Apparatus for and method of optical component alignment
AssigneeCymer, Inc.
InventorHong Ye
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Apparatus for and method of aligning optical components such as mirrors to facilitate proper beam alignment using an image integration optical system is used to integrate images from multiple optical features such as from both left mirror bank and right mirror bank to present the images simultaneously to the camera system. A fluorescent material may be used to render a beam footprint visible and the relative positions of the footprint and an alignment feature may be used to align the optical feature.
Claims14
An optical pulse stretcher comprising:
- a sealed enclosure, the sealed enclosure including a window transparent to visible light;
- a first optical feature having a first region positioned within the enclosure;
- a second optical feature having a second region positioned within the enclosure;
- and
- an image integration module arranged to receive first region light from the first optical feature and second region light from the second optical feature and adapted to cause the first optical feature light to propagate parallel to the second optical feature light through the window, wherein the image integration module comprises a planar mirrored surface inclined with respect to a line passing through a center of the planar mirrored surface and substantially parallel to the first region feature by an angle θ wherein the angle θ is selected to maximize a field of view of the image integration module.
A method of aligning a first optical feature and a second optical feature in an optical pulse stretcher, the first optical feature being arranged at a first position in a sealed enclosure and the second optical feature arranged at a second position in the sealed enclosure, the sealed enclosure having a window, the method comprising:
- receiving light from the first optical feature;
- receiving light from the second optical feature;
- and
- redirecting the light from the first optical feature and the light from the second optical feature out of the sealed enclosure through the window and forming a composite image comprising a first image from the light from the first optical feature collocated with a second image from the light from the second optical feature.
An optical pulse stretcher comprising:
- a first optical feature arranged at a first position in a sealed enclosure, the sealed enclosure having a window;
- a second optical feature arranged at a second position in the sealed enclosure;
- an image integration module;
- and
- a detector comprising a camera disposed outside of the sealed enclosure, wherein,
- the camera is configured to receive, through the window, light from the first optical feature that has passed through the image integration module, the camera is configured to receive, through the window, light from the second optical feature that has passed through the image integration module, and the detector is configured to form a composite image comprising a first image from the light from the first optical feature collocated with a second image from the light from the second optical feature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.