Illumination apparatus, image production apparatus, and illumination light profile controlling method
An illumination apparatus and an image production apparatus including a plurality of laser beams are disclosed wherein a variation of the intensity distribution caused by a secular change or the like can be compensated to obtain illumination light having a high degree of uniformity even if some laser beam exhibits a drop in intensity or misses. The illumination apparatus includes a light source section including a laser light source, an optical system into which a plurality of laser beams are introduced, and a detection section for directly or indirectly detecting a light intensity distribution on a focal plane of the optical system. The illumination apparatus further includes an adjustment section for varying the light intensity distribution on the focal plane based on the detection information of the detection section.
1. An illumination apparatus, comprising:
a light source section including a laser light source;
an optical system into which a plurality of laser beams are introduced from said light source section;
a detector for detecting a light intensity distribution on a focal plane of said optical system; and
an adjustor for varying the light intensity distribution on the focal plane based on the detection information of said detector to maximize the uniformity of the light intensity distribution,
wherein,
the adjustor provides an adjustment to said optical system, and
the adjustor provides an adjustment to an output of said light source section independently of said optical system, by adjusting said plurality of laser beams individually based on characteristic data of corresponding lasers stored in advance and detection data of profiles of individual lasers by said detector.
2. The illumination apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the adjustment to said optical system comprises changing the position or the posture of an optical element which composes said optical system.
3. The illumination apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein said optical system includes a front group formed from a lens array and a relay lens system of a rear group, and said adjustor changes the position of a component lens of said rear group along an optical axis to vary an overlapping state of images formed by said lens array.
4. An image production apparatus, comprising:
a light source section including a laser light source;
an optical system into which a plurality of laser beams are introduced from said light source section;
an optical modulation element used for modulation of light from said optical system;
a detector for detecting a light intensity distribution of illumination light on said optical modulation element or projection light after passing said optical modulation element; and
an adjustor for varying the light intensity distribution of the illumination light on said optical modulation element based on the detection information of said detector to maximize the uniformity of the light intensity distribution,
wherein,
the adjustor provides an adjustment to said optical system, and
the adjustor provides an adjustment to an output of said light source section independently of said optical system, by adjusting said plurality of laser beams individually based on characteristic data of corresponding lasers stored in advance and detection data of profiles of individual lasers by said detector.
5. The image production apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the adjustment to said optical system comprises changing the position or the posture of an optical element which composes said optical system.
6. The image production apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein said optical system includes a front group formed from a lens array and a relay lens system of a rear group, and said adjustor changes the position of a component lens of said rear group along an optical axis to vary an overlapping state of images formed by said lens array.
7. An illumination light profile controlling method adapted, where a plurality of laser beams are obtained from a light source section including a laser light source and are outputted through an optical system, to maximize the uniformity of the light intensity distribution on a focal plane of said optical system, comprising the steps of:
acquiring detection information of the light intensity distribution on the focal plane;
varying the light intensity distribution by adjustment of said optical system and by adjustment of output powers of said laser light source independently of said optical system by varying outputs of said plurality of laser beams individually based on characteristic data of the corresponding lasers stored in advance and detection data of profiles of individual lasers by said detector.