Abstract:
An optical pickup apparatus detects optical information by making a laser beam in a 405 nm wavelength band emitted from a semiconductor laser light source incident on an optical information recording medium and then making the laser beam reflected from the optical information recording medium incident on a photodetector. The optical pickup apparatus has a polarizing beam splitter including a polarizing beam splitting film that forms an optical path from the semiconductor laser light source to the optical information recording medium by reflecting the s-polarized component of the laser beam and that forms an optical path from the optical information recording medium to the photodetector by transmitting the p-polarized component of the laser beam; and a monitoring sensor that receives the laser beam to monitor the laser output intensity of the semiconductor laser light source. The polarizing beam splitter transmits part of the s-polarized component, and the monitoring sensor receives this part of the s-polarized component in a position where the center line of the effective light beam received by the monitoring sensor does not coincide with the principal ray of that part of the s-polarized component.
Abstract:
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.
Abstract:
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.
Abstract:
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.
Abstract:
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.
Abstract:
A zoom lens system has the first and second lens units. During zooming from a wide-angle end to a telephoto end, the lens units are moved to decrease a distance therebetween. The first lens unit has a positive refractive power. The second lens unit has a negative refractive power. The zoom lens system is provided with at least one surface having a power to diffract light.
Abstract:
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.
Abstract:
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.
Abstract:
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.
Abstract:
An optical pickup apparatus includes a diffractive optical element, and an objective lens that focuses a light beam of a first wavelength λ1, a light beam of a second wavelength λ2 and a light beam of a third wavelength λ3 on a first recording medium, a second recording medium, and a third recording medium, respectively, the wavelengths λ1, λ2, and λ3 being different from each other. The diffractive optical element includes a first diffractive surface that neither diffracts the light beam of the first wavelength λ1 nor the light beam of the third wavelength λ3 but diffracts the light beam of the second wavelength λ2, and a second diffractive surface that neither diffracts the light beam of the first wavelength λ1 nor the light beam of the second wavelength λ2 but diffracts the light beam of the third wavelength λ3, and each of the first and second diffractive surfaces satisfies the following condition inequality: Λ/λ≧8 wherein A represents the minimum pitch in the case that the width which generates a phase difference of one wavelength when the closest wavefronts resulting from adjacent steps in each of the diffractive surfaces are linked with each other is defined as one pitch, and λ represents the wavelength of the diffracted light.