US 12,092,941 B2
System for illuminating a substrate using an acousto-optic device
Menachem Lapid, Hashmonaim (IL); Roy Kaner, Rehovot (IL); Itay Langstadter, Nir Eliyahu (IL); and Yinnon Glickman, Maale Hahamisha (IL)
Assigned to Applied Materials Israel Ltd., Rehovot (IL)
Filed by Applied Materials Israel Ltd., Rehovot (IL)
Filed on May 18, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/323,911.
Prior Publication US 2022/0373857 A1, Nov. 24, 2022
Int. Cl. G02F 1/33 (2006.01); G02B 27/30 (2006.01); G06T 7/00 (2017.01)
CPC G02F 1/33 (2013.01) [G02B 27/30 (2013.01); G06T 7/0004 (2013.01); G06T 2207/30148 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A system for illuminating a substrate, the system comprises:
an acousto-optic device (AOD); and
an etendue expanding optical module, wherein the etendue expanding optical module includes a cylindrical lens, a Dammann grating, and a spherical lens;
wherein the AOD comprises a surface having an illuminated region;
wherein the illuminated region is configured to receive a collimated input beam while being fed with a control signal that causes the illuminated region to output illuminated region output beams that are collimated and exhibit deflection angles that scan, during a scan period, a deflection angular range;
wherein the cylindrical lens is arranged between the AOD and the Dammann grating, and the cylindrical lens is configured to focus the illuminated region output beams onto the Dammann grating;
wherein the spherical lens is arranged between the Dammann grating and an output aperture on an output Dammann grating;
wherein the Dammann grating is configured to illuminate the spherical lens with diffraction patterns, each diffraction pattern comprising diffraction orders that cover a continuous angular range;
wherein the spherical lens is configured to convert the diffraction patterns to collimated output beams that impinge on the output aperture of the output Dammann grating; and
wherein the collimated output beams have a width that exceeds a width of an illuminated region output beam.