JP3379149B2 - Floating optical head and optical recording / reproducing device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a floating optical head for optically recording / reproducing information on / from an optical recording medium and an optical recording / reproducing apparatus using the same, and more particularly, to a floating optical head near the surface of the optical recording medium. The present invention relates to a floating type optical head and an optical recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing information in such a state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a recording / reproducing apparatus for recording / reproducing various information, there is a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus for magnetically recording / reproducing information on / from a magnetic recording medium by a magnetic head, and a magnetic disk drive apparatus is a typical example. It is a device.

Further, as another recording / reproducing apparatus, there is an optical recording / reproducing apparatus for optically recording / reproducing information with a laser beam, and a compact disk drive (CD-ROM) dedicated to reading by a recording / reproducing method or the like. ), A magneto-optical disk drive device, a phase change type optical disk drive device, and the like.

In the information recording / reproducing apparatus as an external storage device of a computer, it has been a great conventional practice to improve the recording density per unit volume (hereinafter referred to as apparatus density) and increase the access speed required for recording / reproducing information. It is an issue.

Further, the unit cost per unit of required storage capacity (hereinafter referred to as bit cost) is also decreasing year by year,
Providing a cheaper information recording / reproducing apparatus is also an important issue.

A conventional optical recording / reproducing apparatus is a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus in which a small magnetic head floats over the surface of a magnetic recording medium with a substantially constant gap, and recording / reproducing is performed while moving only the magnetic head and its supporting member. However, the access speed was low because a relatively heavy object such as an objective lens, focus control means, and tracking control means had to be moved.

Regarding the areal recording density of the recording medium,
At present, although it is still superior to the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus, there are some magnetic recording / reproducing apparatuses that have a small magnetic head and have a structure in which a plurality of magnetic recording media are stacked in the apparatus. The storage capacity (hereinafter referred to as device recording density) of the device is higher than that of the reproducing device. Further, in the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus, a magnetic recording medium having a diameter of up to about 1.8 inches has been put into practical use, and the thickness of the apparatus has been reduced to about 10 mm. As a result, it is widely used in portable personal computers such as notebook computers (hereinafter referred to as personal computers).

On the other hand, the optical recording / reproducing apparatus requires a large number of optical components to guide the light from the semiconductor laser to the optical recording medium to narrow it down to reach the optical recording medium. It was difficult.

Further, there is also a problem that the apparatus price is higher than that of the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus having a simple structure.

As a result, magnetic recording / reproducing devices are widely used as external storage devices for computers, and optical recording / reproducing devices are used for storing document files, etc., except for applications such as CD-ROMs. At present, it is used only for limited purposes.

In order to overcome such a situation, the optical information recording / reproducing apparatus must increase the access speed, improve the device density and reduce the device cost.

Generally, in order to increase the recording density of an optical recording / reproducing apparatus, the numerical aperture (NA) of the objective lens is increased. Shorten the wavelength of the semiconductor laser. Semiconductor lasers, sensors, and optical components are integrated. Increase the number of recording media to make a stack structure. Things can be considered.

To increase the access speed, the mass of the optical head is reduced. Increase the thrust of the actuator. However, if the thrust of the actuator is increased, the size of the device also becomes large and the device density will not increase.

Therefore, in order to improve the recording density and access speed of the device, it is desirable to downsize the optical head, shorten the wavelength of the semiconductor laser, and increase the numerical aperture of the objective lens.

By the way, a wavelength of 780 nm has been conventionally used as a semiconductor laser, and at present, a wavelength of 6 nm is used.
Short wavelength semiconductor lasers of about 80 nm have also become practical. However, in the conventional configuration, the distance between the objective lens and the optical recording medium is 1.5 mm to 2 mm in order to avoid contact between them.
Some working distance was required.

Therefore, even if the numerical aperture NA of the objective lens is increased, the focal length cannot be reduced, and the diameter of the required light beam increases in proportion to the numerical aperture, so that the optical components are inevitably necessary. However, the recording density of the device could not be increased.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, as in the magnetic head used in a magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus, a floating type optical head is used in which an optical head is levitated on an optical recording medium by using a flying slider. A head is proposed.

Here, a conventional floating optical head will be described with reference to FIG. The flying type optical head has a flying slider body 90, and a deflection mirror 92 and an objective lens 91 are mounted on the flying slider body 90.
The optical recording medium 50 is pressed and supported by the optical recording medium 50. The support member 103 is attached to the arm 102. The light emitted from the light emitting element 98 such as a laser diode is
The light passes through the condenser lens 96, the beam splitter 95, the polarizing plate 94, and the deflection element 93 a, is reflected by the deflection mirror 92, and is condensed on the optical recording medium 50 by the objective lens 91. The reflected light from the optical recording medium 50 is the objective lens 91,
The beam reaches the beam splitter 95 via the deflecting mirror 92, the deflecting element 93a, and the polarizing plate 94, is reflected by the beam splitter 95, reaches the light receiving sensor 101 through the condenser lens 99 and the cylindrical lens 100, and detects a signal. Done. The condensing lens 96 is driven by the driving member 97 substantially in the optical axis direction, and is controlled so as to be focused on the surface of the optical recording medium 50. The light spot is minutely moved by the minute tracking driving member 93 to position the deflection element 93a on the data track.

[0019]

However, the conventional floating type optical head described above has a structure in which only the deflection mirror 92 and the objective lens 91 are mounted on the flying slider 90, and the light emitting element 98, the light receiving sensor 101, and the beam splitter 95.
The optical components such as are separated from the flying slider.

From the viewpoint of ease of assembly and adjustment,
These optical components cannot be made very small, and although the access speed can be expected to be improved as compared with the conventional optical head, the device cannot be downsized to the same extent as the magnetic recording / reproducing device, and the device recording density can be reduced. Could not be improved.

Further, there is a limit to miniaturization of the deflection mirror and the objective lens, and it is difficult to realize a floating optical head having a size comparable to that of the magnetic head.

For these reasons, the optical recording / reproducing apparatus is
It was difficult to miniaturize and could not be mounted on a small personal computer such as a notebook personal computer.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is not only to improve the access speed but also to have a size substantially the same as that of the magnetic head.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a floating optical head capable of improving the device density and a small information recording / reproducing apparatus which can be mounted on a portable small personal computer such as a notebook personal computer using the floating optical head.

[0024]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the first aspect of the invention is to dispose a light emitting element for irradiating an optical recording medium with light and a light receiving sensor for receiving the reflected light from the optical recording medium. A substrate, a condensing unit that condenses the light by the first reflection hologram pattern and irradiates the optical recording medium, and guides the light to the condensing unit by a second reflection hologram pattern to condense the light. An optical path correcting means configured to guide the light from the means to the light receiving sensor, a light transmission window through which the light from the light condensing means is transmitted in a shape smaller than the second reflective hologram pattern, and an optical material. And a flying slider body having an air bearing surface formed so as to float with a gap maintained by the rotation of the optical recording medium.

A second invention is a floating type optical head of the first invention, a spindle motor for rotating an optical recording medium, and a supporting device for pushing the floating type optical head toward the optical recording medium. And an actuator for fixing the supporting device and moving the supporting device in the radial direction of the optical recording medium, thereby forming an optical recording / reproducing device.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the flying type optical head flies while maintaining a predetermined gap when the optical recording medium is rotated by the air bearing surface of the flying slider body.

On the other hand, the light emitted from the light emitting element on the substrate is
The light is guided to the light converging means by the second reflection type hologram pattern of the optical path correcting means, is condensed by the first reflection type hologram pattern of the light condensing means, passes through the light transmitting window and is irradiated onto the optical recording medium.

This irradiation light is reflected by the optical recording medium, reflected by the first reflection type hologram pattern and guided to the light receiving sensor by the second hologram pattern of the optical path correcting means.

With this structure, almost all parts required for the optical head, such as the light emitting element, the light receiving sensor, the deflection mirror, the objective lens, etc., can be mounted on the flying slider body, which is comparable to the magnetic head. The size can be reduced.

According to the second invention, the optical recording / reproducing apparatus rotates the optical recording medium by the spindle motor,
At the same time, the floating optical head according to the first aspect of the invention is moved in the radial direction of the optical recording medium by the actuator, and the supporting device presses the optical head toward the optical recording medium to make it float.

With this structure, it is not necessary to guide the light from the light emitting element to the optical head or to guide the light from the optical head to the light receiving sensor. Therefore, the optical recording / reproducing apparatus can have almost the same structure. Can be downsized.

[0032]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

(First Embodiment) First, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0034] FIG. 1 (a), a cross-sectional view taken along approximately the center in the track direction of a floating optical head, and FIG. 1 (b)
1 shows a top perspective view of the floating optical head as seen from above, and FIG. 1C shows a bottom perspective view of the floating optical head as seen from below.

FIG. 2A shows an enlarged side view of the light emitting element 13 and the reflection portion 12. The floating optical head is
A substrate 10 made of Si or the like, and a back surface 2 of the substrate 10.
And a flying slider body 20 made of an optically transparent material such as glass, which is joined via the two.

A recess 11 is provided in the substrate 10. A reflection portion 12 is provided in the recess 11, and a semiconductor laser is joined as the light emitting element 13. As a result, the laser light emitted from the light emitting element 13 is reflected by the reflection unit 1
2 deflects the substrate 10 in a substantially vertical direction. Also,
Light receiving sensors 14a and 14b formed by a semiconductor process are provided on the substrate 10 and are divided into two substantially parallel to the data track direction 16 (see FIG. 3).

On the back surface 22 of the flying slider body 20, an incident portion 23 on which the laser light emitted from the light emitting element 13 and reflected by the reflecting portion 12 is incident, and a laser light incident from the incident portion 23 are condensed. A light condensing unit 24 that irradiates the surface of the optical recording medium 50 and an emitting unit 28 that guides the reflected light from the optical recording medium 50 to the light receiving sensors 14a and 14b are provided.

On the surface of the flying slider body 20 facing the optical recording medium 50, a positive pressure is generated by the rotation of the optical recording medium 50 so that the surface of the optical recording medium 50 is floated while maintaining a certain gap. The air bearing surface 21 is formed. On the side where the air bearing surface 21 is provided, the first optical path for guiding the laser light to the condenser 24 and the light receiving sensor 14a,
An optical path correction unit 25 that separates into a second optical path that leads to 14b is provided. In the present embodiment, the surface on which the optical path correction portion 25 is provided is lower than the air bearing surface 21, but the optical path correction portion 25 may be formed on the air bearing surface 21.

A light transmission window 26 is provided in a substantially central portion of the optical path correction section 25. The size (diameter) of the light transmission window 26 is configured to be smaller than the size (diameter) of the optical path correction unit 25.

In this embodiment, a first reflection type hologram pattern is formed on the condensing part 24, and a second reflection type hologram pattern is formed on the optical path correction part 25 by etching or the like.

More specifically, the first reflection type hologram pattern used in the condensing unit 24 has concentric concavo-convex shapes as shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b),
The pitch is smaller on the outer peripheral side.

The second reflection type hologram pattern used in the optical path correcting section 25 is shown in FIGS.
As shown in (c), it has a concavo-convex shape in which the centers are substantially concentric.

FIG. 2B shows an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the light transmission window 26 provided in a part of the optical path correction unit 25 (in the present embodiment, substantially the center of the optical path correction unit 25).

As shown in FIG. 2B, the optical recording medium 50 includes a disk substrate 51 and a recording film 5 on which various information is recorded.
2 and the recording film 52 are formed of a transparent protective film 53.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. First, the process until the laser light emitted from the light emitting element 13 is focused on the optical recording medium 50, that is, the forward path will be described.

The laser light emitted from the light emitting element 13 is deflected by the reflector 12 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate 10. The deflected light passes through the incident section 23, is reflected by the optical path correction section 25, and is guided to the condensing section 24. The laser light that has reached the first reflective hologram pattern is diffracted according to the pitch of the unevenness, is condensed, and is irradiated onto the optical recording medium 50 through the light transmission window 26.

The laser beam condensed by the condensing unit 24 is emitted from the light transmitting window 26, passes through the air layer having the same thickness as the flying height of the flying slider body 20, and passes through the protective film 53 of the optical recording medium 50. To reach the recording film 52.

Next, the process until the laser light focused on the optical recording medium 50 reaches the light receiving sensors 14a and 14b, that is, the return path will be described.

The laser light focused on the recording film 52 of the optical recording medium 50 is reflected in a state according to the recording information, passes through the light transmission window 26 of the flying slider body 20, and reaches the light focusing portion 24. The light is reflected by the condensing unit 24 and reaches the optical path correcting unit 25.

The laser light that has reached the optical path correction unit 25 is diffracted and deflected according to the pitch of the irregularities of the second reflection hologram pattern, is condensed, and reaches the light receiving sensors 14a and 14b through the emission unit 28. To do.

The light receiving sensors 14a and 14b are divided into two substantially parallel to the data track direction and are constructed so that a tracking error signal can be obtained by the push-pull method.

Here, a method of detecting the tracking error signal by the push-pull method will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIGS. 3 (a), 3 (b) and 3 (c) are
Light receiving spots 15 focused on the light receiving sensors 14a and 14b divided into two substantially parallel to the data track direction 16.
Shows the state of.

FIG. 3A shows the position of the light receiving spot 15 when the irradiation spot is tracked on the data track, and the light amounts received by the light receiving sensors 14a and 14b are equal.

FIG. 3B shows the case where the irradiation spot is displaced from the data track, and the light quantity of the light receiving sensor 14a is larger than the light quantity of the light receiving sensor 14b.

FIG. 3 (c) shows a case where the irradiation spot is displaced in the opposite direction to the case of FIG. 3 (b).
The light amount of 4a is smaller than that of the light receiving sensor 14b.

Therefore, if the difference between the output signal of the light receiving sensor 14a and the output signal of the light receiving sensor 14b is taken and the difference is controlled to be zero, the floating optical head follows the data track while flying and records data. Playback can be performed.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the floating optical head according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 (a) to (c), FIG. 1 (a) to (c)
The same parts as those of the above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that a spherical concave lens 30 is used as the light collecting portion instead of the hologram pattern of the light collecting portion 24, and a minute displacement member is provided.

FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of the floating optical head of this embodiment, with the substantial center cut in the track direction.
FIG. 4B is a top perspective view of the floating optical head of this embodiment as seen from above, and FIG. 4C is a bottom perspective view of the floating optical head of this embodiment as seen from below.

The floating optical head has a spherical concave lens 30 made of a transparent material. An incident portion 31 and an emitting portion 33 are provided on the spherical surface of the spherical concave lens 30, and a reflecting film is provided on the other portion of the spherical surface. 32 is coated. The spherical concave lens 30 has a radius of curvature so that the incident laser light is condensed on the optical recording medium 50.

The flying type optical head has a flying slider body 20 made of a transparent material, and a positive pressure is generated on the medium facing surface of the flying slider body 20 by the rotation of the optical recording medium 50 to perform optical recording. The air bearing surface 21 is formed so as to float above the surface of the medium 50 with a constant gap.
An optical path correction unit 25 is provided on the air bearing surface side of the flying slider body 20. The optical path correction unit 25 deflects and collects the first reflection hologram pattern for correcting the spherical aberration generated in the spherical concave lens 30 and the reflected light from the optical recording medium 50 onto the light receiving sensors 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d. A composite hologram pattern in which the second reflective hologram pattern is composite is formed by etching or the like.

The first reflection-type hologram pattern has concentric concavo-convex shapes and has a smaller pitch on the outer peripheral side. However, it is used for the optical path correction section 25 of the floating optical head 1 of the first embodiment. The pitch of the concavities and convexities is larger than that of the first reflection type hologram pattern.

The second reflection-type hologram pattern has a concavo-convex shape in which the center is substantially concentric and the center is deviated, and the arriving light is deflected and condensed by diffraction.

An optical transmission window 26 is provided in a part of the optical path correction unit 25 (in the central portion of the optical path correction unit 25 in the case of the second embodiment) to allow the condensed light to pass therethrough, and the optical recording medium 50.
It is designed to irradiate.

The flat surface portion of the spherical concave lens 30 (see FIG. 4A).
The upper part and the lower part of the spherical concave lens 30 are the flying slider body 2
The back surface 22 of the substrate 10 is bonded to the back surface 22 of the
It is joined to the back surface 22 of the flying slider body 20 by a and 40b.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The laser light emitted from the light emitting element 13 is deflected by the reflector 12 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate 10. The deflected laser light passes through the incident portion 23, is reflected by the first reflection hologram pattern of the optical path correction portion 25, and is guided to the spherical surface of the spherical concave lens 30.

In this case, when the laser light is guided to the spherical concave lens 30, the light is reflected by using the first reflection type hologram pattern for the following reason.

When light is condensed by the spherical concave lens 30, spherical aberration occurs, and the spherical aberration becomes larger on the outer peripheral side of the spherical lens. When spherical aberration occurs, the light cannot be focused on a minute spot, and high recording density cannot be achieved. Therefore, the first reflection type hologram pattern is configured to correct spherical aberration by utilizing light diffraction to prevent the occurrence of spherical aberration.

As a result, the laser light focused by the spherical concave lens 30 does not generate spherical aberration and is irradiated onto the optical recording medium 50 through the light transmission window 26.

Since the optical path (outward path) from the light transmitting window 26 to the recording film 52 thereafter is the same as that of the floating optical head 1 of the first embodiment, its explanation is omitted.

Next, from the optical recording medium 50 to the light receiving sensor 14
The return path, which is an optical path to a, 14b, 14c, and 14d, will be described.

The light focused on the recording film 52 is reflected in a state corresponding to the recorded information, reaches the spherical concave lens 30 through the light transmission window 26 of the flying slider body 20, and travels in an optical path substantially opposite to the outward path. The trace reaches the second reflection type hologram pattern of the optical path correction unit 25. Diffracted light from the optical path correction unit 25 having the second reflective hologram pattern passes through the emission unit 33 and the light receiving sensors 14a, 14b, 14c, 14
d will be reached.

Next, the tracking control of the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIGS. 5A to 5C, the light receiving sensors 14a, 1 divided into four in parallel with the data track direction 16 are shown.
Receiving spot 15 focused on 4b, 14c, 14d
Indicates the state of.

FIG. 5A shows a state in which the irradiation spot on the optical recording medium 50 is tracked on the data track, and the sum of the light receiving amounts of the light receiving sensors 14a and 14b is equal to the sum of the light receiving sensors 14c and 14b. Are equal.

FIG. 5B shows the case where the irradiation spot is displaced from the data track. The sum of the light receiving amounts of the light receiving sensors 14a and 14b is the light receiving sensors 14c and 14b.
Is larger than the sum of.

In FIG. 5C, the irradiation spot is shown in FIG.
When the light receiving sensor 1
The sum of the light receiving amounts of 4a and 14b is smaller than the sum of the light receiving sensors 14c and 14b.

Therefore, the light receiving sensors 14a and 14b
If the difference between the sum of the amount of received light of and the sum of the amount of received light of the light receiving sensors 14c and 14d is used as a tracking error signal, and tracking control is performed so that the tracking error signal becomes zero,
The irradiation spot can be tracked on the data track.

Next, regarding the focus control, FIG. 6 (a)
This will be described with reference to (c). FIG. 6A shows the case where the irradiation spot is focused on the recording film of the optical recording medium 50.
The sum of the light receiving amounts of the light receiving sensors 14a and 14d is equal to the sum of the light receiving amounts of the light receiving sensors 14b and 14c.

FIG. 6B shows the case where the focal point of the irradiation spot is shifted to the optical recording medium 50 side from the correct focus position, and the size of the light receiving spot 15 is smaller than that in FIG. 6A. In this case, the light receiving sensors 14a and 14
The sum of the received light amounts of d is smaller than the sum of the received light amounts of the light receiving sensors 14b and 14c.

FIG. 6C shows the case where the focus is deviated in the direction opposite to that of FIG. 6B (on the spherical concave lens 30 side), and the size of the light receiving spot 15 becomes larger than that in FIG. 6A. In this case, the sum of the light receiving amounts of the light receiving sensors 14a and 14d is larger than the sum of the light receiving amounts of the light receiving sensors 14b and 14c.

Therefore, the light receiving sensors 14a and 14d
The difference between the sum of the amount of light received by the sensor and the sum of the amounts of light received by the light-receiving sensors 14b and 14c is used as a focus error signal, and focus control is performed so that the focus error signal becomes zero. It is possible to focus on the recording film.

Next, a driving method in focus control will be described. Actual focus control is performed by displacing the minute displacement members 40a and 40b (see FIG. 4A) in a direction substantially perpendicular to the optical recording medium.

That is, by driving and displacing the minute displacement members 40a and 40b so that the above-mentioned focus error signal becomes zero, the irradiation spot can be focused on the recording film 52 of the optical recording medium 50.

Next, a minute driving method in tracking control will be described. Generally, in an optical recording / reproducing apparatus, since the pitch of the data track is very small, the data track is tracked by a two-step control method of coarse movement control and fine movement control in order to increase the tracking control band.

Also in the second embodiment, the minute displacement member 4 is used.
Fine movement control is performed using 0a and 40b.

More specifically, the minute displacement members 40a and 4
0b, or the minute displacement members 40a and 4
By driving the minute displacement members 40a and 40b so that the displacement of 0b is in the opposite direction, the irradiation spot focused on the surface of the optical recording medium 50 can be displaced in the direction traversing the data track. Therefore, the minute displacement member 40 is adjusted so that the tracking error signal described above becomes zero.
By driving a and 40b respectively, the irradiation spot can be tracked on the data track even if the data track pitch is reduced.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view in which the center of the floating optical head of the third embodiment is cut substantially parallel to the data track. The same parts as those in the first embodiment of FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The third embodiment has substantially the same structure as that of the first embodiment, but the four light receiving sensors 14a, 14 are divided.
b, 14c and 14d are provided, a parallel plate 42 is provided, and minute displacement members 40a and 40b are provided between the parallel plate 42 and the flying slider body 20.

An incident part 23, a condensing part 24 and an emitting part 28 are provided on one surface (the upper surface in the drawing) of the parallel plate 42, and the condensing part 24 uses the first reflection hologram pattern. ing. Then, the surface parallel to the surface of the parallel plate 42 on which the light collecting portion 24 is provided (in the drawing, the lower surface) and the rear surface 22 of the flying slider body 20 are the minute displacement members 40a and 40b.
Are joined through.

An optical path correction portion 25 and a light transmission window 26 are provided on the surface of the flying slider body 20 on which the air bearing surface 21 is provided.

A second reflective hologram pattern is used for the optical path correction section 25. The optical path of the light is parallel plate 42
It is the same as the first embodiment except that an air layer is present between the flying slider body 20 and the flying slider body 20. In addition, the light receiving sensor 14
The configurations of a, 14b, 14c, and 14d, the tracking control method, the focus control method, and the effects are almost the same as those of the second embodiment of the present invention.

(Fourth Embodiment) Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. The same parts as those in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 7 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The difference between the fourth embodiment and the third embodiment is that
Instead of the parallel plate 42 and the condensing part 24, a spherical concave lens 30
Is the point using.

The flat surface portion (lower portion in the drawing) of the spherical concave lens 30 is joined to the back surface 22 of the flying slider body 20 via the minute displacement members 40a and 40b, and the substrate 10 is fixed to the parallel plate 42 by the fixing member 41. It is fixed.
The operation and effect of the fourth embodiment are almost the same as those of the third embodiment.

Although the air bearing surface 21 of the flying slider body 20 is also made of a transparent material in the flying type optical head of the present invention described above, the air bearing surface 21 seems to be used for other members such as a magnetic head. MnZn, NiZn, Al ₂
It may be formed of O ₃ TiC or the like.

(Fifth Embodiment) An embodiment of an optical recording / reproducing apparatus using the floating optical head in each of the above embodiments will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11.

FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the optical recording / reproducing apparatus. The optical recording / reproducing apparatus has a base 70, and an optical recording medium 50 fixed to a spindle motor (not shown) is rotatably provided on the base 70. In this embodiment, the optical recording medium 50 has a 1.8-inch size.
2 are stacked.

The optical recording / reproducing apparatus has an arm 71, and this arm 71 has a bearing shaft unit 72.
It is rotatably supported by.

Further, in the optical recording / reproducing apparatus, the upper yoke 74,
A magnetic circuit is configured by the lower yoke 75 and the permanent magnet 76, and a magnetic flux is generated in the portion where the coil portion 73 is located, and the arm 71 is moved by passing a current through the coil portion 73. ing.

The floating optical head 1 described in each of the embodiments is supported at the tip of the optical head supporting device 60 fixed to the arm 71 so that it can move on the surface of the optical recording medium 50. There is. The positioning of the floating optical head 1 is controlled so that it is positioned on a predetermined data track by a servo signal intermittently recorded on the data track of the optical recording medium 50.

Next, an optical head supporting device used in the above optical recording / reproducing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

Flexure 61 composed of leaf springs
Optical head support members 60 are provided on both sides of the. The fixed portion 63 is fixed to the arm by caulking or the like. Gimbal 62 provided at the tip of the flexure 61
Is made of a thin metal plate. Floating optical head 1
Is fixed to this gimbal 62. In addition, FPC (Fl
The exible print circuit 64 is used for supplying a light emitting element drive current to the floating optical head 1 and for extracting an output from the light receiving sensor. A part of the FPC 64 is bonded to the wide portion of the flexure 61. There is.

As described above, when the floating optical head 1 of this embodiment is used, the size of the device can be reduced similarly to the magnetic recording device, and a plurality of optical recording media can be stacked to perform double-sided reproduction. Can be easily improved.

When the floating type optical head 1 of the first embodiment is used as the floating type optical head 1, there is no focus drive mechanism. Therefore, as shown in FIG. Fixed to the arm 71 via 80,
Furthermore, the 4-division light receiving sensor used in the second embodiment may be used as the light receiving sensor of the floating optical head 1, and the minute displacement member 80 may be driven so that the focus error signal becomes zero. Thus, if the flying height of the flying optical head 1 is changed and the focus is controlled so as to match the optical recording medium 50, it can be used in the same manner as the flying optical head 1 having a drive mechanism.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the floating optical head 1 is used by being levitated on the surface of the optical recording medium 50 via air. However, the surface of the optical recording medium 50 has a high refractive index viscosity. If a material is applied and the floating optical head 1 is floated via a viscous material instead of air, the numerical aperture of the floating optical head 1 can be increased, and a higher recording density is possible. become.

[0108]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, almost all components required for the optical head, such as the light emitting element, the light receiving sensor, the deflecting mirror, the objective lens, etc., can be mounted on the flying slider, which is comparable to that of the magnetic head. Since the size can be reduced to the size of, the access speed can be improved and the size can be recorded / reproduced up to the inner peripheral side of the optical recording medium to expand the data area. Further, the floating optical heads can be arranged on both sides of the optical recording medium, and the optical recording medium can have a stack structure, so that the recording density of the device can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the invention, since it is not necessary to guide light from the light emitting element to the optical head, or to guide light from the optical head to the light receiving sensor, almost the same structure as the magnetic recording / reproducing apparatus can be obtained. The size of the playback device can be reduced to 1.8
Inch size and other small devices are also possible, and can be installed in laptop computers and the like.

[Brief description of drawings]

1A is a sectional view showing a floating optical head according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a top transparent view showing a floating optical head according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. Bottom view of a floating optical head in one embodiment

FIG. 2 (a) is an enlarged side view of a floating optical head reflecting portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 (b) is an enlarged sectional view of a floating optical head light input / output portion according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a tracking state of a light receiving sensor.

4A is a cross-sectional view showing a floating optical head according to a second embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4B is a top view of a floating optical head according to a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4C is a second embodiment of the present invention. Bottom view of floating optical head in example

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a focused state of focus control in the light receiving sensor of the second embodiment. FIG. 5B is a state in which the focus of focus control of the light receiving sensor of the second embodiment is deviated from the optical recording medium. FIG. 6C is a diagram showing a state where the focus of focus control in the light receiving sensor of the second embodiment is shifted to the spherical concave lens side.

FIG. 6A is a control state diagram of tracking control in the light receiving sensor of the second embodiment. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing a state where tracking of tracking control in the light receiving sensor of the second embodiment is deviated in the first direction. ) A diagram showing a state in which tracking of tracking control in the light receiving sensor of the second embodiment is deviated in a second direction opposite to the first direction.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a floating optical head according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a floating optical head according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing an optical recording / reproducing apparatus of a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a supporting member of a floating optical head of an optical recording / reproducing apparatus of a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a minute displacement member of an optical recording / reproducing apparatus of the fifth embodiment and a supporting member of a floating optical head.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a conventional floating optical head.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 substrates 12 Reflector 13 Light emitting device 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d Light receiving sensor 20 Flying slider body 21 Air bearing surface 22 back 23 Entrance 24 Condenser 25 Optical path correction unit 26 Light transmission window 28 Output section 30 spherical concave lens 31 incident part 32 reflective film 33 Output section 40a, 40b Micro displacement member 41 fixing member 50 optical recording medium 51 disk substrate 52 recording film 53 Protective film 60 Optical head support device 61 flexure 62 gimbal 63 Fixed part 64 FPC 70 base 71 arm 72 Bearing shaft unit 73 coil 74 Upper yoke 75 Lower yoke 76 permanent magnet

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G11B 7/135

Claims (9)

(57) [Claims] 1. A substrate on which a light emitting element for irradiating an optical recording medium with light and a light receiving sensor for receiving reflected light from the optical recording medium are arranged; and an optical recording medium made of an optical material, which rotates to rotate the optical recording medium. a flying slider with the formed air bearing surface to fly while maintaining a gap between the
And a flying slider that is a first reflection type hologram pattern formed on a first surface facing the substrate, and is reflected by an optical path correcting means.
Condensing means for condensing the light emitted from the light emitting element to irradiate the optical recording medium, and the light converging means formed on the second surface facing the optical recording medium.
An air bearing surface that generates positive pressure by the rotation of the recording medium,
A second reflective hologram pattern , the light emitting device
Wherein with the injection light is reflected toward the focusing means
The reflected light from the optical recording medium reflected by the light collecting means is
The optical path correction means reflecting toward the light receiving sensor ,
The emission of the light emitting element, which is formed in a shape smaller than the second reflective hologram pattern and is condensed by the condensing means.
Light emitted from the second surface toward the optical recording medium
A floating optical head having a light transmitting window for 2. A light emitting element for irradiating an optical recording medium with light, and
A light receiving sensor for receiving the reflected light from the optical recording medium is arranged.
Rotation of the optical recording medium consisting of the placed substrate and the optical material
To float with a gap between it and the optical recording medium
And a flying slider with an air bearing surface formed in
A flying optical head having: a spherical concave lens , wherein the flying slider is formed on a first surface facing the substrate.
And the emission of the light emitting element reflected by the optical path correcting means.
Condensing means for condensing emitted light to irradiate the optical recording medium and a second surface facing the optical recording medium.
An air bearing surface that generates positive pressure by the rotation of the recording medium,
Light emitted from the light-emitting element, which is a composite hologram pattern
Is reflected toward the condensing means and spherical aberration is corrected.
And from the optical recording medium reflected by the light collecting means.
The optical path of the reflected light morphism anti toward the light receiving sensor
Correction means and smaller than the composite hologram pattern
The light emitting element formed in a shape and condensed by the condensing means
Emitted from the second surface toward the optical recording medium.
A light-transmitting window for emitting light, and the substrate and the flying slider via a minute displacement member.
Floating optical head characterized by being joined . 3. A light emitting element for irradiating an optical recording medium with light, and
A light receiving sensor for receiving the reflected light from the optical recording medium is arranged.
Placed substrate, parallel plate made of optical material,
The optical recording medium is made of a learning material and is rotated by the rotation of the optical recording medium.
It was formed to float with a gap between it and the recording medium.
A flying type optical head having a flying slider having an air bearing surface , wherein the parallel plate is formed on a first surface facing the substrate.
Compensated optical path for the first reflective hologram pattern
The light emitted from the light emitting element reflected by the means is condensed and
The light converging means for irradiating the optical recording medium and the flying slider are provided with a second optical element facing the optical recording medium.
Formed on the surface of the optical recording medium, positive pressure is generated by the rotation of the optical recording medium
Live air bearing surface and second reflective hologram pattern
And the light emitted from the light emitting element is directed to the condensing means.
The optical recording which is reflected by the light collecting means and is reflected by the condensing means.
Light reflected from the medium is reflected toward the light receiving sensor.
Optical path correcting means and the second reflective hologram pattern
Is formed in a smaller shape than
The light emitted from the light emitting element is directed toward the optical recording medium.
And a light transmission window that emits light from a second surface , and joins the substrate and the parallel plate to each other.
Note: The flying slider was joined via a small displacement member.
A floating type optical head. 4. The levitation type optical head according to claim 3 , wherein the converging means uses a spherical concave lens instead of the first hologram pattern. 5. The light transmission window is substantially the same as the optical path correction means.
Any of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that it is provided at the center.
The floating optical head described in 1. 6. The floating optical head according to claim 2, wherein the minute displacement member is at least 2.
One or more partial minute displacement members, the partial minute displacement members are provided separately, and are evenly distributed on the circumference of a circle whose center is located on the central axis of the floating slider substantially parallel to the data track direction. Focus control by driving each of the partial minute displacement members.
A floating optical head characterized by tracking control . 7. A floating type optical head according to claim 1, a spindle motor for rotating an optical recording medium, and the floating type optical head in the optical recording medium direction. An optical recording / reproducing apparatus comprising: a supporting device that is pressed against the surface to float and an actuator that is fixed to the supporting device and moves in the radial direction of the optical recording medium. 8. The optical recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein a drive member that is displaceable substantially perpendicular to the surface of the optical recording medium is provided at a fixed portion between the supporting device and the actuator, and the drive member is provided. An optical recording / reproducing apparatus, which is driven to change the flying height of the floating optical head and focus on the surface of the optical recording medium. 9. The optical recording / reproducing apparatus according to claim 7 or 8 , wherein a viscous material having a high refractive index is applied to a surface of the optical recording medium, and the floating optical head interposes the viscous material. An optical recording / reproducing apparatus characterized in that the surface of the optical recording medium is levitated.