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:
Jul. 17, 2012
Filed:
Oct. 01, 2008
Kouji Muramatsu, Belmont, CA (US);
Hisashi Nishinaga, Saitama, JP;
Kouji Muramatsu, Belmont, CA (US);
Hisashi Nishinaga, Saitama, JP;
Nikon Corporation, Tokyo, JP;
Abstract
An illumination optical apparatus is able to quickly perform switching between polarization states of illumination light in a first region and in a second region. The illumination optical apparatus of the present invention for illuminating a surface to be illuminated on the basis of light from a light source is provided with an optical integrator of a wavefront division type arranged in an optical path between the light source and the surface to be illuminated and including a plurality of wavefront division regions; and a polarization changing member for changing a polarization state of at least one beam out of a beam incident to a first region in the wavefront division regions of the optical integrator and a beam incident to a second region in the wavefront division regions of the optical integrator.