Optical pickup, optical information recording/reproducing apparatus using the same, and phase variable wave plate used in the pickup and the apparatus

摘要

Laser beams respectively emitted from a SHG blue laser unit and a red semiconductor laser unit that have photo detectors respectively are turned into parallel lights by a collimator lens and then coupled by a dielectric multi-layer film mirror so as to be propagated on the same optical axis. The dielectric multi-layer film mirror is configured so as to transmit light with a wavelength of 500 nm or shorter and reflect light with a wavelength of 500 nm or longer for both P wave and S wave. The lights that are transmitted and reflected by the dielectric multi-layer film mirror pass through a polarizing hologram and a phase variable wave plate and are focused on an optical disk by an objective lens. In this manner, a simple configuration can realize a compatibility with many types of optical disks and a stable signal detection even when using a polarizing optical detection system.