Patent ID: 7173896

Claim:
An optical pickup apparatus for recording and/or reproducing information for an optical information recording medium, comprising: a first light source configured to emit a first light flux having a first wavelength for recording and/or reproducing a second optical information recording medium provided with a transparent substrate; a second light source configured to emit a second light flux having a second wavelength longer than the first wavelength, for recording and/or reproducing a first optical information recording medium provided with a transparent substrate; a third light source configured to emit a third light flux having a third wavelength longer than the second wavelength, for recording and/or reproducing a third optical information recording medium provided with a transparent substrate having a thickness thicker than that of each of the first and second optical information recording mediums; and an objective lens configured to converge the first, second and third light fluxes onto the second, first, and third optical information recording mediums respectively; wherein when recording and/or reproducing information is conducted for the second optical information recording medium, the first light flux emitted from the first light source enters the objective lens as a parallel light flux and is converged on the second optical information recording medium; when recording and/or reproducing information is conducted for the first optical information recording medium, the second light flux emitted from the second light source enters the objective lens as a parallel light flux and is converged on the first optical information recording medium, and when recording and/or reproducing information is conducted for the third optical information recording medium, the third light flux emitted from the third light source enters the objective lens as a divergent light flux and is converged on the third optical information recording medium.