Integrated surface acoustic wave deflector and optical disk tracking experiment: development

To improve the access time of the optical disk, we have developed an integrated surface acoustic wave deflector. An end-coupled laser diode with a gradient-index lens, a half-wave plate, and a geodesic waveguide lens are integrated together with surface acoustic wave deflector on a Ti:LiNbO(3) waveguide. Consequently optical disk tracking on a read-only disk is achieved experimentally with this newly developed deflector. Fabrication techniques for geodesic lenses are also described particularly with respect to polishing and waveguide fabrication.