Optical scanner with improved scan time
First Claim
1. A method for scanning an object, the method comprising:
- directing an incident beam through an objective lens and onto an image plane at a beam spot, the objective lens having a lens axis that extends substantially perpendicular to the image plane;
moving the incident beam around the lens axis of the objective lens so that the beam spot moves along a substantially curved scan pattern on the image plane; and
providing relative movement between the objective lens and the object, the object moving along the image plane in a linear object direction while the beam spot moves about the image plane in the curved scan pattern to form a two dimensional image of the object, wherein the beam spot moves generally in the object direction for a portion of the curved scan pattern and generally transverse to the object direction for another portion of the curved scan pattern.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus is provided for scanning an object, featuring scanning an incident beam in a substantially curved scan pattern; and moving an object at a predetermined rate along an axis substantially orthogonal to a plane of the curved scan pattern so that a two dimensional image can be formed by successive passes of a circularly scanned spot. In particular, a laser beam scans around an objective lens at a fixed radius RL with a fixed input angle θd. When scanned in this manner, the laser beam before the objective lens forms a “cone” of directions (so herein it is referred to as a “conical scan”). Scanning in this fashion produces the curved scan pattern at the object (substrate). By moving the object (substrate) at the predetermined rate along the axis orthogonal to the plane of the curved scan pattern, the two dimensional image can be formed by successive passes of the circularly scanned spot.
-
Citations
23 Claims
-
1. A method for scanning an object, the method comprising:
-
directing an incident beam through an objective lens and onto an image plane at a beam spot, the objective lens having a lens axis that extends substantially perpendicular to the image plane; moving the incident beam around the lens axis of the objective lens so that the beam spot moves along a substantially curved scan pattern on the image plane; and providing relative movement between the objective lens and the object, the object moving along the image plane in a linear object direction while the beam spot moves about the image plane in the curved scan pattern to form a two dimensional image of the object, wherein the beam spot moves generally in the object direction for a portion of the curved scan pattern and generally transverse to the object direction for another portion of the curved scan pattern. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. An optomechanical system for scanning an object, the system comprising:
-
a scan generator for directing an incident beam through an objective lens and onto an image plane at a beam spot, the objective lens having a lens axis that extends substantially perpendicular to the image plane, the scan generator moving the incident beam around the lens axis so that the beam spot moves along a substantially curved scan pattern on the image plane; and a device for providing relative movement between the lens axis and the object so that the object moves along the image plane in a linear object direction while the beam spot moves about the image plane in the curved scan pattern, wherein the beam spot moves generally in the object direction for a portion of the curved scan pattern and generally transverse to the object direction for another portion of the curved scan pattern.
-
-
22. A method for scanning an object, the method comprising:
-
directing an incident beam onto an image plane at a beam spot; scanning the beam spot about a substantially curved scan pattern on the image plane such that the beam spot moves along the curved scan pattern on the image plane; and providing relative movement between the objective lens and the object while the beam spot moves about the image plane in the curved scan pattern to form a two dimensional image of the object, the relative movement between the objective lens and the object being represented by a total displacement vector, the total displacement vector being substantially constant while scanning the beam spot such that the objective lens moves in a linear direction at a predetermined rate relative to the object; wherein the beam spot moves generally along the linear direction for a portion of the curved scan pattern and generally transverse to the linear direction for another portion of the curved scan pattern. - View Dependent Claims (23)
-
Specification