond the radially disposed intensity threshold point, wherein the intensity of the beam spot can vary between a value greater than zero and less than the threshold intensity, and wherein the intensity of the beam spot is insufficient to allow recording and/or reproduction of information then the medium is irradiated, and a third region located beyond the second region in a radial direction, wherein the intensity of the beam spot is zero.