This paper describes a fiberprobe optical memory head with a coupled-cavity-laser configuration. The optical feedback efficiency was both theoretically and experimentally analyzed as a function of the clearance and the inclination angle of the probe to the recording-medium surface. The feedback efficiency was numerically estimated from the theoretical analysis for the various position conditions of the probe, and the estimation process was verified by the experiment assuming a light output proportional to the feedback efficiency. The experiment also confirmed that the data signal can be correctly detected in the on-track condition, and that high-sensitivity detection of tracking-error signals can be performed by a sampled-servo control method.
