Single element imaging laser homogenizer

Abstract

A field mapped laser beam homogenizer has been designed which has a high degree of homogenization as a single optical element. A traditional imaging laser homogenizer incorporates a Fourier Transform lens requiring therefore a minimum of two (2) optical elements in an ideal case using gray scale lithography fabrication techniques. The single element imaging laser homogenizer is comprised of two lens arrays without a Fourier transform lens and yet yields similar performance to a traditional imaging homogenizer. In large area illumination applications which utilize an excimer laser, the concept can be accomplished using two independent lens arrays: one array breaks the beam into sub apertures and the other array field maps the sub apertures into a common homogenized plane.A field mapped laser beam homogenizer has been designed which has a high degree of homogenization as a single optical element. A traditional imaging laser homogenizer incorporates a Fourier Transform lens requiring therefore a minimum of two (2) optical elements in an ideal case using gray scale lithography fabrication techniques. The single element imaging laser homogenizer is comprised of two lens arrays without a Fourier transform lens and yet yields similar performance to a traditional imaging homogenizer. In large area illumination applications which utilize an excimer laser, the concept can be accomplished using two independent lens arrays: one array breaks the beam into sub apertures and the other array field maps the sub apertures into a common homogenized plane.