A complex reflector device for producing an arbitrary number of output beams in angular space through the same exit pupil

Abstract

An apparatus providing an output beam in one direction, the apparatus comprising a plate having an exit pupil; a plurality of rows of optical elements arranged substantially in a first plane, each row of optical elements in the first plane comprising: at least one beam splitter; and a plurality of rows of optical elements arranged substantially in a second plane, the optical elements in the second plane comprising mirrors, wherein the second plane is arranged between the exit pupil and the first plane, wherein the at least one beam splitter of the first plane is configured to transmit an incident light beam to one of a subsequent optical element at the first plane and a subsequent optical element at the second plane prior to reflection out of the exit pupil.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a device for simultaneously providing an arbitrary number of output beams. Specifically, this invention relates to a device for rapidly providing an arbitrary number of output beams using only a single input beam. Background Technology

[0002] Firstly, significant effort may be required to construct a specialized mounting or calibration fixture for calibration before any testing and calibration practices are undertaken to test or calibrate optical devices with an entrance pupil that cannot be aligned with the mounting port of an optical testing tool to generate one or more incident beams that can be aligned in the intended direction of one or more incident beams entering the device's entrance pupil. Furthermore, in augmented reality / virtual reality / mixed reality (AR / VR / MR) and magnified imaging fields, optical metrology is performed in the angular domain, thus requiring the ability to position beams in various directions. Additionally, in applications requiring pupil matching between the beam output device and the entrance pupil of the optical instrument being tested or calibrated, the ability to arbitrarily guide the beam is crucial. Existing solutions include total stations mounted on multi-axis platforms, which are not only large in size but also difficult to use and expensive to acquire.

[0003] There is a need for a device capable of providing any number of beams in a selected direction to eliminate the need for positional and orientation adjustments to one or both of the equipment and optical testing tools to be tested or calibrated. Summary of the Invention

[0004] Objectives of the Invention: The objective of this invention is to provide a device capable of simultaneously providing any number of output beams in a precise direction. Another objective is to provide an abnormal output beam. Another objective is to provide an output beam deviating from the normal, wherein the output beam is provided with high confidence in a precise direction. Another objective is to provide any number of output beams without requiring a large setup. Another objective is to provide an output beam in any direction with limited movement of optical elements. Another objective is to provide a device that allows pupil matching between the device and the entrance pupil of the optical instrument to be tested or calibrated, thereby avoiding vignetting, etc.

[0005] Technical Solution: The present invention provides an apparatus for providing an output beam in one direction, the apparatus comprising: a plate including an exit pupil; multiple rows of optical elements substantially arranged in a first plane, each row of optical elements in the first plane including at least one beam splitter; and multiple rows of optical elements substantially arranged in a second plane, the optical elements in the second plane including mirrors, wherein the second plane is arranged between the exit pupil and the first plane, wherein at least one beam splitter in the first plane is configured to transmit the incident beam to one of subsequent optical elements in the first plane and one of subsequent optical elements in the second plane before the incident beam is reflected to exit through the exit pupil.

[0006] In one embodiment, at least one optical element of the multi-row optical elements in the first plane is an optical element that is arranged with two degrees of freedom in its movement, and at least one optical element of the multi-row optical elements in the second plane is an optical element that is arranged with five degrees of freedom in its movement.

[0007] In one embodiment, two degrees of freedom include tilt and tilt, and five degrees of freedom include X, Y, Z, tilt and tilt, wherein the X, Y, and Z directions are orthogonal to each other, and the tilt is a rotation about the X direction and the tilt is a rotation about the Y direction.

[0008] In one embodiment, all the multi-row optical elements in the second plane are mirrors.

[0009] In one embodiment, at least one row of multiple rows of optical elements in the first plane is configured to align with one row of multiple rows of optical elements in the second plane.

[0010] In one embodiment, the exit pupil is set to be circular and has a diameter of approximately 1 to 2 mm.

[0011] In one embodiment, at least one row of multiple rows of optical elements in the first plane includes three optical elements, and at least one row of multiple rows of optical elements in the second plane includes three optical elements.

[0012] Beneficial Effects: The device of this invention is a compact beam guiding device capable of providing any number of output beams through the exit pupil, thereby meeting the requirements of deviated normal beams for calibration or other alignment purposes. Because this device uses a small exit pupil, it is highly unlikely that erroneously generated output beams will exit from the device. Therefore, if the expected output beam fails to be generated, the device will not allow the erroneously generated output beam to be provided to the user, preventing the unintentional use of erroneously generated output beams. Attached Figure Description

[0013] Figure 1This is a schematic diagram depicting the reflector device configured to receive a light beam and transmit any number of output light beams;

[0014] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram depicting the result of guiding incident light rays onto a beam splitter;

[0015] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram depicting the result of guiding incident light rays onto a beam splitter configured to rotate about two axes;

[0016] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram depicting the distribution of optical elements essentially within the plane pointed to by the beam of light incident on the reflector device;

[0017] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram depicting how the incident beam is redirected by the beam splitter and the mirror;

[0018] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the methods of addressing errors and outputting beams using this reflector device;

[0019] The components include: a reflector device 2; a beam splitter 4; a mirror 6; incident light to the beam splitter 8; transmitted light to the beam splitter 10; reflected light to the beam splitter 12; a row 14; a column 16; an entrance pupil 18; reflected light from the mirror 20; an exit pupil 22; a possible coverage area 24; a light source 26; a device to be calibrated 28; the direction of the device to be calibrated 30; the calibrated device 32; the direction of the calibrated device 34; a top plate 36; a first plane 38; a second plane 40; a device 42; and a device 44. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The term "approximately" as used herein means approximately, roughly, about, or within a range. When the term "approximately" is used in conjunction with a numerical range, it modifies the range of values ​​by extending the upper and lower boundaries of the specified value. Generally, the term "approximately" as used herein modifies the value by a variance that is higher or lower than the specified value by 20%.

[0021] Figure 1This diagram depicts a reflector device 2 configured to receive a beam 26 at an entrance pupil 18 and transmit any number of output beams 12, 20 through an exit pupil 22. Device 2 includes a plate 36, multiple rows of optical elements 4, 6 substantially disposed in a first plane 38, and multiple rows of optical elements 6 substantially disposed in a second plane 40. Plate 36 includes an exit pupil 22. Each row of optical elements in the first plane includes at least one beam splitter 4 for transmitting the incident beam downstream within the same plane or to the second plane. Optical elements in the second plane include mirrors. The second plane is disposed between the exit pupil 22 and the first plane. At least one beam splitter 4 in the first plane is configured to transmit the incident beam to one of subsequent optical elements in the first and second planes before it is reflected through the exit pupil 22.

[0022] Figure 2 This is a diagram depicting the result of guiding the incident light rays onto the beam splitter. Note that beam 12 is reflected, while beam 10 is transmitted. Figure 3 This is a diagram depicting the result of guiding the incident light 8 onto a beam splitter 4, which is configured to rotate about two axes, namely the X-axis and the Y-axis. If a certain range of rotation about the X-axis and a certain range of rotation about the X-axis are applied to the beam splitter 4, then the coverage area 24 represents the possible coverage area of ​​the reflected light beam 12.

[0023] Figure 4 This is a diagram depicting the distribution of optical elements essentially within the plane pointed to by the beam of light incident on the reflector device. Refer to both diagrams. Figure 1 and Figure 4It should be noted that when the incident beam 8 enters the reflector device 2 through the entrance pupil 18, the beam splitter M1 splits the beam 8 into a beam 12 reflected by it to beam splitter A1 and a beam 8 transmitted to beam splitter M2. The beam 8 is then split into two beams at beam splitter A1, one of which is transmitted to beam splitter A4, and the other is reflected by beam splitter A4 as beam 12. Finally, the transmitted beam from beam splitter M3 is reflected by mirror 6, labeled A7, which is located at the end of the first row of optical elements 4, 6. Mirror 6 is used at A7 because it needs to reflect its incident beam to optical elements located in another plane, namely the second plane 40. The beam transmitted to beam splitter M2 is reflected by beam splitter M2 along the second row 14 of optical elements 4, 6 or by beam splitters A2, A5 and mirror A8, in a manner similar to how the beam is split or transmitted along the first row. The light beam transmitted to mirror M3 is reflected along the third row of optical elements 4, 6 or beam splitters A3, A6 and mirror A9, in a manner similar to how the light beam is split or transmitted along the first row. Like mirror A7, the reflected beams of each of A1, A4, A2, A5, A8, A3, A6 and A9 are guided to the corresponding optical elements of the second plane 40, although for ease of demonstration of transmitted and reflected beams, they are shown in the same plane as the optical elements of the first plane. In one embodiment, at least one optical element of the multiple rows of optical elements in the first plane is an optical element that is set with two degrees of freedom in its movement, i.e., according to... Figure 1 The specified coordinate system is tilted or rotated about the X-axis (RX or tip) and about the Y-axis (RY or tilt). Return to reference Figure 1Each optical element in the first plane 38 is configured to rotate about the X-axis and Y-axis to cause rotation angles relative to the X-axis and relative to the Y-axis. In one embodiment, at least one row of optical elements in the first plane 38 is preferably configured to be substantially aligned in the Z-direction with, for example, within approximately 1-5 cm of, the row of optical elements in the second plane 40. For example, optical element A1 of the first plane 38 is functionally coupled to optical element B1 of the second plane 40, and optical element A9 of the first plane 38 is functionally coupled to optical element B9 of the second plane 40. In other words, for example, in order to generate the desired output beam at the positions and orientations that can be satisfied using optical elements A1 and B1, the two elements A1 and B1 are positioned and oriented in their respective ways to produce the unique output beams 12, 20. An exception to this functional pairing is the case of optical element B5. Here, optical element A5 is already able to provide the requested output beam without involving optical element B5. Note that this output beam is shown as output beam 12 because it is the reflected beam of the beam splitter, i.e., the beam of the beam splitter A5. As shown here, since there are nine pairs (three columns by three rows) of cooperating optical elements distributed on two planes, up to nine output beams can be generated simultaneously.

[0024] Figure 5 This diagram depicts how the incident beam is redirected by the beam splitter 4 on the first plane 38 and the mirror on the second plane 40. Refer to both diagrams. Figure 1 and 5 All the optical elements in the second plane 14 are mirrors 6. Although the second plane 40 is useful for representing optical elements 6 that redirect incident beams from the optical elements of the first plane 38, the optical elements of the second plane 40 do not necessarily operate within this plane 40, because the mirrors 6 are configured for five degrees of freedom, namely translation in the X, Y, and Z directions or along the X, Y, and Z axes (δX, δY, δZ) according to a specified coordinate system, as well as rotation about the X-axis (RX or tip) and rotation about the Y-axis (RY or tilt). Figure 1 and 2 Reference in one embodiment shown Figure 1 and 4Each row of the first plane 38 comprises four optical elements, and each row of the second plane 40 comprises three optical elements. For ease of reference to the optical elements, the first plane 38 can be considered as having three columns 16 of optical elements, and the second plane 40 can be considered as having three columns 16. It should be noted that optical elements M1, M2, and M3 are useful for guiding the incident beam at the entrance pupil 18 to all columns 16 of the optical elements. Since the optical elements are distributed in a roughly grid-like manner in each plane, the transition and rotational movements required by the optical elements to generate any desired output beam do not involve any significant distance or rotational crossing. Therefore, the desired output beam can be generated quickly and without delay. In one application, a reflector device useful for generally arbitrary output beams includes the number of rows and columns of the optical devices shown herein. However, a reflector device does not need to have the same number of columns and rows of optical elements shown herein. Generally, the wider the coverage area of ​​the output beam, the more optical elements are required. Techniques for inducing translational and rotational movements are well known in the art, such as by linear and rotary motors and solenoids.

[0025] Figure 6 This diagram illustrates the method of addressing an erroneous output beam using this reflector device and the method of using the output beam of this reflector device 2. In one embodiment, the exit pupil 22 is set to be circular and has a diameter of approximately 1-2 mm. Due to the limited size of the exit pupil 22, only the output beam intended to be provided outside the reflector device 2 will be available. In this way, any unintended output beam is contained and prevented from leaving the reflector device 2, eliminating any erroneous output beam and maintaining the required accuracy of the output beam. It should be noted that beam 20 that is not aligned with the exit pupil 22 is reflected back to the reflector device 2. A device 28 with an orientation to be calibrated is shown here. The device is shown in an orientation setting indicated by 30°. The target orientation to which the device will be calibrated is indicated as 34. When set in orientation 30, the output beam 20 may not be detected in the device because it is not aligned. When the orientation of device 28 is adjusted, device 32 is now able to detect the output beam 20 because it is now precisely aligned with the output beam 20. This shows another output beam 20, which is requested to be aligned with devices 42 and 44, while output beam 20 is requested to serve as a guide for calibration device 32.

Claims

1. A device for providing an output light beam in one direction, characterized in that, The device includes: a plate including an exit pupil; multiple rows of optical elements arranged in a first plane, each row of optical elements in the first plane including at least one beam splitter; and multiple rows of optical elements arranged in a second plane, the optical elements in the second plane including mirrors, wherein the second plane is disposed between the exit pupil and the first plane, wherein the at least one beam splitter in the first plane is configured to transmit the incident beam to one of subsequent optical elements in the first plane and subsequent optical elements in the second plane before the incident beam is reflected to exit through the exit pupil.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that, At least one of the optical elements in the multi-row optical elements in the first plane is an optical element that is arranged with two degrees of freedom in its movement, and at least one of the optical elements in the multi-row optical elements in the second plane is an optical element that is arranged with five degrees of freedom in its movement.

3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The two degrees of freedom include tilting and tilting, and the five degrees of freedom include translation, tilting, and tilting in the X, Y, and Z directions, wherein the X, Y, and Z directions are orthogonal to each other, and the tilting is a rotation about the X direction, and the tilting is a rotation about the Y direction.

4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that, All of the multi-row optical elements in the second plane are mirrors.

5. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that, At least one row of the multiple rows of optical elements in the first plane is configured to be substantially aligned with one row of the multiple rows of optical elements in the second plane.

6. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The exit pupil is arranged in a circular shape with a diameter of 1~2mm.

7. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that, At least one row of the multiple rows of optical elements in the first plane includes three optical elements, and at least one row of the multiple rows of optical elements in the second plane includes three optical elements.

8. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that, All of the multi-row optical elements in the second plane are mirrors.

9. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that, At least one row of the multiple rows of optical elements in the first plane is configured to be substantially aligned with one row of the multiple rows of optical elements in the second plane.

10. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that, The exit pupil is arranged in a circular shape with a diameter of 1~2mm.

11. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that, At least one row of the multiple rows of optical elements in the first plane includes three optical elements, and at least one row of the multiple rows of optical elements in the second plane includes three optical elements.

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