Lightning rod resonance of a plasmonic near-field transducer.

We demonstrate the lightning-rod resonance of a lollipop near-field transducer integrated in magnetic writer for heat-assisted magnetic recording by collecting the two-photon excited photoluminescence (TPL) signal when excited by a pulsed femto-second fiber laser tuned to the desired mode resonance. The lollipop transducer consists of a round disk and a protruding peg to take advantage of the lightning-rod effect. It is found that the TPL signal is extremely sensitive to the peg length where even a 3-5 nm deviation from the optimal peg length halves the TPL signal. This method conveniently quantifies the optical performance of an NFT device in situ as a function of geometry with a resolution of better than the light wavelength (λ) divided by 200.

Observation of focal point shift in solid immersion mirror.

Focal point shift in a solid immersion mirror of a high numerical-aperture is experimentally demonstrated with a scanning near-field optical microscope. The solid immersion mirror focuses light by a two-dimensional parabolic reflective surface integrated in a planar waveguide. The focal point shifts inward along the optical axis for metallized surface. The amount of shift from its geometrical node depends on the wavelength of the incident light and is determined to be roughly one-fifth of the wavelength.

Cutoff wavelength of ridge waveguide near field transducer for disk data storage.

The electromagnetic eigenmodes of and light transmission through a C-aperture to the far field, and to a storage medium, have been studied based on the full vectorial finite difference method. It is found that the cutoff wavelength of C-aperture waveguides in a gold film is much longer than that in a perfect electric conductor, and the fundamental mode is confined in the gap and polarized with the electric field along the gap. The light transmission resonance through C-apertures to far field and to a storage medium occurs at wavelengths below the waveguide cutoff wavelength. Measurements on the fabricated C-apertures confirm the mode confinement and transmission resonance.

Miniature planar solid immersion mirror with focused spot less than a quarter wavelength.

We describe a microoptical planar waveguide solid immersion mirror with high optical throughput, and show that it can focus light to spot sizes of ~90 nm at a wavelength of 413 nm. Scanning near field optical microscope images of the light within the device are in good agreement with a simple theoretical model. This device is accurately mass-produced with lithographic and thin film deposition techniques known from modern integrated circuit processing.

Input-grating couplers for narrow Gaussian beam: influence of groove depth.

Input-grating coupling characteristics have been studied for narrow Gaussian beam incidence and finite-length grating coupler with an electromagnetic full-vector field model based on the finite-difference time domain (FDTD) method. Analytic analysis based on perturbation theory has been compared to the FDTD technique. The influences of the variation in grating period, modulation depth, corrugation, and beam size have been investigated. Certain aspects of the calculated results have been confirmed with experiments.

Focusing characteristics of a planar solid-immersion mirror.

The focusing characteristics of a planar waveguide solid-immersion mirror with parabolic design have been investigated. The solid-immersion mirror is integrated into an optical waveguide, and light focusing is achieved with a parabolic mirror parallel to the waveguide plane and waveguide mode confinement normal to the waveguide plane. Optical-quality tantala silica planar waveguides can be obtained by evaporation. The parabolic sidewall reflects over 50% of the incident waveguide mode and generates a diffraction-limited focus. The measured spot size for the solid-immersion mirror described here is less than one third of the wavelength. Polarization analysis shows that the electric field near the focal region has components parallel and normal to the polarization state of the incident beam. The planar solid-immersion mirror is essentially free of chromatic aberration, and the alignment of the illumination beam is within a fraction of degrees.

Near-field radiation from a ridge waveguide transducer in the vicinity of a solid immersion lens.

A near-field optical system is investigated to improve the transmission efficiency of near-field transducers. A ridge waveguide is placed adjacent to a solid immersion lens (SIL) but separated by a low-index dielectric layer. The incident electric field near the focus of the SIL is determined by the Richards-Wolf vector field equations. The finite element method is used to solve Maxwell's equations. A spot size of 31 nm is obtained. The maximum value of the absorbed optical power density in the recording medium is 7.51 x 10(-4) mW/nm3 for a 100 mW input power.

Polarization dependence of thermal behavior in rewritable phase-change optical recording media.

Thermal behavior in land-groove phase-change optical recording has been examined for different polarizations of the incident beam. Three-dimensional temperature distribution in the grooved medium is evaluated by the numerical solution of Maxwell's equations and the heat transfer equation with the finite-difference method. Both experiments and calculations have shown that the thermal behavior in the medium is dependent on the state of polarization and the nature of the track. The calculated mark shapes in a quadrilayer stack are in good agreement with experimental observations.

Measurement of the thermal coefficients of rewritable phase-change optical recording media.

We describe a method to estimate the heat capacity of the substrate, the dielectric layer, and the phase-change layer of phase-change optical recording media as well as the thermal conductivity of the phase-change layer in its crystalline state. Measurements were carried out on spinning disks with the beam of light focused and locked onto the groove track. The method relies on the identification of the solid-to-liquid phase transition that occurs in the phase-change layer and takes advantage of the dependence of thermal diffusion on track velocity and irradiation time.

Amorphization induced by subnanosecond laser pulses in phase-change optical recording media.

We have investigated the dynamics of amorphization induced in phase-change optical recording media by focused laser pulses of subnanosecond duration. We initiated localized amorphism by using a focused laser beam to melt the phase-change material and completed the change by rapid cooling by means of thermal diffusion. These studies were conducted by use of real-time reflectivity measurements with a pump-and-probe technique in which both pump and probe pulses had a duration of approximately 510 ps. Our transient-reflectivity measurements indicate that the process that leads to amorphism has three distinct stages, namely, rapid melting, solidification, and slow relaxation.

Partial-response signaling for phase-change optical data storage without electronic equalization.

We describe the application of partial-response (PR) signaling in rewritable phase-change optical data storage. No electronic filter is necessary to shape the readout signal to a certain PR target. A PR-like waveform at the output of the read channel is directly achieved by optical recording. A genetic algorithm is used to optimize the parameters for writing and therefore to minimize the difference between the actual readout signal and the ideal PR waveform. With a laser wavelength of 0.66 microm and an objective lens with a numerical aperture of 0.6, four linear densities were examined: 0.4, 0.3, 0.25, and 0.2 microm/bit (without modulation). Results showed that the linear density of 0.25 microm/bit can be realized on a rewritable digital-versatile disk.

Estimation of thermal coefficients of magneto-optical media.

Previously we described a method for estimating the thermal conductivity of magneto-optic recording media. The method relies on identifying the laser power that brings the maximum temperature of the TbFeCo layer to as high as the Curie temperature. We extensively use a similar method to estimate the heat capacity of a dielectric layer, a TbFeCo layer, and an aluminum alloy layer of magneto-optic recording media. Measurements are conducted on static disks with a beam of light focused on a TbFeCo layer. The method has the advantage of thermal diffusion depending on a multilayer structure and irradiation time.

Optical characterization of multilayer stacks used as phase-change media of optical disk data storage.

We report results of measurements of the optical constants of the dielectric layer (ZnS-SiO2), reflecting layer (aluminum-chromium alloy), and phase-change layer (GeSbTe, AgInSbTe) used as the media of phase-change optical recording. The refractive index n and the absorption coefficient k of these materials vary to some extent with the film thickness and with the film deposition environment. We report the observed variations of optical constants among samples of differing structure and among samples fabricated in different laboratories.