DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENT, METHOD OF FABRICATING THE ELEMENT, ILLUMINATION DEVICE PROVIDED WITH THE ELEMENT, PROJECTION EXPOSURE APPARATUS, EXPOSURE METHOD, OPTICAL HOMOGENIZER, AND METHOD OF FABRICATING THE OPTICAL HOMOGENIZER
US6836365B2 · kind B2 · utility
56Cited by
33References
29Claims
0Family size
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Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 14, 2000 |
| Grant date | Dec 28, 2004 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Apr 14, 2020 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S359/90
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A diffractive optical element efficiently converts an input light beam into an output light beam having a specified cross-sectional shape. The diffractive optical element includes a plurality of partial optical elements. The plurality of partial optical elements convert the input light beam to respective partial light beams, each of which has a shape that does not correspond to the specified cross-sectional shape. The sum of the partial light beams matches the shape of the output light beam (i.e., having the specified cross-sectional shape).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.