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US Patent 5497359 - Optical disk data storage system with radiation-transparent air-bearing slider
US Patent Issued on March 5, 1996
Estimated Patent Expiration Date:
August 30, 2014Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
Estimated Patent Expiration Date:
August 30, 2014Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.AbstractAn optical disk drive has an air-beating slider formed of transparent material and located adjacent the surface of the optical disk. In the manner of conventional magnetic disk drives, the slider is maintained in close relationship with the disk surface by an air-bearing generated by the rotating disk and the shape of the slider's air-bearing surface (ABS). The slider has a lens section located on its back side opposite the side with the ABS. In the preferred embodiment the lens section is at least a hemisphere and the lens section and slider are formed of the same material and thus have the same index of refraction, n. The lens section and slider are transparent to light from the disk drive's light source and together form a super-hemispherical solid immersion lens (SIL). The slider's ABS is maintained within one wavelength of the surface of the optical disk. The light from the disk drive's light source is focused by the super-hemispherical SIL to a point on the slider ABS. The light is coupled through the air-bearing gap via the evanescent field to the data layer on the optical disk. The focused spot size on the disk data layer is thus reduced by a factor of n2 from what it would otherwise be without the super-hemispherical SIL provided by the lens section and transparent slider.Other References
| InventorsAssigneeApplicationNo. 297994 filed on 08/30/1994US Classes:369/44.15, Elastic, flexible, pliant or spring support of lens or mirror369/44.14, Optical head servo system structure369/44.16, Flat flexible support (e.g., parallel leaf spring, etc.)369/112.23Particular lensField of Search369/97, Tracks transverse to a motion component369/96, Continuous consecutive storage or retrieval of interrupted track for single signal (e.g., automatic reversal)369/44.14, Optical head servo system structure369/44.12, Solid state optical element with plural dissimilar optical components (e.g., using I.C. block, etc.)369/44.15, Elastic, flexible, pliant or spring support of lens or mirror369/44.16, Flat flexible support (e.g., parallel leaf spring, etc.)369/44.19, Head element pivots on arm (e.g., optical head disc arm etc.)369/44.21, Lens or mirror pivots off center (e.g., on a shaft, etc.)369/44.22Lens or mirror floats, (e.g., magnetic field support or lens/mirror can freely float and pivot about its own axis, etc.)ExaminersPrimary: Epps, GeorgiaAssistant: Edun, Muhammad Attorney, Agent or FirmUS Patent References5105403, Optical information reading apparatus with waveguide and diffraction gratingIssued on: 04/14/1992 Inventor: Kando, et al.5105408, Optical head with flying lens Issued on: 04/14/1992 Inventor: Lee, et al.5121256, Lithography system employing a solid immersion lens Issued on: 06/09/1992 Inventor: Corle, et al.5125750, Optical recording system employing a solid immersion lens Issued on: 06/30/1992 Inventor: Corle, et al.5150338, Optical disk reading and writing system having magnetic write head mounted on an air-bearing slider Issued on: 09/22/1992 Inventor: Birecki, et al.5214630Optical head having light transmissive carriage Issued on: 05/25/1993 Inventor: Goto, et al. Foreign Patent References
International ClassG11B 007/12 |
