Manufacturing method for optical recording medium, optical recording medium, optical information device, and information reproducing method

An optical information device for reproducing or recording information with respect to an optical recording medium manufactured by a manufacturing method, the optical recording medium having N (where N is a positive integer of 3 or more) information recording surfaces, actual thicknesses of a cover layer and first through (N-1)-th intermediate layers of the optical recording medium being respectively tr1, ..., trj, ..., and trN in an order from a surface of the optical recording medium where light is incident, at least one layer out of the cover layer and the first through (N-1)-th intermediate layers including k layers, actual thicknesses of the k layers being respectively dj1, dj2, ..., and djk, and refractive indexes of thickness portions of the k layers being respectively, nrj1, nrj2, ... , and nrjk, and 1≦j≦N, the optical information device comprising:

• an optical head device that moves a light spot of laser light that is to irradiate the optical recording medium from a predetermined information recording surface to another information recording surface of a plurality of the information recording surfaces to thereby reproduce or record information with respect to the plurality of the information recording surfaces,
• wherein the manufacturing method for the optical recording medium includes:
• defining a thickness tj by the following formula:
• tj=ΣdjM×f(nrjM)
• where Σ represents an integration from 1 through k with respect to “M”;
• and
• setting the thickness tj to 10 μm or more,
• a function f(n) is expressed by the following formula (1):
• f(n)=−1.088n3+6.1027n2−12.042n+9.1007 (1)
• in the formula (1), n=nr1,. . ., nrM, . . ., and nrk,
• wherein the manufacturing method produces the optical recording medium with layers having thicknesses that prevent light from forming an image on a backside of a surface of the optical recording medium, suppress coherence between reflected light from the information recording surfaces, and improve the quality of a servo signal and a reproduction signal.

An information reproducing method for reproducing information from an optical recording medium manufactured by a manufacturing method for the optical recording medium, the optical recording medium having N (where N is a positive integer of 3 or more) information recording surfaces, actual thicknesses of a cover layer and first through (N-1)-th intermediate layers of the optical recording medium being respectively tr1,. . ., tri, . . ., and trN in an order from a surface of the optical recording medium where light is incident, at least one layer out of the cover layer and the first through (N-1)-th intermediate layers including k layers, actual thickness of the k layers being respectively dj1, dj2, . . ., and djk, and refractive indexes of thickness portions of the k layers being respectively, nrj1, nrj2, . . ., and nrjk, and 1≦j≦N, and the manufacturing method for the optical recording medium including the steps of:

• defining a thickness tj by the following formula:
• tj=ΣdjM×f(nrjM)
• where Σ represents an integration from 1 through k with respect to “M”;
• and
• setting the thickness tj to 10 μm or more,
• a function f(n) is expressed by the following formula (1):
• f(n)=−1.088n3+6.1027n2−12.042n+9.1007 (1)
• in the formula (1), n=nr1,. . ., nrM, . . ., and nrk,
• wherein the manufacturing method produces the optical recording medium with layers having thicknesses that prevent light from forming an image on a backside of a surface of the optical recording medium, suppress coherence between reflected light from the information recording surfaces, and improve the quality of a servo signal and a reproduction signal,
• the information reproducing method comprising:
• converging a light spot of laser light onto a predetermined information recording surface of a plurality of information recording surfaces;
• reproducing information from the predetermined information recording surface;
• and
• moving the light spot of laser light from the predetermined information recording surface to another information recording surface of the optical recording medium different from the predetermined information recording surface to thereby reproduce information from the another information recording surface, in the case where the information is reproduced from the another information recording surface.