Abstract
A new hybrid optical device that is capable of splitting a monochromatic laser beam into an arbitrary number of lines over a wide angle is presented. It consists of a binary surface-relief computer-generated phase hologram and a continuous parabolic surface-relief grating. In this device the phase hologram serves to generate three small, parallel lines while the continuous parabolic surface-relief phase grating acts as an array of diverging parabolic lenses to widen these lines. The binary surface-relief was generated into one side of a quartz substrate through a plasma-etching process, and the parabolic profile was generated into a thick photoresist deposited on the other side of the quartz substrate. Calculations showed that a diverging parabolic lens with a f-number of 0.5 would deliver the desired optical pattern of multiple beams distributed over 90°. A surface-relief depth of 6.0 µm was calculated with consideration of the phase distributions of such lens. The parabolic profiles were fabricated in a 10-µm-thick photoresist, by use of a contact exposure through a mask with a space pattern of repetitive 4- and 6-µm lines. He–Ne laser light was passed through a device that generated three parallel lines over a 90° angle. The resulting diffraction patterns were characterized, and a satisfying result was obtained. The resulting multiple-line pattern can be used in robot vision and other applications.
© 2001 Optical Society of America
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