Minolta Company, Ltd.

Konica Minolta Opto, Inc.

Minolata Co., Ltd.

Yuichiro Ori

Shigeto Ohmori

Kazunari Tada

Hiromu Mukai

Junji Hashimura

Kohtaro Hayashi

Hiroyuki Matsumoto

Jun Ishihara

Tomokazu Taguchi

Kazuyuki Nishi

Yuichi Atarashi

Yasumasa Sawai

Soh Ohzawa

Takuji Hatano

Katsuya Yagi

Koji Miyai

A method for fabricating a prism that comprises a first and a second substrate, both translucent, bonded together with an optical thin film interposed at the interface in between and that is used with the interface inclined relative to the optical axis of incident laser light of a wavelength of 420 nm or shorter includes the step of bonding together the first and second substrates of which the difference &#x394;N1 in refractive index at the wavelength of the laser light fulfills the condition: &#x394;N1&#x2266;|1/(0.3&#xd7;10&#xd7;NA&#xd7;t)|, where t represents the thickness of the first and second substrates cemented together as measured along the optical axis of the laser light, and NA represents the numerical aperture of the incident laser light.

Method for fabricating a prism and method for fabricating an optical system

An optical pickup apparatus has a semiconductor laser source which emits a laser beam in a wavelength band of 405 nm having an elliptic light intensity distribution; a beam shaping element which shapes the light intensity distribution of the laser beam; a polarizing beam splitter having a polarized light separation film in contact with the air and reflecting the laser beam shaped by the beam shaping element on the polarized light separation film; and an objective lens which focuses the laser beam reflected on the polarized light separation film onto an optical information recording medium.

Optical pickup apparatus

In a beam shaping device for converting the laser light emitted from a semiconductor laser light source from an elliptic beam to a circular beam, the light-entrance-side and light-exit-side surfaces of the beam shaping device both have a curvature only in the minor-axis direction of the cross section of the elliptic beam. Of the light-entrance-side and light-exit-side surfaces, one is a circular-arc cylindrical surface and the other is a non-circular-arc cylindrical surface. The beam shaping device fulfills prescribed conditions with respect to the center thickness, surface shapes, and/or other features.

Beam shaping device

A lens optical system is provided with a cemented lens element formed by cementing two constituent lens elements made of different optical materials together, with a diffractive optical surface formed at the cementing interface between the two constituent lens elements. The two constituent lens elements have at their respective interfaces with air a radius of curvature different from the radius of curvature that they have at the cementing interface.

Lens optical system

In a beam shaping device for converting the laser light emitted from a semiconductor laser light source from an elliptic beam to a circular beam, the light-entrance-side and light-exit-side surfaces of the beam shaping device both have a curvature only in the major-axis direction of the cross section of the elliptic beam. Of the light-entrance-side and light-exit-side surfaces, one is a circular-arc cylindrical surface and the other is a non-circular-arc cylindrical surface.

A thin and light optical device satisfactorily separates light components having different properties. A blazed grating is formed on a surface of a flat-plate-shaped transparent substrate, and a separation coating that reflects or transmits incident light according to the properties of the incident light is provided on the blazed grating. The thus obtained optical device offers a function of separating light into reflected light and transmitted light, and also has a function of diffracting or refracting the thus separated light. As the separation coating, a polarization separation film, dichroic film, angle separation film, or chiral nematic liquid crystal layer is used to separate linearly polarized light components having different polarization planes, light components having different wavelengths, light components incident at different angles of incidence, or circularly polarized light components having different rotation directions.

Light separation device, blazed grating device, diffraction grating device, and illumination optical system

A light source device has a semiconductor laser for emitting an elliptical divergent beam having a light intensity distribution in an elliptical form; and a beam shaping element for converting an elliptical divergent beam from said semiconductor laser into an approximately circular divergent beam having a light intensity distribution in an approximately circular form; wherein the beam shaping element has a first surface formed of a cylindrical surface and a second surface formed of an anamorphic surface, in order from said semiconductor laser side, and satisfies the predetermined conditional expressions.

Light source device and optical pickup

A laser irradiation optical system includes a dividing means for dividing a first entering laser beam once, and producing a plurality of second laser beams having beam widths equal to the beam which of the first laser beam and advancing in mutually different directions, a condensing means for condensing for condensing each second laser beam to mutually advance in near the same direction; and a shaping means for converting the intensity distribution of a cross section perpendicular to the optical path of each second laser beam in the optical paths of the mutually separated second laser beams.

Laser irradiation optical system

A diffractive optical element acts as a lens. The optical element has a diffraction grating. The diffractive grating is provided with a plurality of ridges. Each of the ridges has a transmissive surface. A sectional profile of the transmissive surface is composed of a plurality of successively connected strait lines of an identical length. The length varies from one ridge to another.

Diffractive optical element and method of manufacturing a mold

A diffusive optical element exploiting holography is designed in such a way that, the higher the intensity of incident light in a wavelength range, the lower the rate at which the intensity of diffused light in that wavelength range is reduced with increasing angle relative to the maximum intensity direction. Thus, the lower the intensity of incident light in a wavelength range, the narrower the range of angles at which light is diffused in that wavelength range. This makes it possible to use light diffused at angles within a predetermined range relative to the maximum intensity direction, and thereby enhance light use efficiency in a wavelength range in which light intensity is comparatively low. This diffusive optical element is employed in an illumination optical system, which is used to illuminate photographic film from which to read images.

Diffusive optical element, illumination optical system, and image-shooting apparatus

A laser radiating optical system is composed of a laser diode and two mutually independent shaping optical systems. The laser diode emits a laser beam that has a Gaussian intensity distribution and that diverges with a large divergence angle in a first direction and with a small divergence angle in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. The first shaping optical system makes the intensity distribution even with respect to the first direction, and the second shaping optical system makes the intensity distribution even with respect to the second direction. The shaping optical systems are each composed of a collimator lens and a diffractive element for shaping, and the diffractive elements of the two shaping optical systems are given substantially equal numerical apertures.

Laser radiating optical system

An optical modulator has a spectral means for diffracting white illumination light into light of predetermined wavelength bands, a liquid crystal layer for modulating the intensity of the light entering a plurality of two-dimensional pixels, a condensing means for condensing the light spectrally diffracted by the spectral means so as to direct the light to each pixel of the liquid crystal layer, and a reflecting means for reflecting the light that passes through the liquid crystal layer in approximately the same direction as the entering light.

Optical modulator and projector

A projecting image display device is disclosed which includes a display and a micro lens array, where the pixels of the display and the micro lens elements each have non symmetric properties in length and width directions. The micro lens concentrates color-separated light onto pixels of a display device so that light does not hit the black matrix. By providing a display having pixels which are not equal in length and width, pixels corresponding to red (R), green (G) and blue (B) can be arranged in a substantially square area, and by providing a micro lens array which has non symmetric properties in length and width, the color separated light can be concentrated onto the non square display pixels.

Growing community of inventors

Moriyama, Japan

Yuichiro Ori