An apparatus and a method for laser beam shaping and scanning. The apparatus includes a digital micromirror device (DMD) including a plurality of micromirrors, configured to receive a first laser beam, adjust an axial position of a focal point of the first laser beam along a moving direction of the first laser beam by controlling a focal length of wavefront of a binary hologram applied to the DMD, and adjust a lateral position of the focal point on a plane perpendicular to the moving direction by controlling a tilted angle of a fringe pattern and a period of fringes of the binary hologram applied to the DMD, wherein the DMD simultaneously functions as programmable binary mask and a blazed grating.

An illumination device includes a light source section, an optical element, and a driver. The light source section includes a laser light source. The optical element includes a periodic structure, and is disposed in an optical path of light emitted from the light source section. The driver vibrates the optical element to cause a vibration direction to be inclined to a periodic direction of the periodic structure of the optical element.

Disclosed herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for perturbing an optical beam propagating within a first length of fiber to adjust one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam in the first length of fiber or a second length of fiber or a combination thereof, coupling the perturbed optical beam into a second length of fiber and maintaining at least a portion of one or more adjusted beam characteristics within a second length of fiber having.

A device and method are for shaping and scanning an ultrafast laser beam. The device includes a laser source configured to output a pulsed laser beam containing different frequency spectrum, a digital micromirror device (DMD) consisting of micromirrors, which are configured to receive the laser beam and shape the received laser beam with computer generated holograms, and a dispersion compensation unit, arranged before or after the DMD, which is configured to transfer the laser beam from the laser source to the DMD with a designated angular dispersion for neutralizing the first angular dispersion introduced by the DMD.

A defect observation method for observing a defect on a sample detected by another inspection device with a scanning electron microscope including the steps of: optically detecting the defect using the position information for the defect: illuminating the sample including the defect with an illumination intensity pattern having periodic intensity variation in two dimensions by irradiating a plurality of illumination light beams onto the surface of the sample while phase modulating the light beams in a single direction and successively moving the light beams in small movements in a direction different from the single direction, imaging the surface of the sample that is illuminated by the illumination intensity pattern having periodic intensity variation in two dimensions and includes the defect detected by the other inspection device, and detecting the defect detected by the other inspection device from the image obtained through the imaging of the surface of the sample.

Disclosed herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for providing an optical beam delivery system, comprising an optical fiber including a first length of fiber comprising a first RIP formed to enable, at least in part, modification of one or more beam characteristics of an optical beam by a perturbation assembly arranged to modify the one or more beam characteristics, the perturbation assembly coupled to the first length of fiber or integral with the first length of fiber, or a combination thereof and a second length of fiber coupled to the first length of fiber and having a second RIP formed to preserve at least a portion of the one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam modified by the perturbation assembly within one or more first confinement regions. The optical beam delivery system may include an optical system coupled to the second length of fiber including one or more free-space optics configured to receive and transmit an optical beam comprising the modified one or more beam characteristics.

The invention relates to an optical device (1) for enhancing the resolution of an image or for reducing speckle noise.

A lighting apparatus includes a light source for emitting an illumination light, a micromirror array having a plurality of micromirror actuators, and an illumination optical unit and an optical sensor unit. The illumination light emitted by the light source is guided onto the micromirror actuators and reflected at the latter and, with the reflection integrated over time, an on beam is reflected to a lighting application by the micromirror actuators in a respective on tilt position via the illumination optical unit, and an off beam is reflected next to the illumination optical unit by the micromirror actuators in a respective off tilt position. Part of the illumination light contained in the off beam is guided, at least in part, onto the optical sensor unit.

Disclosed herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for providing an optical beam delivery system, comprising an optical fiber including a first length of fiber comprising a first RIP formed to enable, at least in part, modification of one or more beam characteristics of an optical beam by a perturbation assembly arranged to modify the one or more beam characteristics, the perturbation assembly coupled to the first length of fiber or integral with the first length of fiber, or a combination thereof and a second length of fiber coupled to the first length of fiber and having a second RIP formed to preserve at least a portion of the one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam modified by the perturbation assembly within one or more first confinement regions. The optical beam delivery system may include an optical system coupled to the second length of fiber including one or more free-space optics configured to receive and transmit an optical beam comprising the modified one or more beam characteristics.

A depth camera assembly (DCA) includes a structured light generator, an imaging device and a controller. The structured light generator illuminates a local area with a structured light pattern in accordance with emission instructions from the controller. The structured light generator comprises an illumination source, an acousto-optic device, and a projection assembly. The acousto-optic device generates a structured light pattern from an optical beam emitted from the illumination source. The projection assembly modifies a general intensity envelope of the structured light pattern in order for the structured light pattern to illuminate a larger section of the local area, and projects the modified structured light pattern into the local area. The imaging device captures of portions of the structured light pattern scattered or reflected from the local area. The controller determines depth information for the local area based at least in part on the captured images.