Abstract: A laser unit containing a laser package, in which a laser element has been hermetically sealed, is connected with a converging optical system unit containing a converging optical system. The laser unit is provided with a laser package holder, which comprises a holder main body for supporting the laser package and a connecting member. The converging optical system unit is provided with a converging optical system holder, which comprises a holder main body for supporting the converging optical system and a connecting member having been welded to the connecting member of the laser package holder. A thermal conductivity of the holder main body of the laser package holder is set to be larger than the thermal conductivities of the connecting member of the laser package holder and the connecting member of the converging optical system holder.

Abstract: A laser module includes: a chassis having a light-output window from which one or more laser beams are outputted; a hermetically sealed package which is fixed to the chassis; one or more semiconductor laser elements which are arranged in the hermetically sealed package, and emit the one or more laser beams; a transparent member which is arranged to cover the light-output window; an optical fiber which has a light-entrance end face, and is arranged outside the chassis so that the light-entrance end face is in contact with the transparent member; and an optical condensing system which is arranged inside the chassis, and makes the one or more laser beams pass through the transparent member and be condensed on the light-entrance end face. The transparent member and the optical fiber are detachably attached to the chassis.

Abstract: A laser annealer has a laser light source with at least one GaN-type semiconductor laser and is configured so as to form emission points that emit laser beams having a wavelength of 350 to 450 nm, and a scanning device for scanning an annealing surface with the laser beams. The laser annealer may have a spatial light modulator for modulating the laser beams, and in which pixel portions whose light modulating states change in accordance with control signals are arranged on a substrate. The invention is applied to a laser thin-film forming apparatus. The apparatus has a laser source that has at least one semiconductor laser and is configured so as to form emission points, and an optical system for focusing laser beams into a single beam in the width direction of a substrate.

Abstract: A laser apparatus includes: one or more semiconductor lasers emitting one or more laser beams; an optical fiber; an optical condensing system which makes the one or more laser beams enter the optical fiber from a light-entrance end of the optical fiber; and a package which fixedly contains the optical condensing system and the one or more semiconductor lasers, and fixedly holds the optical fiber in such a manner that the light-entrance end faces the optical condensing system. The one or more semiconductor lasers are directly or indirectly fixed to the package with solder, and the one or more optical components are directly or indirectly fixed to the package with a thin layer of adhesive having a thickness of less than or equal to 1 micrometer, and preferably a thickness within a range of 0.2 micrometers to 1 micrometer after being dried.

Abstract: In a method of forming an image, pixel portions of a spatial light-modulation element are two-dimensionally arranged, and individually modulated portions of light are applied to the spatial light-modulation element, according to control signals. A first image-forming optical system is arranged in optical paths of the portions of the light modulated by the pixel portions, a microlens array is arranged in a vicinity of an image-forming plane of the first image-forming optical system, and has microlenses arranged in correspondence with the pixel portions, respectively. A second image-forming optical system is arranged in optical paths of the portions of the light which have passed through the microlenses, and forms, on a predetermined surface, an image represented by the portions of the light modulated by the spatial light-modulation element. Each of the first and second image-forming optical systems forms an image with a magnification power greater than one.

Abstract: An optical fiber of a bundled fiber light source is an optical fiber whose core diameter is uniform but whose emission end cladding diameter is smaller than an incidence end cladding diameter thereof, and a light emission region thereof is made smaller. An angle of luminous flux from this higher luminance bundled fiber light source, which passes through a lens system and is incident on a DMD, is smaller, i.e., an illumination NA is made smaller. Thus, an angle of flux which is incident on a surface that is to be exposed is smaller. That is, a minute image formation beam can be obtained without increasing the image formation NA, focal depth is lengthen.

Abstract: In a laser array unit in which a plurality of laser beams emitted from a laser array is received by a lens array, the lens holder for fixedly bonding the lens array is formed such that the length of the surface on which the lens array is bonded in the direction orthogonal to the optical axis direction of the lens is longer than the length of the surface to be bonded to a certain other fixing member in the same direction.

Abstract: A method for assembling a laser apparatus which condenses a laser beam and couples the laser beam to an optical fiber. After the optical fiber is fixed to a package, the whole or a part of an optical condensing system is fixed to the package through a fixing structure having at least one guide surface extending in at least one of first and second directions respectively parallel and perpendicular to the core axis of the optical fiber, by moving the whole or the part of the optical condensing system along the at least one guide surface to a predetermined position with respect to the core axis, and fixing the whole or the part of the optical condensing system to the fixing structure at the predetermined position.

Abstract: In a laser apparatus: an adhesion surface and a first reference surface making a first predetermined angle with the adhesion surface are formed on an attachment part, and a mounting surface and a second reference surface making a second predetermined angle with the mounting surface are formed on a fixing member which is directly or indirectly fixed to a main body and arranged to adhesively hold the attachment part. In a method for assembling the laser apparatus: a first angle between the second reference surface and a reference direction is measured; the orientation of the attachment part is adjusted while measuring a second angle between the first reference surface and the reference direction; and the attachment part is adhesively fixed to the fixing member when the second angle is equal to an angle predetermined based on the first angle and the first and second predetermined angles.

Abstract: A laser annealer has a laser light source with at least one GaN-type semiconductor laser and is configured so as to form emission points that emit laser beams having a wavelength of 350 to 450 nm, and a scanning device for scanning an annealing surface with the laser beams. The laser annealer may have a spatial light modulator for modulating the laser beams, and in which pixel portions whose light modulating states change in accordance with control signals are arranged on a substrate. The invention is applied to a laser thin-film forming apparatus. The apparatus has a laser source that has at least one semiconductor laser and is configured so as to form emission points, and an optical system for focusing laser beams into a single beam in the width direction of a substrate.

Abstract: In a disclosed laser module, a usage amount of organic adhesive is set to no more than 1.0 g/ml. Thus, an equilibrium density of outgas components from the adhesive after an air removal treatment is less than 1000 ppm. In another laser module, a heat sink at which a semiconductor laser element is adhered on a submount, an electrode terminal wire-connected with the laser element, a photodiode wire-connected with the electrode terminal, and a zeolite adsorbent are fixedly provided on a stem. These are ring-welded in a container in a dry air atmosphere (80% nitrogen, 20% oxygen). In still another laser module, sixteen multiplexed lasers are disposed in a container. The container is connected with an air circulation apparatus, which is provided with a filter for removing contaminants, a rotary pump for circulating inert gas, and a valve for controlling replenishment of the gas.

Abstract: In a laser apparatus, a plurality of semiconductor laser elements respectively emit laser beams; a multimode optical fiber has a light-entrance end and a light-emission end; an optical condensing system collects the laser beams emitted from the plurality of semiconductor laser elements, and couples the collected laser beams to the light-entrance end of the multimode optical fiber; and a protection member is arranged at the light-emission end of the multimode optical fiber, protects the light-emission end from the atmosphere, and has a light-emission window located at at least a predetermined distance from the light-emission end.

Abstract: An inexpensive and highly productive exposure device for directly scanning and exposing a photosensitive material sensitive to at least a UV region, based on digital data. As a motor controller moves an exposure head at a fixed speed in Y direction, image data is read one line of image data, each GLV element of a light modulator array is switched on/off by the read image data, and laser light from a high power light source of the exposure head is switched on/off. A UV-sensitive object to be exposed is exposed in X direction in a number of pixel units that substantially corresponds to the number of the GLV elements. The image data is scanned and exposed by one line in Y direction (main-scan). The motor controller moves a flat stage by one step in X direction (sub-scan). The object to be exposed is imagewise-exposed by repeating such scans.

Abstract: An optical fiber of a bundled fiber light source is an optical fiber whose core diameter is uniform but whose emission end cladding diameter is smaller than an incidence end cladding diameter thereof, and a light emission region thereof is made smaller. An angle of luminous flux from this higher luminance bundled fiber light source, which passes through a lens system and is incident on a DMD, is smaller, i.e., an illumination NA is made smaller. Thus, an angle of flux which is incident on a surface that is to be exposed is smaller. That is, a minute image formation beam can be obtained without increasing the image formation NA, focal depth is lengthen.

Abstract: In order to provide a display device by which increasing of number of spatial light modulation elements and increasing of number of pixels can be suppressed, and high definition of a display image is easily realized, in the display device, a DMD is inclined with respect to a sub scanning direction by very small inclining-angle, and this inclining-angle is set in accordance with a scanning density of a light beam in a main scanning direction on the surface to be scanned.

Abstract: In an exposure apparatus of the invention, for a spatial light modulator, each of a plurality of pixel portions fewer than the total number of the pixel portions is controlled with a control signal generated according to exposure information. Namely, a part of the pixel portions is controlled without controlling a whole of the pixel portions on the substrate. Thus, the number of pixels in the pixel portions is decreased, and transfer time of the control signal becomes short. This enables modulation speed of the laser beam to be increased and the high-speed exposure to be performed. An incorporated laser light source, in which the laser beams are incorporated and struck on the optical fiber, is preferable to the laser device. By adopting the incorporated laser light source, high brightness and high output can be obtained, and it is preferable to the exposure of the spatial light modulator. Since the fiber array is obtained with few optical fibers, it is low cost.

Abstract: A method of creating a micro-channel in a substrate surface by exposing a resist film with a laser beam, removing the exposed resist film per the predetermined pattern, and etching the substrate using the predetermined pattern to form the micro-channel.

Abstract: A reduction in utilization efficiency of laser beams emitted from laser emission portions of illumination means is limited and an exposure surface is exposed by beam spots with desired spot diameters and spot forms. At an exposure head, first microlenses are arranged in a two dimensional manner so as to correspond to micromirrors at a DMD, and apertures are arranged in a two dimensional manner at back side focusing positions of the first microlenses. With this exposure head, light source images, which are formed to be very small at back side focusing positions of the first microlenses by the first microlenses, are projected onto the exposure surface, and these light source images serve as beam spots BS and expose the exposure surface.

Abstract: In a laser-light source: submounts each being made of a material having a thermal expansion coefficient of 3.5 to 6.0×10?6/° C. and having a thickness of 200 to 400 micrometers are separately formed on a heat-dissipation block made of copper or copper alloy; a single-cavity nitride-based semiconductor laser chips are respectively mounted junction-side-down on the corresponding submounts; an optical condenser system collects laser beams emitted from the semiconductor laser chips, and couples the collected laser beams to a multimode optical fiber. A bonding surface of each semiconductor laser chip is bonded to a bonding surface of a corresponding submount through a metalization layer and an Au—Sn eutectic solder layer each of which is divided into areas.

Abstract: In the present invention provides, in order to obtain a desired focal depth t in a range ? of an acceptable increased amount of beam diameter, an exposure head is designed so that the ratio D/W of an output beam width D to a beam width W at the position where a DMD is placed satisfies the following relational formula. D W ? ? × M 2 × t - K × ? a ? In the above formula, parameters are defined as follows.