Patent attributes
An optical pickup device includes a liquid crystal element having transparent electrodes, one of which has a plurality of areas divided in a concentric manner. The liquid crystal element can compensate for a spherical aberration that is generated when information is reproduced or recorded on two types of optical recording media. When one of two light beams supporting the two types of optical recording media having a larger value of an effective diameter is a first light beam and the other having a smaller value is a second light beam, parts of areas located inside an effective diameter of the second light beam and areas located outside the same to which the same voltage is applied for compensating for a spherical aberration generated in the first light beam are connected electrically to be the same potential.
