Effects of Polarization on Wave Front Measurements and Manufacturing of Solid Immersion Lenses for Near-Field Optical Recording

Near-field optical recording with a solid immersion lens (SIL) is a promising and logical technology for commercial optical data drives with data storage densities beyond that of Blu-ray Disc. In many aspects the technology of near-field recording with a SIL is very similar to conventional optical recording, however for lenses with a numerical aperture (NA) exceeding unity certain optical effects occur that do not play a role in conventional optical recording systems. An example of one such effect that we found in practice is a polarization induced spurious wave front aberration. In this paper we report on the analysis and correction of those polarization induced spurious wave front aberrations in NA>1 Solid Immersion Lenses and in particular for the NA=1.9 lenses used in our experimental near-field optical recorder.