[OPTICAL REVIEW Vol. 9, No. 2 (2002) 66-69]
Plano-Convex Solid Immersion Mirror with a Small Aperturefor Near-field Optical Data Storage*
Hiroshi HATANO†, Tadafumi SAKATA, Kazuyuki OGURA, Takayuki HOSHINO and Hiroaki UEDA
Optics Technology Division, Takatsuki Laboratory, Minolta Co., Ltd., 1-2, Sakura-machi, Takatsuki, Osaka 569-8503, Japan
(Received June 27, 2001; Accepted February 4, 2002)
We proposed and developed a new solid immersion mirror (SIM) for near-field optical data storage. The SIM has some advantages, especially in manufacturing, because its shape is similar to a general plano-convex lens. Making an aperture of about 130 nm in diameter just on the focus area of the SIM, a bit-data recording onto a photochromic thin film was carried out. Minimum diameter of the written marks was estimated to be 180 nm. We also demonstrated readout experiments where a recorded medium was rotating and a gap between the SIM and the disk was controlled with capacitance sensing. This is the first result of reading with a rotating disk using an SIM containing a small aperture.
Key words: solid immersion mirror, SIM, near-field optics, optical memory, optical data storage, photochromic material, aperture