Patent ID: 7894114

Claim:
An optical deflector comprising: a substrate portion; a reflecting surface which is swingable about a swinging motion axis with respect to the substrate portion, wherein the reflecting surface is swingable about the swinging motion axis from a neutral static state of the reflecting surface; and an aperture stop portion which includes an aperture and which blocks at least part of a light beam other than a light beam entering the aperture, among an incident luminous flux to the optical deflector, the aperture allowing passage of the light beam entering toward the reflecting surface and that of an emergent luminous flux reflected by the reflecting surface, wherein at least part of an aperture rim of the aperture stop portion has a tapered surface such that the width of the aperture becomes narrower from a light-beam-incoming side toward a reflecting surface side, and wherein an angle between the tapered surface and a central axis of the aperture is greater than a maximum exit angle between the emergent luminous flux reflected by the reflecting surface and the central axis of the aperture, and wherein the aperture stop portion has a front surface which is different from the tapered surface, the front surface being a light-beam-incoming side of the aperture stop portion, and the front surface being inclined with respect to the reflecting surface when the reflecting surface is in the neutral static state.