Abstract:
A disclosed optical device is physically movable with respect to a document surface or an image forming surface. The disclosed optical device includes substrates; optical element groups mounted on the substrates and composed of optical elements for image scanning or image forming, adjacent ones of the optical element groups being spaced at a predetermined distance in a direction that the optical device is movable; and a joining part joining the substrates and thereby maintaining the predetermined distance, the joining part having a thermal coefficient of expansion that is smaller than that of the substrates.