Apparatus for shaping a light beam

• US 7,085,062 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2004
• Issued: 08/01/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/18/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LIMO GmbH
• Original Assignee: Hentze-Lissotschenko Patentverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG.
• Inventors: Hauschild, Dirk
• Primary Examiner(s): Ben, Loha
• Application Number:
  US10/864,815
• Publication Number:
  US 20050018294A1
• Time in Patent Office: 782 Days
• Field of Search: 359/626, 359/618, 359/619, 359/621, 359/622, 359/623, 359/624, 359/710, 359/558, 359/565, 359/566, 359/563, 359/569, 359/570, 359/573, 359/574, 359/575, 362/268, 362/280
• US Class Current: 359/626
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/0944 Diffractive optical elements, e.g. gratings, holograms gratings per se G02B5/18; holograms used as optical elements per se G02B5/32
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 27/4277 being separated by an air space

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus for shaping a light beam, having at least two optically functional boundary surfaces that are arranged one behind another in the propagation direction (z) of the light beam to be shaped, such that the light beam can pass through the at least two optically functional boundary surfaces one after another, and two groups of refractive or diffractive imaging elements that are arranged on at least one of the optically functional boundary surfaces, at least two of the imaging elements having different properties within at least one of the groups.

Claims

1. An apparatus for shaping a light beam, comprising

at least two optically functional boundary surfaces that are arranged one behind another in the propagation direction (z) of the light beam to be shaped, such that the light beam can pass through the at least two optically functional boundary surfaces one after another;

and

two groups of refractive or diffractive imaging elements that are arranged on at least one of the optically functional boundary surfaces;

wherein

at least two of the imaging elements have different properties within at least one of the groups and

wherein

the diffractive imaging elements are grating-like structures or periodic variations in diffractive index.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the refractive imaging elements are lenses.

3. The apparatus in claim 2, wherein the lenses are cylindrical lenses or quasi-cylindrical lenses.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least two lenses of a group differ in their aperture.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the cylinder axes of the cylindrical lenses on a first optically functional boundary surface are substantially parallel to the cylinder axes of the cylindrical lenses on a second optically functional boundary surface.

6. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least two lenses of a group differ in their focal length.

7. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least two lenses of a group differ in the shape of their optically functional surface.

8. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least two lenses of a group differ in their numerical aperture.

9. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first of two groups comprises convex lenses, and the second of the two groups comprises concave lenses.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the concave lenses are concave cylindrical lenses and the convex lenses are convex cylindrical lenses.

11. The apparatus as claimed in claim 10, wherein the concave cylindrical lenses and the convex cylindrical lenses are arranged alternately with one another, the cylinder axes both of the concave and the convex cylindrical lenses extending in the same direction (X, Y).

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising at least two types of imaging elements, each having a plurality of imaging elements provided within the imaging elements of the first type having different properties compared with the imaging elements of the second type.

13. The apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein convex cylindrical lenses of the first type, concave cylindrical lenses, convex cylindrical lenses of the second type and concave cylindrical lenses are arranged alternately next to one another in each case on at least one of the optically functional boundary surfaces.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 13, wherein the vertex lines of the concave cylindrical lenses of the first optically functional boundary surface are offset from the vertex lines of the concave lenses of the second optically functional boundary surface in a direction (X) perpendicular to the propagation direction (Z) of the light beam.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the apparatus has a third and a fourth optically functional boundary surface with imaging elements.

16. The apparatus as claimed in claim 15, wherein arranged on the third and fourth optically functional boundary surfaces are cylindrical lenses whose cylinder axes are parallel to one another and perpendicular to the cylinder axes of the cylindrical lenses on the first and the second optically functional boundary surface.

17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein arranged in the propagation direction (Z) of the light beam to be shaped downstream of the at least two optically functional boundary surfaces is a lens means that serves as a Fourier lens and can superimpose in a processing plane component beams, passing through individual imaging elements, of the light beam to be shaped.