VECTOR WAVE RECORDING MEDIUM, AND MULTIPLEX RECORDING AND PLAYBACK METHOD

摘要

The present invention pertains to a vector wave recording medium which: has an information recording layer comprising a photoinduction birefringent material; irradiates a recording signal light of a first polarization state, and a recording reference light of a second polarization state that differs to the first polarization state; and carries out vector wave multiplex recording by holography on the information recording layer. The vector wave recording medium is configured in such a manner that ?min/?max = 0.1 is satisfied, where, assuming irradiation energy for the recording signal light and the recording reference light is constant, the maximum value of the diffraction efficiency of a playback signal light from diffraction gratings corresponding to information recorded in the information recording layer after the vector wave multiplex recording has been carried out by holography on the information recording layer, is regarded as ?max, and the minimum value is regarded as ?min. A vector wave recording medium and a multiplex recording and playback method therefor, which do not require scheduling to be carried out, and which carry no risk of causing a reduction in transfer rates in a recording system, can thus be provided.