A polarizing beam splitter for separating an upstream beam from a
downstream beam according to the polarization of an incident beam is
provided between first and second light sources emitting laser beams at
respective wavelength and an objective lens. A phase plate for providing
a phase difference to a beam incident on the polarizing beam splitter is
provided between the polarizing beam splitter and the light sources. A
portion of the laser beam incident on the polarizing beam splitter is
reflected by the polarizing beam splitter and caused to be incident on a
photo-detecting unit, so as to prevent an unnecessary portion of the
laser beam is incident on the photo-detecting unit. According to the
invention, the laser beam is used efficiently and the cost of fabricating
an optical disk apparatus is reduced by eliminating a need for a gain
controlling circuit in the photo-detecting unit.