Patent ID: 7612939

Claim:
A polarized beam splitter having a polarization separating coating adapted to transmit one of p- and s-polarizations and to reflect off the other polarization, said polarized beam splitter comprises: said polarized beam splitter being composed of a first substrate member, a second substrate member and a third substrate member; said first substrate member having an incident surface of light from a light source and a curved joint surface; said second substrate member having a curved joint surface to be bonded against said curved joint surface of said first substrate and a flat opposite surface; said third substrate member having a flat joint surface to be bonded against said flat opposite surface of said second substrate member; said polarization separating coating being formed on either of said joint surfaces between said second and third substrate members; a correcting optical multi-layer coating comprising a high refractive layer and a low refractive layer being formed on either of said curved joint surfaces between said first and second substrate members; said correcting optical multi-layer coating formed on one of said curved joint surfaces functioning as a wave plate; said correcting optical multi-layer coating being imparted with a function of correcting a direction of polarization of incident light rays before entering said polarization separating coating.