An apparatus for generating a defined
laser illumination (12) on a work plane (14) has a
laser light source (20) that generates a raw
laser beam (22). An optical
assembly (24) receives the raw laser beam (22) and shapes it into an illumination beam (26) along an
optical axis (40). The illumination beam (26) defines a
beam direction (28) that intersects the work plane (14). The illumination beam (26) has a beam profile (42; 42') in a region of the work plane (14) that has a major axis (44) perpendicular to the
beam direction (28) with a major axis beam width and a
minor axis (46) with a
minor axis beam width. The optical
assembly (24) includes a beam
transformer (30) with an exit aperture, a first set of optical elements (56, 60, 62, 64) for
beam shaping on the major axis, and a second set of optical elements (34, 36, 38) for
beam shaping on the
minor axis. The beam
transformer (30) widens the raw laser beam (22) on the major axis to generate a widened raw laser beam. The first set of optical elements (56, 60, 62, 64) includes a
homogenizer (56) that homogenizes the widened raw laser beam on the major axis. The second set of optical elements (34, 36, 38) includes at least one lens (38) that images the exit aperture of the beam
transformer (30) into the work plane. The first set of optical elements (56, 60, 62, 64) generates an
intermediate image (66) behind the
homogenizer (56) and further implements an imaging optical unit that images the
intermediate image (66) into the work plane (14).