Optical imaging system with polarizer and a crystalline-quartz plate for use therewith
US6774984B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | May 15, 2002 |
| Grant date | Aug 10, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 15, 2022 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG03F7/70966
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
An optical imaging system having several imaging optical components (L1-L16) sequentially arranged along an optical axis (16), a means for creating radially polarized light arranged at a given location in that region extending up to the last of said imaging optical components, and a crystalline-quartz plate employable in such a system. A polarization rotator (14) for rotating the planes of polarization of radially polarized light and transforming same into tangentially polarized light, particularly in the form of a crystalline-quartz plate as noted above, is provided at a given location within a region commencing where those imaging optical components that follow said means for creating radially polarized light in the optical train are arranged. The optical imaging system is particularly advantageous when embodied as a microlithographic projection exposure system.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.