Fiber-lens-based module for optical recording applications

Abstract

An optical fiber-lens-type pickup with numerical aperture (NA) congruent to 0.27 was demonstrated for thermal recording of continuous 1.6-mum-wide lines on MO disks with 50% throughput efficiency. Moreover, a Si-micromachined near-field module integrated with a fiber lens, solid immersion lens (SIL), and submicron aperture was fabricated to improve the mechanical fragility and increase the NA of the optical-fiber-based pickup. The preliminary configuration design and measurement suggest the feasibility of the module as a submicron heat source for high-density optical data storage.