F.theta. lens

An f.theta. lens of an optical system employing a plurality of laser beams each having a different wavelength, said f.theta. lens comprising:

• first and second lens groups arranged in this order from an entrance pupil side, the first lens group consisting of first and second lenses cemented together, the refracting powers of the first and second lenses being One of the combinations of negative and positive, positive and positive, and positive and negative, the second lens group consisting of a third lens having a positive or negative refracting power, wherein the first and second lens groups satisfy the following formulae (5) to (9),
• 2.ltoreq..vertline..nu..sub.d1 -.nu..sub.d2 .vertline. (5)
• -0.020.ltoreq..SIGMA.(.phi..sub.i /.nu..sub.di).ltoreq.0.005 (6)
• 35.ltoreq..nu..sub.dL ( 7)
• 1.0.ltoreq..phi..sub.12 .ltoreq.2.5 (8)
• 0.01.ltoreq.d.sub.12 .ltoreq.0.22 (9)
• wherein .phi..sub.i represents power of i-th lens as numbered from the entrance pupil side standardized based on power of the system, .phi..sub.12 represents power of the first lens group standardized based on the power of the system, .nu..sub.di represents the Abbe's number for the sodium d-line of the i-th lens as numbered from the entrance pupil side, .nu..sub.dL represents the Abbe's number for the sodium d-line of one of the first and second lenses having the smaller dispersive power than the other, and d.sub.12 represents surface separation between the first and second lens groups standardized based on a focal length of the system.

An f.theta. lens in an optical system for scanning light emanating from a deflecting point comprising a plurality of laser beams each having a different wavelength, said f.theta. lens comprising:

• a first lens having a positive refracting power and a second lens having a negative refracting power, the first and second lenses being cemented together and the first lens being positioned on an entrance pupil side, wherein the first and second lens satisfy the following formulae (10) to (12),
• n.sub.d1 <n.sub.d2 ( 10)
• 0.4.ltoreq..nu..sub.d2 /.nu..sub.d1 .ltoreq.0.8 (11)
• 1.5.ltoreq..phi..sub.1 .ltoreq.4.7 (12)
• wherein n.sub.d1 and n.sub.d2 respectively represent refractive indices for the sodium d-line of the first and second lenses, .nu..sub.d1 and .nu..sub.d2 respectively represent the Abbe's numbers for the sodium d-line of the first and second lenses, and .phi..sub.1 represents power of the first lens standardized based on the power of the system, said f.theta. lens being used in a position where a distance between a deflecting point and the entrance pupil side surface of the first lens standardized based on a focal length of the system is in the range of 0.1 to 0.4 inclusive.