Optical pickup apparatus and optical system for optical pickup apparatus

摘要

This invention is directed to an optical pickup apparatus which includes a first laser source which emits a first beam, a second laser source which emits a second beam having a polarization plane substantially perpendicular to a polarization plane of the first beam, a polarization diffraction element which selectively diffracts one of the first beam and the second beam in accordance with polarized states thereof, and an objective lens which records and/or reproduces information by focusing the first beam which has passed through the polarization diffraction element onto an information recording surface of a first optical information recording medium, and records and/or reproduces information by focusing the second beam which has passed through the polarization diffraction element onto an information recording surface of a second optical information recording medium.