The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 08, 2004
Filed:
May. 10, 2000
Stephen W. Farnsworth, Loveland, CO (US);
Kirk Cook, Lyons, CO (US);
Infineon Technologies North America Corp., San Jose, CA (US);
Abstract
A monolithic optical pickup has all passive optical elements aligned during fabrication, thereby requiring no alignment during the assembly of a system utilizing it. Its supporting structure is the monolithic passive device itself. A single surface incorporates all the functions of an optical pickup system including a focusing element, image creation apertures and stops, scattering/reflection reduction, and return path apertures and optics. The elements are formed from a metalized layer which is applied lithographically. Placing the apertures and stops on the principal plane of the focussing element allows for the image size to be precisely controlled by the image distance. The monolithic optical pickup is well suited for use with multiple detector elements. Alternate embodiments of the invention may omit some of the optical system elements.