Optical disk medium having features for radial tilt detection and apparatus for measuring radial tilt

Abstract

An optical disk medium has a data surface with grooves and lands behind a transparent substrate. Periodically, along radial lines, tilt measurement features are provided in the data surface, wherein the height of the grooves and lands is abruptly changed, preferably over a short circumferential length. For example, along the radial lines, the height of a groove (over a short length) may be changed to the height of a land and the height of a land (over a short length) may be changed to the height of a groove. The optical system and the optical disk medium are designed so that when the focused laser spot is centered on a groove, a radial push-pull tracking error signal is zero even if the disk is tilted. If the focused laser spot is centered on a land, the tracking error signal varies when the disk is tilted. As a result, when the focused laser spot passes over a tilt measurement feature, an abrupt step in the tracking error signal provides a measure of the magnitude and direction of tilt. The tilt measurement features have little effect on the data signal, and little effect on the filtered tracking error signal and the filtered focus error signal.

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