Patent ID: 8259541

Claim:
An optical recording/reproduction method of operating a gap servo that controls a gap between a surface of an optical recording medium and a bottom surface of a solid immersion lens (SIL) using reflected light that is generated from light traveling from the bottom surface of the SIL and reflecting on the optical recording medium, a focus servo that controls a distance between a focal point of the light and the bottom surface of the SIL, and a tilt servo that controls a tilt of the bottom surface of the SIL relative to the surface of the optical recording medium using the reflected light, said method comprising: starting the gap servo with the gap being within a range of near field and being set larger than a gap set when at least one of optical recording and reproduction is performed, and shifting the focal point to an optical recording medium side from the bottom surface of the SIL; starting the tilt servo during said starting the gap servo; and after said starting the tilt servo, setting the gap smaller than the gap set in said starting the gap servo and arranging the SIL at a position for the at least one of optical recording and reproduction.