Abstract: A method and a system for generating a beam of radiation in a target plane located in a near-filed region of a radiation emitting means. A beam of radiation having a substantially plane wavefront is emitted. A normal Bessel beam, having its transverse profile substantially in the form of a Bessel function, is produced from said emitted beam of radiation. The normal Bessel beam is produced in a first medium of a refraction index n1 and is directed towards the target plane located in a second medium having a refraction index n2, such that n2<n1. Passage of the normal Bessel beam from the first medium into the second medium results in the generation of an evanescent Bessel beam of radiation propagating in the second medium. The evanescent Bessel beam has a center lobe significantly smaller in size than the wavelength of radiation in the second medium, and basically retains its shape in the second medium.

Abstract: This specification discloses a reflective optical circulator, which uses an optical reflective device to reflect an incident light beam from an optical port so that the reflected light beams further pass through all optical devices (i.e., all sorts of optical crystals) on the optical paths. With a proper reciprocal-non-reciprocal optical crystal combination, a particular linear polarization direction is generated to guide the reflected beams to the next optical port. The invention achieves the effect of repeatedly using crystals, lowering the number of crystals and the length of the optical circulator. On the other hand, all optical ports can be installed on the same side of the optical circulator, minimizing the device and making it easy to use.

Abstract: An isotropic, direction and point parameterization (DPP) light-field model is used for rendering graphics images in a hologram production system. Using the DPP light-field models can reduce image artifacts, reduce oversampling, decrease rendering time, and decrease data storage requirements.

Abstract: An optical low-pass filter for a solid-state image sensor of an offset sampling structure is constituted of first and second optical members. The first optical member splits an incident light ray into a rectilinear ray and a refracted ray whose propagation direction is about 45° to a horizontal direction of the solid-state image sensor. The second optical member splits an incident ray into a rectilinear ray and a refracted ray whose propagation direction is about 90° to the horizontal direction. The optical low-pass filter having this configuration splits the incident light ray into four rays whose split points are at respective corners of a parallelogram.

Abstract: Conventional retroreflection mirrors in the form of right angle prisms are quite sensitive to beam position and beam angle errors. Manufacturing and assembly tolerances are also a cause of concern in conventional devices. Accordingly, the present invention solves these aforementioned problems by providing a retroreflection device comprising: a beam director, preferably in the form of a Wollaston prism; a polarization rotator, preferably in the form of a quarter wave plate; and a flat reflective surface, such as a plane mirror. The device of the present invention is far less sensitive to beam angle alignment and is completely independent of the beam position. The present invention is particularly useful as a beam splitter for directing orthogonally polarized beams of light back along parallel paths in an interleaver apparatus.

Abstract: After a wide-band DCF is wound around a bobbin to form an optical fiber coil 32, the latter is removed from the bobbin and placed into a bundle state (the state where the increase in transmission loss in the wavelength band of 1.55 &mgr;m caused by distortions in winding is reduced by 0.1 dB/km or more) released from distortions in winding. A resin 42 is used as a coil-tidying member so as to secure the optical fiber coil 32 to a storage case 40 at four positions. Both ends of the optical fiber coil 32 are connected to pigtail fibers at fusion-splicing parts 44; respectively. Even when the storage case 40 is closed with a lid after the optical fiber coil 32 is secured to the storage case 40 with the resin 42, there remain interstices within the bundle of the optical fiber coil 32 and a space between the optical fiber coil 32 and the storage case 40. As a result, even when the optical fiber coil 32 in a bundle state is accommodated in the storage case 40, transmission loss and the like would not increase.

Abstract: An optical device, for homogenising the lighting in an image plane, defined by a digital optical sensor wherein the optical device is formed of a block made of transparent homogenous filtering material, this block having a substantially uniform absorption coefficient for all the wavelengths of the visible optical spectrum which pass through it, and having a variable thickness suited to a determined absorption profile.

Abstract: A system and method for minimizing critical dimension errors on imaged wafers is described. After imaging and processing one or more wafers, the various critical dimensions are determined across the imaged exposure field and compared with the target critical dimensions to ascertain average critical dimension errors. The critical dimension error distribution across the field is modeled and the necessary exposure dose corrections are calculated to compensate the critical dimension errors. A pellicle is formed with light intensity modifying regions corresponding to the calculated local dose corrections. These regions alter the amount of light which is transmitted from a light source through a semiconductor mask onto the exposure fields of the wafers. As a consequence, the critical dimensions of the printed features are altered as well. The light intensity modifying region may be formed by depositing, such as by sputtering, particles which reflect or absorb light.

Abstract: In a projection display that includes a polarization beam splitter prism and two reflective light valves, each of a pair of dichroic beam splitters is disposed between the polarization beam splitter prism and a respective one of the reflective light valves. The arrangement as such ensures that only a minimal amount of light leakage components will reach a projection lens of the projection display so as to achieve optimum image quality.

Abstract: A virtual screen display apparatus includes a display arranged to generate display information and having an effective diagonal length DLC and an optical projecting element arranged to receive the display information from the display and to project and form an image, the optical projecting element having an effective F number which is defined by Fe=S1/PuD wherein S1 is a distance between the display and a principal point of the optical projecting element and PuD is a diameter of an exit pupil of the optical projecting element. A field optical element arranged to form an in-space image in a position of a virtual screen and to direct a divergent light flux from the virtual screen to a view region where the image is viewable to an observer.

Abstract: An infrared absorption filter which has absorption in the near-infrared region, manifests high light transmission in the visible region, and does not have large absorption of specific wavelength in the visible region, further, is excellent in environmental stability and durability and has little optical defect, the filter comprising an infrared absorption layer laminated at least on one surface of a transparent polymer film, wherein said transparent polymer film is a film comprising a polymer easy adhesion layer laminated at least on one surface, said transparent polymer film contains substantially no particle, and said transparent polymer film contains foreign materials having a size of 20 &mgr;m or more in an amount of 10/m2 or less per unit area of the film.

Abstract: A glass capillary array for fluorescence analysis is provided which is capable of preventing reduction of the transmittance of a laser beam through the glass capillaries during electrophoretic DNA fluorescence analysis, and a method of manufacturing the glass capillary array. The glass capillary array for fluorescence analysis is comprised of a plurality of glass capillaries each having a rectangular cross section and having an internal hole formed therein, and arranged in a row along a direction of irradiation of a laser beam for fluorescence analysis. The glass capillary array has a fluorescence analysis section comprising a portion of each of the glass capillaries positioned in a region including an optical axis of the laser beam and a vicinity thereof, and the glass capillaries are joined together substantially into a single body using a transparent material in at least the fluorescence analysis section.

Abstract: A process for making molds for retroreflective sheeting and like articles includes making a substrate having a structured surface of geometric structures such as cube corner elements. The structured surface is in one embodiment partially replicated from a previous generation structured surface, and partially machined in the substrate. At least one of the faces of the structured surface is a compound face that has one machined portion and one non-machined portion, such as a replicated portion. The process can be used to manufacture substrates with desirable geometry cube corner elements, such as cube corner elements having a hexagonal outline in plan view, without requiring the use of pin bundling techniques or laminae. The process can also be used to manufacture articles having cube corner elements in which at least one face of the cube corner element has two constituent faces disposed on opposed sides of a transition line that is nonparallel to a nondihedral edge of such cube corner element.

Abstract: The invention provides a cutting step of a polarization beam separating material less susceptible to cutting position slipping. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a polarization beam splitter for splitting an incident beam into two types of linearly polarized beams. A laminate is constructed by gluing a plurality of substrates, at least some of which have a polarization beam separating film on one surface thereof. The planar laminate of the substrate is cut at a predetermined angle to the surface thereof to form a generally planar polarization beam splitter block in which a plurality of prisms are glued, each having a parallelogrammatic shape in cross section. A rectangular parallelepiped polarization beam splitter is thus formed by cutting away a prism portion having a generally trapezoidal shape in cross section from at least one end portion of the polarization beam splitter block.

Abstract: A system and method for minimizing critical dimension errors on imaged wafers is described. After imaging and processing one or more wafers, the various critical dimensions are determined across the imaged exposure field and compared with the target critical dimensions to ascertain average critical dimension errors. The critical dimension error distribution across the field is modeled and the necessary exposure dose corrections are calculated to compensate the critical dimension errors. A pellicle is formed with light intensity modifying regions corresponding to the calculated local dose corrections. These regions alter the amount of light which is transmitted from a light source through a semiconductor mask onto the exposure fields of the wafers. As a consequence, the critical dimensions of the printed features are altered as well. The light intensity modifying region may be formed by depositing, such as by sputtering, particles which reflect or absorb light.

Abstract: A multicolored reflection liquid crystal display device includes a pair of substrates having a reflective holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) film disposed therebetween. The H-PDLC film contains at least two different reflection gratings capable of reflecting two different wavelengths of light. A multicolored reflection H-PDLC is obtained by simultaneously illuminating a plurality of regions of a film comprised of a mixture of a liquid crystal and a photo-polymerizable monomer with a plurality of holographic light patterns capable of providing liquid crystal layers of different spacings so as to obtain different reflection gratings in each of the regions. A mask is placed between each of the laser light beams and the film to form a pattern of light and dark regions on the film. Each mask is positioned such that at least one light region of a first beam pair coincides with at least one dark region of a second beam pair within the film.

Abstract: A colored light filter for providing a single colored light upon light being transmitted thereto and including a lamination of an at least substantially clear plastic material provided with colored dye and an at least substantially clear thermosetting material. A manufacturing process for laminating an at least substantially clear plastic material provided with colored dye and an at least substantially clear thermosetting material together to provide the color light filter.

Abstract: An improved light fixture for an inflatable structure which includes a cooling arrangement which cools the light source in a light container. The cooling arrangement including a passageway which directs a cooling fluid into and out of the interior of the canister. The cooling arrangement includes blower to direct the cooling fluid toward the light source and a diffuser to distribute the cooling fluid about the light source. The cooling arrangement also includes a temperature monitor to monitor the temperature in the light container and to activate the blower upon detecting a predetermined temperature in the light container and/or to deactivate the light source upon detecting a predetermined temperature in the light container.

Abstract: In a method of manufacturing an optical component, long-shaped members 2e, 2f each for a polarizer, 3a for a Faraday rotator, 4a for a compensator are fixed on the substrate 1 by an epoxy adhesive to fabricate an interim article. The interim article is then adhered on a glass substrate 9 by wax 10. The interim article is then cut into pieces each of which is used as an optical component for an optical isolator.

Abstract: A color hologram recording medium 2 includes volume hologram recording mediums 14R, 14G and 14B for diffracting light of wavelengths different from each other. Reconstruction patterns 1R, 1G and 1B of the volume hologram recording mediums 14R, 14G and 14B are recorded so that the reconstruction patterns 1R, 1G and 1B are reconstructed at reconstruction positions different from each other. Thus, the color hologram recording medium 2 can have a wide variety of designs and artistic characters that the recorded color reconstruction patterns vary depending on watched directions.