LIGHT IRRADIATION APPARATUS

Abstract

A light irradiation apparatus that splits white light into light rays of a plurality of wavelengths to apply the light ray includes a white light source, a diffraction grating that splits white light emitted by the white light source into light rays of a plurality of wavelengths, and a light selector that selects a light ray of a specified wavelength from the light rays of the plurality of wavelengths split by the diffraction grating.

Claims

1. A light irradiation apparatus that splits white light into light rays of a plurality of wavelengths to apply the light ray, the light irradiation apparatus comprising: a white light source; a diffraction grating that splits white light emitted from the white light source into light rays of a plurality of wavelengths; and a light selector that selects a light ray of a specified wavelength from the light rays of the plurality of wavelengths split by the diffraction grating.

2. The light irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light selector selects a light ray of a specified wavelength from the light rays of the plurality of wavelengths split by the diffraction grating by a pinhole mask.

3. The light irradiation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the light selector includes a first focusing mirror that reflects the light rays of the plurality of wavelengths split by the diffraction grating, a second focusing mirror that has a same focal distance as the first focusing mirror and that is disposed at a position of point symmetry with a focal point as a center of symmetry, an optical path conversion mirror that changes an optical path positioned at the focal point of the second focusing mirror, and the pinhole mask that selects a light ray of a specified wavelength from the light rays of the plurality of wavelengths of which the optical paths are converted by the optical path conversion mirror.

4. The light irradiation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the light selector further includes a third focusing mirror disposed between the optical path conversion mirror and the pinhole mask, and a focal point of the third focusing mirror is positioned at the pinhole mask.

5. The light irradiation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the optical path conversion mirror includes any one of a galvanoscanner, a resonant scanner, and a polygon mirror.

6. The light irradiation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the white light source is selected from the group consisting of a superluminescent diode light source, an amplified spontaneous emission light source, a light-emitting diode light source, a supercontinuum light source, a halogen light source, a xenon light source, a mercury light source, and a metal halide light source.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical system of a light irradiation apparatus according to a first embodiment;

[0013] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical system of a light irradiation apparatus according to a second embodiment; and

[0014] FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram depicting an optical system of a light irradiation apparatus according to a third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0015] A light irradiation apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. The light irradiation apparatus of the present invention can adopt various forms, and, first, referring to FIG. 1, a light irradiation apparatus 1A configured as a first embodiment will be described.

[0016] The light irradiation apparatus 1A depicted in FIG. 1 is a light irradiation apparatus that splits white light into light rays of a plurality of wavelengths and applies the light rays, and includes at least a white light source 11, a diffraction grating 13 that splits the white light L0 emitted from the white light source 11, and a light selector that selects the light ray of a specified wavelength from the light rays of the plurality of wavelengths split by the diffraction grating 13, for example, blue light Lb, green light Lg, and red light Lr.

[0017] The white light source 11 according to the present embodiment is a light source that applies light L0 in which light of wavelengths called visible rays, for example, 400 to 800 nm are substantially uniformly mixed, and is preferably any one of, for example, a superluminescent diode (SLD) light source, an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) light source, a light-emitting diode (LED) light source, a supercontinuum light source, a halogen light source, a xenon light source, a mercury light source, and a metal halide light source. The white light L0 emitted from the white light source 11 is applied being adjusted to parallel light.

[0018] The light selector disposed in the light irradiation apparatus depicted in FIG. 1 includes, for example, a pinhole mask 14 provided with a pinhole H, and angle adjusting means 12 that modifies an angle of the diffraction grating 13 into a direction indicated by an arrow R1 so as to adjust irradiation directions of light rays of a plurality of wavelengths (blue light Lb, green light Lg, and red light Lr) split by the diffraction grating 13. The angle adjusting means 22 is an electric motor, which is connected to and controlled by a control unit 100 functioning as a control driver. With the angle adjusting means 12 operated based on an instruction signal from the control unit 100, the angle of the diffraction grating 13 is changed to the direction indicated by the arrow R1 as indicated in FIG. 1, and accordingly, the angle of the light ray to be split by the diffraction grating 13 is adjusted to a direction indicated by an arrow R2. Note that, in FIG. 1, for convenience of description, the white light L0 is to be split into three light rays, blue light Lb, green light Lg, and red light Lr. However, as described above, the white light L0 includes light rays of all wavelengths contained in a visible ray mixed uniformly, so that the white light L0, in practice, is more finely split into a plurality of colors (purple, light blue, yellow, orange, and the like).

[0019] With the electric motor constituting the angle adjusting means 12 operated, the angles of the light rays split by the diffraction grating 13 are changed, and as depicted in the figure, from the light rays of a plurality of wavelengths split by the diffraction grating 13, the light ray of a specified wavelength (for example, blue light Lb) is selected by the pinhole H of the pinhole mask 14. Then, with the angle of the diffraction grating 13 changed at high speed by the angle adjusting means 12, the light ray reflected by an optical path conversion mirror 15 and applied from a light irradiation part 10 is changed from the blue light Lb through the green light Lg to the red light Lr with a time difference.

[0020] According to the light irradiation apparatus 1A configured as the first embodiment described above, an inexpensive light irradiation apparatus capable of splitting white light into light rays corresponding to a plurality of wavelengths with a time difference and applying the light ray can be provided, with a simple configuration.

[0021] The light irradiation apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to the light irradiation apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment described above. A light irradiation apparatus 1B configured as a second embodiment of the light irradiation apparatus will be described, based on FIG. 2.

[0022] Similarly to the light irradiation apparatus 1A described based on FIG. 1, the light irradiation apparatus 1B includes the white light source 11, the diffraction grating 13, and the pinhole mask 14 that selects the light rays of the plurality of wavelengths (the blue light Lb, the green light Lg, the red light Lr, and the like) by the pinhole H. Further, in addition to this, the light irradiation apparatus 1B includes a first focusing mirror 16 that reflects the light rays of the plurality of wavelengths split by the diffraction grating 13, a second focusing mirror 17 that has the same focal distance as the first focusing mirror 16 and is disposed at a position of point symmetry with a focal point indicated by a point C in the figure as a center of symmetry, the optical path conversion mirror 15 that is positioned at the focal point of the second focusing mirror 17 and converts the optical path, and the angle adjusting means 12 that changes the reflection angle of the optical path conversion mirror 15. Note that the angle of the diffraction grating 13 of the light irradiation apparatus 1B is fixed to be different from that of the light irradiation apparatus 1A described above. According to the light irradiation apparatus 1B configured as the second embodiment, the light rays of the plurality of wavelengths (the blue light Lb, the green light Lg, the red light Lr) diffracted and split by the diffraction grating 13 are focused by a recessed focusing surface 16a of the first focusing mirror 16, is led to the second focusing mirror 17, and further, the light ray focused by a recessed focusing surface 17a of the second focusing mirror 17 is led to the pinhole mask 14 described above. The light selector in the second embodiment includes the first focusing mirror 16, the second focusing mirror 17, the optical path conversion mirror 15, the angle adjusting means 12, and the pinhole mask 14. The optical path conversion mirror 15 is preferably selected from any of a galvanoscanner, a resonant scanner, and a polygon mirror which are capable of conversion of the reflection angle at high speed.

[0023] The light irradiation apparatus 1B depicted in FIG. 2 is used as the light irradiation apparatus of the present invention, the white light source 11 is operated, and the angle adjusting means 12 is operated based on an instruction signal from the control unit 100 to change the angle of the optical path conversion mirror 15 into a direction indicated by an arrow R3, whereby the angle of the light ray reflected by the optical path conversion mirror 15 is adjusted into a direction indicated by an arrow R4, and similarly to the first embodiment described above, the wavelength of the light ray selected by the pinhole H of the pinhole mask 14 is changed, so that the white light applied from the light irradiation part 10 can be changed into the blue light Lb, the green light Lg, and the red light Lr with a time difference. As a result, similarly to the first embodiment described above, an inexpensive light irradiation apparatus splitting the white light into the light rays corresponding to the plurality of wavelengths with a time difference and applying the light ray can be provided with a simple configuration.

[0024] Further, the light irradiation apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to those according to the first and second embodiments described above. A light irradiation apparatus 1C configured as a third embodiment of the light irradiation apparatus of the present invention will be described based on FIG. 3.

[0025] As is understood from FIG. 3, the light irradiation apparatus 1C includes a third focusing mirror 18 between the optical path conversion mirror 15 and the pinhole mask 14, in addition to the configuration disposed in the light irradiation apparatus 1B described based on FIG. 2, with the focal point of the light focused by a recessed focusing surface 18a of the third focusing mirror 18 set to be positioned at the pinhole mask 14, and further includes a reflection mirror 19 that reflects the light passing through the pinhole H of the pinhole mask 14. Note that the reflection mirror 19 is for adjusting the optical path into a freely selected direction, and is not an indispensable configuration in the present invention. Thus, the light passing through the pinhole H of the pinhole mask 14 may be applied as it is from the light irradiation part 10.

[0026] Also in the light irradiation apparatus 1C depicted as the third embodiment, with the angle of the optical path conversion mirror 15 changed into a direction indicated by an arrow R5, based on an instruction signal from the control unit 100, the angle of the light reflected by the optical path conversion mirror 15 is changed into a direction indicated by an arrow R6. The light selector in the third embodiment includes the third focusing mirror 18, in addition to the first focusing mirror 16, the second focusing mirror 17, the optical path conversion mirror 15, the angle adjusting means 12, and the pinhole mask 14 which have been described above.

[0027] In the above-described light irradiation apparatus 1C, the blue light Lb, the green light Lg, the red light Lr, and the like are focused at the pinhole H disposed in the pinhole mask 64 by the third focusing mirror 18. Therefore, as compared to the above-described light irradiation apparatus 1A and 1B constituting the first and second embodiment, respectively, it becomes possible to more limitedly select the wavelength of the light passing through the pinhole H of the pinhole mask 14, and an inexpensive light irradiation apparatus that splits the white light into the light rays corresponding to the plurality of wavelengths with a time difference more clearly and applies the light ray is provided.

[0028] The optical path conversion mirror 15 configuring the light selector in the light irradiation apparatus 1C according to the third embodiment described above, also, is preferably selected from any of a galvanoscanner, a resonant scanner, and a polygon mirror which are capable of conversion of the reflection angle at high speed. With such a configuration selected, the light ray of a specified wavelength of the plurality of wavelengths continuously applied from the light irradiation part 10 can be used with a slighter time difference, so that, in the case of applying the light irradiation apparatus to measurement of the thickness of a wafer, it is possible to measure the thickness of the wafer more efficiently.

[0029] The present invention is not limited to the details of the above described preferred embodiments. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims and all changes and modifications as fall within the equivalence of the scope of the claims are therefore to be embraced by the invention.