Multi-beam light source using optical waveguide for optical recording

We have fabricated and tested a multi-beam light source using an optical waveguide. It had an optical output of 12 mW with a propagation efficiency of 30%. The crosstalk between neighboring channels was -17.69 dB. When the output power was increased from 0.5 to 10 mW, the wavefront aberration fell to less than /spl lambda//20. As a result, even when the mode type of the waveguide was multi-mode, it could focus the beam at the optical spot within the diffraction limit. This light source is thus a promising one for optical recording.