US 12,174,399 B2
Optical component and method of manufacturing optical component
Keiji Tsunetomo, Sagamihara (JP); Shiro Sato, Sagamihara (JP); and Satoru Kusaka, Sagamihara (JP)
Assigned to Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited, Tokyo (JP)
Filed by Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited, Tokyo (JP)
Filed on Jul. 17, 2019, as Appl. No. 16/514,168.
Application 16/514,168 is a continuation of application No. PCT/JP2017/042597, filed on Nov. 28, 2017.
Claims priority of application No. 2017-006677 (JP), filed on Jan. 18, 2017.
Prior Publication US 2019/0339423 A1, Nov. 7, 2019
Int. Cl. G02B 3/04 (2006.01); B29D 11/00 (2006.01); G02B 3/00 (2006.01)
CPC G02B 3/04 (2013.01) [B29D 11/00298 (2013.01); B29D 11/00442 (2013.01); G02B 3/005 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An optical component comprising:
a first layer made of a first material having a first refractive index; and
a second layer made of a second material having a second refractive index different from the first refractive index, the first layer provided on the second layer to integrate, wherein
a vortex lens is provided on a first boundary between the first layer and the second layer,
the vortex lens has a spiral shape provided continuously or in steps around an optical axis of the optical component,
the first layer has a first surface opposite to the first boundary,
the first surface includes a first lens with a convex shape,
the second layer has a fourth flat surface opposite to the first boundary,
the fourth surface consist of a flat surface,
the optical component has a phase difference represented by Δφ=2π×mc×Δn×d/λ, where d denotes a step difference in the spiral shape of the vortex lens, mc denotes a charge representing a number of repetitions in the spiral shape of the vortex lens, λ denotes a wavelength used, and Δn denotes a difference between the first refractive index and the second refractive index, and
the optical component is configured to emit a collimating light with a ring-shaped light intensity distribution.