Patent ID: 7606126

Claim:
A method of recording information on an information recording medium having a recording layer, the method comprising: a first power calibration step of determining a first recording power for recording a first recording mark having a predetermined recording mark length in the recording layer using laser light, the first power calibration step comprising: recording a first test mark in a test writing area provided in the recording layer; playing back the first test mark; detecting a first asymmetry of an RF signal reproduced from the recorded first test mark; and determining the first recording power based on the first asymmetry; and a second power calibration step of determining a second recording power, based on the first recording power determined in the first power calibration step, the second recording power for recording a second recording mark having a recording mark length equal to or less than ½ of a spot diameter of the laser light in the recording layer using the laser light, the second power calibration step comprising: recording a second test mark in a test writing area provided in the recording layer; playing back the second test mark; detecting a second asymmetry of an RF signal reproduced from the recorded second test mark; and determining the second recording power by adjusting the first recording power determined in the first power calibration step so that the second asymmetry is set to approximately zero.