United States Patent m [m 4,087,159
Ulrich [45] May 2,1978
[54] SELF IMAGING SYSTEM USING A WAVEGUIDE
[75] Inventor: Reinhard Ulrich,
Leonberg-Silberberg, Germany
[73] Assignee: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur
Forderung der Wissenschaften e.V.,
Gottingen, Germany
[21] Appl. No.: 615,115
[22] Filed: Sep. 19,1975
[30] Foreign Application Priority Data
Sep. 20, 1974 Germany 2445150
Feb. 14, 1975 Germany 2506272
Mar. 13, 1975 Germany 2511046
[51] Int. CI.* G02B 5/14; G02B 5/16;
G02B 5/17
[52] U.S. CI 350/96.12; 350/96.24
[58] Field of Search 350/96 WG, 96 C, 96 T
[56] References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
3,489,481 1/1970 Osterberg et al 350/96 WG
3,832,029 8/1974 Bryngdahl 350/96 T
OTHER PUBLICATIONS Bryngdahl "Image Formation Using Self-Imaging
Techniques" J. of Optical Soc. of Amer., vol. 63, No. 4,
Apr. 1973.
Primary Examiner—John K. Corbin
Assistant Examiner— Stewart Levy
Attorney, Agent, or Firm—Brisebois & Kruger
[57] ABSTRACT
The present invention is concerned with an imaging system for the self-imaging of objects, using optical waveguides comprising reflecting boundary surfaces, and satisfying the imaging condition LX = 4hN(lW2,s, wherein L is the axial distance between the object and the self-image, W, is a typical transverse dimension of the waveguide having an effective refractive index N^, and X is the operational wavelength, and h is an integer for single imaging and not an integer for multiple imaging.
Many embodiments of dielectric thin film waveguides are described which have the purpose of self-imaging very small objects with good levels of resolution. Magnification or reduction by means of the imaging system are also provided for.
