Disclosed is an optical recording medium comprising a recording layer. The recording layer contains: a charge generation material generating an electron and a hole by light irradiation; a charge transport material transporting one of the electron and the hole; a charge trap which traps the transported one of the electron and the hole to separate the electron and the hole; and a non-linear optical material which changes optical properties of the recording layer in accordance with electric field formed by the electron and the hole being separated from each other. The non-linear optical material has an asymmetrical carbon atom and a cyclic group. Or, it is a cyclic-group-containing constituent having: an inversion symmetric pi-electron system; at least one of an electron donating group and an electron accepting group which are bonded to the inversion symmetric &pgr;-electron system; and an asymmetrical carbon atom.