Optical scanning method and system and method for correcting optical aberrations introduced into the system by a beam deflector

An optical scanning system which corrects for optical aberrations introduced by a beam deflector of the system, the system comprising:

• a laser source to generate a laser beam;
• a controllable beam deflector;
• a first subsystem of optical elements to deliver a scan beam to the beam deflector based on the generated laser beam, the beam deflector scanning the delivered scan beam through a range of deflection angles in response to a control signal while introducing an in-scan focus tilt to the system;
• and
• a second subsystem of optical elements including lens elements having an optical axis and at least one, but not all, of the lens element being tilted relative to the optical axis at a tilt angle about a cross-scan axis to at least partially correct for the focus tilt introduced by the beam deflector during scanning, the second subsystem imaging the scanned laser beam onto a spot on material within a target area.

An optical scanning method for use in an optical scanning system having an optical axis and a chirp dispersion rate, the method comprising:

• providing a controllable beam deflector;
• providing a plurality of lens elements between the beam deflector at an image field of the system, at least one but not all of the lens elements being tilted relative to an optical axis at a tilt angle about a cross-scan axis;
• generating a scan beam;
• generating a control signal;
• delivering the scan beam to the beam deflector, the beam deflector scanning the delivered beam through a range of deflection angles while introducing an in-scan focus tilt in response to the control signal;
• and
• imaging the scanned beam onto material within a target area, the at least one tilted lens element at least partially correcting for the focus tilt introduced by the beam deflector.