Method and apparatus for lossless beam shaping to obtain high-contrast imaging in photon tunneling methods
US6137632A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 19, 1999 |
| Grant date | Oct 24, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 19, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG11B7/1398
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An axiconic telescope that receives a collimated input light beams and includes a first axicon and second axicon. Depending on the distance between the two axicons, the input collimated beam is converted to a diverging conical wave front by the first axicon, which is re-collimated by the second axicon having an oppositely signed cone angle. The output of the telescope is a collimated beam having an annular cross section, with the annulus having a width of dependent on the diameter of the telescope. The axiconic telescope may be used to produce an output beam having annulus size that can be optimized to illuminate a portion of a transducer in an solid immersion lens or photon tunning method device that contributes evanescent waves to increase resolution of an optical device.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.