Optical System and Focusing Method in a Multi-Beam Head for Optical Tape Recording

Abstract

An optical tape recording system using a rotating optical head is being developed in order to realize a small-sized video storage with large capacity. To record and retrieve high quality moving pictures for broadcasting use, high bit recording is necessary. Among the methods to meet this requirement, parallel recording is the most effective way. With an experimental multi-beam head utilizing a four-beam laser diode array, we have successfully realized an optical system to keep the spot intervals on the optical tape constant and a precise focus control method. The performance of the head was confirmed by recording experiments.