Composite polarizer with adjustable polarization angles
AssigneeKLA-Tencor Corporation
InventorGuoheng Zhao
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An adjustable, composite polarizer can include first and second plate polarizers and an adjusting apparatus. The adjusting apparatus can adjust a pitch angle and a roll angle for the first and second plate polarizers while maintaining a predetermined, minimal distance between those plates. In this configuration, the adjustable, composite polarizer can provide mirror symmetric polarization with respect to an incident plane while providing the flexibility of any polarization.
Claims24
An adjustable, composite polarizer comprising:
- a first plate polarizer;
- a second plate polarizer;
- and
- an adjusting apparatus including a first adjustment mechanism that adjusts a pitch angle and a second adjustment mechanism that adjusts a roll angle for the first and second plate polarizers while maintaining a predetermined distance between the first and second plate polarizers.
An adjustable, composite polarizer comprising:
- a plurality of plate polarizers;
- and
- an adjusting apparatus including a first adjustment mechanism that adjusts a pitch angle and a second adjustment mechanism that adjusts a roll angle for each of the plurality of plate polarizers while maintaining a predetermined distance between each pair of the plurality of plate polarizers.
A method of adjusting polarization in an optical system, the method comprising:
- designating a first desired polarization;
- determining first pitch angles and first roll angles for a plurality of plate polarizers to achieve the first desired polarization;
- and
- adjusting the plurality of plate polarizers to the first pitch angles using a first adjustment mechanism and the first roll angles using a second adjustment mechanism.
A method of providing polarization in an optical system, the method comprising:
- positioning a plurality of plate polarizers, each plate polarizer abutting at least one other plate polarizer;
- and
- configuring an adjusting mechanism using a first adjustment mechanism configured to provide a predetermined pitch and using a second adjustment mechanism configured to provide a predetermined roll angle to each plate polarizer.
A method for providing polarization in an optical system, the method comprising:
- positioning a plurality of plate polarizers, each plate polarizer abutting at least one other plate polarizer;
- and
- providing a predetermined pitch and roll to each plate polarizer.
An inspection system comprising:
- a light source;
- an illumination path for directing light from the light source onto a test object;
- a collection path for directing scattered light from the test object;
- and
- a detector for receiving the collected light,
- wherein the collection path includes an adjustable, composite polarizer including
- a plurality of plate polarizers;
- and
- an adjusting apparatus including a first adjustment mechanism that adjusts a pitch angle and a second adjustment mechanism that adjusts a roll angle for each of the plurality of plate polarizers while maintaining a predetermined distance between each pair of the plurality of plate polarizers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.