Solid immersion lens for optical storage

Some time ago we described a new type of near-field imaging system using the solid immersion lens. In this paper we shall discuss how this type of lens can be employed in optical storage systems to increase the bit density, along with the research that has been carried out at Stanford in cooperation with Sony Corporation and IBM, Almaden to reach this goal. 12 ()j aimis to work with both CD ROMs and magneto-optical storage.