Patent attributes
In an optical disk apparatus, transmittance and reflectance of a polarization beam splitter 13 to the S polarization and the P polarization of laser beams are adjusted so that a first polarization component level ratio in the laser beam received by a light receiver for reproducing signal 17 from a laser diode 11 via the polarization beam splitter 13, and a second polarization component level ratio in the laser beam received by a light receiver for monitoring light source 18 from the laser diode 11 via the polarization beam splitter 13 become equal or the difference between the first and the second polarization component level ratios becomes within a predetermined permissible range.