Patent ID: 6091532
Filing Date: 2000-07-18
Classification: B29C,B29D,B29L,G02B,Y10S

Abstract:
An optical element molded by a method of molding a material of said optical element by using an optical insert member, thereby transferring a shape of a surface, as an optical function surface, of a cavity surface of the optical insert member onto a surface of the material of said optical element, the method comprising the first step of setting molding conditions before molding of said optical element, such that a constant shape error is stably formed on a surface, as a transferred optical function surface, of the optical element; the second step of molding a sample optical element under the molding conditions determined at the first step to form the transferred optical function surface on the sample optical element; the third step of dividing the transferred optical function surface of the sample optical element into a plurality of regions, and approximating shape errors of the regions by using functions so that the functions are continuous in boundaries between the regions; the fourth step of processing the shape of the cavity surface of the optical insert member into a shape by which the constant shape error is cancelled, on the basis of the functions used in the third step; and the fifth step of molding the optical element by using the optical insert member processed in the fourth step, wherein the third step further comprises the error measurement step of measuring the shape error of the sample optical element, and, in the error measurement step, in order to correct a setting error of the sample optical element, the sample optical element is rotated a very small amount about an optical axis and displaced a very small amount in a predetermined direction, thereby adjusting a position of the sample optical element.