Importance

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Abstract

A magneto optic or optical disk drive comprises a laser source for providing laser beam, and a lens or compound lens for focussing the laser onto a currently inserted recording disk with specific overcoat thickness. In one embodiment, the lens is a compound lens that can focus aberration-free spots on different types of disk media having recording layers located under overcoats of different thicknesses. When a specific disk is inserted, only one spot in focussed onto the current recording layer. Furthermore, if the disk spins rapidly, it can wobble. The lens or compound lens comprises different regions where the focal length may vary slightly and continuously or discretely. Because of this, as the disk wobbles, the lens can nonetheless continue to focus laser light onto a small spot on the recording media, providing increased depth of focus in the vicinity of the currently inserted recording media. Furthermore, the increased depth of focus will also remedy problems related to the change in focal length of the lens with changes in wavelength of the laser source. Because some of these changes in wavelength occur abruptly, this is also a case in which the limited performance of the auto-focus tracking system would be overly burdened.

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First Claim