Optical beam homogenizer
AssigneeAllied Corporation
InventorRobert J. Pressley
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An optical beam homogenizer divides and redirects an incident beam to provide uniform irradiation to a plane surface. The beam homogenizer is particularly useful in an apparatus and method for uniform laser irradiation of materials. The apparatus comprises a laser, a beam homogenizer, and a support for the material being irradiated. Depending on the system parameters, the apparatus is useful for metal hardening, semiconductor annealing, or other materials processing applications.
Claims18
An optical beam homogenizer comprising two segmented cylindrical optical elements mounted with their cylindrical axes substantially at right angles to each other and oriented so that the elements divide a light beam incident on the first element into a plurality of parts and redirect the parts to intersect to form an area of substantially uniform power density at a predetermined distance from the second element.
A method of radiation-treating a material comprising the steps of:
- generating a laser beam,
- homogenizing the laser beam to provide a beam with a pair of segmented optical elements to provide a beam of substantially uniform power density over an area oriented perpendicular to the beam direction at the surface of the material, and
- contacting the material with the homogenized laser beam.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.