Optical pickup apparatus which is compatible with multiple types of media

摘要

An optical pickup apparatus includes a first objective lens having a low numerical aperture (NA) suitable for a low density recording medium, a second objective lens having a high NA suitable for a high density recording medium, a first light source that emits short wavelength light which is focused onto an optical recording medium by the first and second objective lenses, a first photodetector that receives a returning reflected light from the optical recording medium, and a first optical path converter for selectively guiding part of the light emitted from the first light source towards the first or the second objective lens, and guiding the reflected light towards the first photodetector.