Solid Immersion Lens Optical Head for High-Numerical-Aperture Cover-Layered Incident Near-Field Recording

Abstract

For increasing data recording density and reducing spherical aberration in cover-layered incident near-field recording (NFR) systems, a high-refractive-index cover layer is necessary and the assembly and evaluation technologies of a solid immersion lens (SIL) optical head for a high-numerical-aperture (NA) cover-layered incident NFR system are also required. To assemble a SIL optical head for the high-NA cover-layered incident NFR system, a modified Twyman–Green interferometer is developed. In this paper, we present the design and assembly results for a SIL optical head with a high-refractive-index cover-layered disk. We also compare evaluation results with those of a simulation to confirm the feasibility of the assembly. Through this research, we can improve the effective NA to 1.84, which is the highest NA reported for a cover-layered incident NFR system, and consequently, the data recording capacity per layer can be increased.