Low profile optical head
First Claim
1. An optical disk read/write drive apparatus comprising:
- an optical arm moveable with respect to optical media position in said drive; and
an optical head coupled to said optical arm, said optical head including at least a light source and an objective wherein said light source and said objective are maintained in a substantially fixed spatial relationship during at least first movement of said optical art, and wherein the light source comprises at least one of a edge-emitting laser diode and a VCSEL.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical head of a type useable in a optical disk reader/writer is provided. The optical head has a low profile, e.g., in a vertical direction parallel to the disk spin axis, such as less than about 5 mm preferably less than about 3 mm. Substantially all components of the optical system, including a laser source, objective lens, intervening optics and photo detector are provided in the optical head and mounted in a fixed position with respect to one another. Substantially all optical components of the optical head are moved as a unit, e.g., during tracking and/or focusing. Preferably, the optical head is fabricated using wafer scale and/or stacking technologies, e.g., stacking substantially planar components to achieve the final optical head configuration.
91 Citations
58 Claims
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1. An optical disk read/write drive apparatus comprising:
an optical arm moveable with respect to optical media position in said drive; and
an optical head coupled to said optical arm, said optical head including at least a light source and an objective wherein said light source and said objective are maintained in a substantially fixed spatial relationship during at least first movement of said optical art, and wherein the light source comprises at least one of a edge-emitting laser diode and a VCSEL.- View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for assembling components of an optical disk read/write drive, said drive defining an optical media position, the method comprising:
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mounting an optical arm so as to be moveable with respect to said optical media position in said drive; and coupling an optical head to said optical arm, said optical head including at least a light source and an objective wherein said light source and said objective are maintained in a substantially fixed spatial relationship during at least first movement of said optical arm, and wherein the light source comprises at least one of an edge-emitting laser diode and a VCSEL. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6)
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7. An optical disk read/write drive comprising:
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arm means for supporting optics, moveable with respect to an optical media position in said drive; and optics means, coupled to said arm means, for providing light from a light output means to said optical media position wherein said light output means and said optic means are maintained in a substantially fixed spatial relationship during at least first movement of said arm means, and wherein said light output means comprises at least one of an edge-emitting laser diode and a VCSEL. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9)
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10. An optical head for use in an optical medium reader/writer, the optical medium defining a plane, comprising:
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a first silicon wafer chip having electronic components formed thereon;
a light source mounted in a fixed position with respect to said chip;
at least a first mirror, in a fixed position with respect to said chip, and positioned, with respect to said light source so as to receive light output by said light source and reflect said light, changing its direction;an optics-carrying component mounted in a fixed position with respect to said light source wherein optics, carried by said optics-carrying component, to receive and modify at least a portion of said light reflected from said mirror; and an objective mounted in a fixed position with respect to said optics-carrying component for focusing light on said medium wherein light from said light source travels along an initial optical path wherein said light is reflected by said first mirror to said optics-carrying-component, and travels along a path, including a first path, to said objective and travels at least to said medium. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A method for use in an optical medium reader/writer, the optical medium defining a plane, comprising:
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forming electronic components on a first silicon wafer chip; mounting a light source in a fixed position with respect to said chip; positioning at least a first mirror in a fixed position with respect to said chip and with respect to said light source so as to receive laser light output by said laser diode and reflect said light, changing its direction; mounting an optics-carrying component in a fixed position with respect to said spacer wherein optics, carried by said optics-carrying component, receive and modify at least a portion of said light reflected from said mirror; and mounting an objective in a fixed position with respect to said optics-carrying component for focusing light on said medium wherein an initial optical path is defined for said laser light, said initial optical path extending from said light source to said first mirror, to said optics-carrying-component, to said objective and at least to said medium, a portion of said initial optical path from said optics-carrying component to said objective including a first optical path. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. An optical head apparatus for use in an optical medium reader/writer, the optical medium defining a plane, comprising:
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a first substrate having electronic components positioned thereon;
a light output means mounted in a fixed position with respect to said substrate;
at least a first mirror means, in a fixed position with respect to said substrate, and positioned, with respect to said light output means so as to receive light output by said light output means and reflect said light, changing its direction;optics-carrying means mounted in a fixed position with respect to said light output means wherein optics, carded by said optics-carrying means, receives and modifies at least a portion of said light reflected from said mirror means; and objective means mounted in a fixed position with respect to said optics-carrying means for focusing light on said medium, wherein at least an initial optical path is defined for said light, said initial optical path extending from said light output means to said first mirror means, to said optics-carrying-means, to said objective means and at least to said medium. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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55. A method for fabricating an optical head comprising:
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forming a plurality of electronic circuits on a silicon wafer having at least a first surface defining a plane; mounting a plurality of light sources on said silicon wafer, with at least a first light source positioned adjacent at least some of said electronics circuits; positioning a plurality of spacer bars, each bar having a longitudinal axis, each bar defining a plurality of mirror surfaces with said mirror surfaces at about 45 o to said plane of said wafer surface; cutting said wafer along a plurality of cut lines to provide a plurality of wafer chips, at least some of said wafer chips having a light source mounted thereon and a portion of at least one of said spacer bars mounted thereon, wherein at least some of said cut lines intersects at least some of said spacer bars; providing power and control signals to said first light source wherein said first light source is caused to emit light; and positioning at least a first optical component with respect to said light source of at least a first chip during a time when said light source on said chip is emitting light. - View Dependent Claims (56, 57, 58)
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Specification