An optical disc apparatus for recording, reproducing or erasing an
information signal by converging a light flux onto a recording layer
through a transparent substrate. The apparatus includes one or a
plurality of optical heads having a plurality of objective lenses whose
aberrations have respectively been corrected for a plurality of disc
substrates of different thicknesses, a cartridge for enclosing the
optical disc, a discrimination hole which is formed on the cartridge, and
a sensor for detecting the opening/closing state of the discrimination
hole and for generating a discrimination signal. In accordance with the
result of the discrimination as to the thickness of the loaded optical
disc, the objective lens, in which the occurrence of the aberration is
smallest, is used, so that the information signal can preferably be
recorded, reproduced or erased onto/from the optical discs having
different substrate thicknesses. Instead of an optical head having
objective lenses, an optical head having a waveguide and a plurality of
converging grating couplers whose aberrations have respectively been
corrected for a plurality of disc substrates of different thicknesses is
provided to achieve the same object. An optical recording/reproducing
apparatus for recording, reproducing or erasing an information signal
onto/from an optical disc having at least a transparent substrate and an
information layer by converging a light flux on the information layer
through the transparent substrate. The apparatus includes optical
converging devices, with different numerical apertures, focal distances
or working distances, such as objective lenses or grating lenses, for
performing aberration correction over a plurality of transparent
substrates of different thicknesses of optical discs and a device for
discriminating the type of optical disc based on the thicknesses of the
transparent substrates. One of the optical converging devices that
generates the least aberration is used according to a result of the
discrimination of the thickness of the optical disk loaded in the
apparatus to cause the information signal to be suitably recorded,
reproduced or erased onto/from the optical discs having the different
substrate thicknesses.