JP3171013B2 - Method and apparatus for producing article comprising diffraction grating - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing an article made of a diffraction grating by exposing a diffraction grating in the form of a dot by using a laser beam and interfering two light beams thereof, and in particular, the structure of the apparatus. The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing an article made of a diffraction grating, which is extremely simple and the adjustment of the apparatus is extremely simple, and enables an article made of a diffraction grating to be manufactured continuously with high accuracy.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, when a coherent light source such as a laser light source is used and a laser beam to be divided into two light beams is simultaneously exposed on a photosensitive material again, interference fringes are recorded. .

The pitch of the interference fringes (the reciprocal of the spatial frequency) is determined by the difference between the angles of the two light beams incident on the photosensitive material.
The direction changes according to the incident direction of the two light beams, and the recorded density changes according to the light intensity. That is, during observation, the pitch of the interference fringes is related to the visible color, the direction of the interference fringes is related to the visible direction, and the density of the interference fringes is related to the luminance of the visible color.

As described above, a method of forming a diffraction grating by two-beam interference and manufacturing a display having a diffraction grating pattern is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 60-1.
Methods such as JP-A-56004 and JP-A-2-72319 have been proposed.

That is, in the former method, a diffraction grating exposure head is used, and by moving the diffraction grating exposure head, minute interference fringes (hereinafter, referred to as a diffraction grating) due to two-beam interference are formed at the pitch, In this method, the photosensitive material is successively exposed by changing the direction and the light intensity, and an arbitrary diffraction grating is formed at an arbitrary position.

By using this method, a display comprising a planar photosensitive material and a diffraction grating pattern formed on the surface thereof can be obtained. And since this diffraction grating pattern is composed of a plurality of minute dots formed by the diffraction grating, each dot shines in each color in each direction in each direction and each pattern is drawn. .

On the other hand, in the latter method, dots made of a diffraction grating are formed at corresponding positions on a dry plate (made of glass coated with a photosensitive material) on an XY stage according to image data read from a computer. It is a way to go.

By using this method, a display having an almost completely uniform diffraction grating pattern can be obtained. However, first, in the former method,
There are the following problems.

That is, when the pitch, direction, and light intensity of the diffraction grating are changed, it is necessary to move the optical system of the diffraction grating exposure head each time. Since the optical system cannot be fixed as described above, the optical system is weak against vibration and easily affected by external vibration.

Therefore, not only a long waiting time is required to sufficiently attenuate the vibration, but also the stability of the diffraction grating is poor, and a uniform (high accuracy) diffraction grating cannot be manufactured. There is.

On the other hand, the latter method has the following problems. That is, since the spatial frequency of the diffraction grating to be manufactured is determined by branching the laser beam into several parts and selecting one of them, there is a problem that the light utilization efficiency is extremely low.

Also, the number of split beams is limited to about three, since the spatial arrangement of the optical system and the light intensity are weakened. Therefore, there is a problem that only a diffraction grating having about three kinds of spatial frequencies can be manufactured (the spatial frequency of the diffraction grating is limited to about three kinds).

Therefore, recently, a diffraction grating plotter (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-72406) has been proposed by the present applicant as an apparatus for solving the above problems.

However, in this type of diffraction grating plotter, XY (-
θ) Two laser beams are incident on the stage via a predetermined device configuration. In most cases, there is no possibility that the incident side can be moved or rotated, and it is very difficult to reduce the size.

Not only must the required laser beams be adjusted one by one on the surface of the dry plate, but also the center of rotation of the θ stage and the intersection of the laser beams must be at the same position. It is also very difficult to adjust these optical systems.

Further, even in the case of an apparatus which can be moved and rotated, a diffraction grating exposure apparatus (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-1560)
As disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 04-204, the configuration is relatively large and complicated, and it is very difficult to adjust the alignment of the two light beams on the dry plate.

[0017]

As described above, in the conventional apparatus, a diffraction grating is formed in which the precision of the position at which the diffraction grating is formed is high and there is no undesired displacement of the two light beams on the dry plate. There was a problem that it was difficult.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems. The apparatus configuration is extremely simple, the adjustment of the apparatus is very simple, and articles made of a diffraction grating can be continuously connected with high precision. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing an article including a highly reliable diffraction grating that can be manufactured.

[0019]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, first, a laser beam is used to expose a dot-like diffraction grating by interference of two light beams, thereby obtaining a diffraction pattern. In a method of manufacturing an article made of a lattice, a step of injecting a plane wave laser beam into first and second two light-collecting elements having substantially the same light-collecting distance from each other, and not passing through the two light-collecting elements A step of blocking light by a light blocking means, and forming an image of each light from the two light collecting elements on a photosensitive material by a third light collecting element.
And exposing the two dot-shaped diffraction gratings to each other. By repeating the above steps a plurality of times, an article made of the diffraction gratings is manufactured.

Here, in particular, the distance between the first and second two light-collecting elements and the third light-collecting element is defined as the light-collecting distance between the first and second two light-collecting elements. The sum of the focusing distance of the third focusing element and the distance between the third focusing element and the photosensitive material is made substantially equal to the focusing distance of the third focusing element.

The first and second light-collecting elements and the light-shielding means are rotated about an axis parallel to the optical axis of the incident laser light while maintaining their relative positions. Control the angle of the formed diffraction grating.

Further, by moving the positions of the first and second light-collecting elements in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light, the lattice spacing of the diffraction grating formed can be increased. To control.

Further, the light passing through the first and second light-collecting elements is formed into an arbitrary shape by a light-shielding pattern, and the shape of the diffraction grating formed is determined according to the light-shielding pattern. I am trying to do it.

[0024] On the other hand, in the invention according to claim 6, a diffraction grating is formed in an apparatus for producing an article made of a diffraction grating by exposing a dot-like diffraction grating by interference of two light beams using a laser beam. A substrate coated with a photosensitive material is placed thereon, and the substrate is moved.
A Y stage, a laser light source that generates a laser beam, a shutter that receives the laser beam from the laser light source, and controls exposure or non-exposure by controlling the light shielding, and converts the laser beam from the shutter into a plane wave having an appropriate diameter. A collimator system, a light-shielding unit that transmits only a part of the plane wave from the collimator system, and first and second two light-shielding units that are installed on the light-transmitting part on the light-shielding unit and have substantially the same focusing distance. A light-condensing element, a third light-condensing element for imaging each light from the two light-condensing elements on a photosensitive material, and movement of an XY stage, shutter light shielding, Or control means for controlling each of the light transmission.

Here, in particular, the distance between the first and second two light-collecting elements and the third light-collecting element is defined as the light-collecting distance between the first and second two light-collecting elements. The sum of the focusing distance of the third focusing element and the distance between the third focusing element and the photosensitive material is made substantially equal to the focusing distance of the third focusing element.

The light-shielding means provided with the first and second light-collecting elements is used to read data read in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light. The rotation is performed based on.

Further, the first and second two light condensing elements are moved on the light shielding means in accordance with the read data.
And the second light-collecting element is moved so as to change the position.

Further, a light-shielding pattern similar to the pattern formed on the photosensitive material is provided in front of or behind the first and second light-collecting elements. .

In addition, a lens is used as each of the first, second, and third light-collecting elements. Further, a holographic optical element is used as each of the first, second, and third light-collecting elements.

[0030]

[Action] Therefore, in the manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus for an article made of the diffraction grating of the present invention, the first and second two concentrating elements to extract the necessary parts from the plane wave-shaped laser beam, which Are crossed on the surface of the photosensitive material by a third light-collecting element disposed immediately before the photosensitive material, and an interference fringe is exposed (forming a diffraction grating dot) to produce an article made of a diffraction grating, whereby light Use efficiency
While the height is increased, the apparatus configuration is extremely simple, and the adjustment of the apparatus is extremely simple.

[0031]

EXAMPLES In the present invention, the third light-collecting device by the first and second two concentrating elements to extract the necessary parts from the plane wave-shaped laser beam, and place it on the light-sensitive material just before It was intersect on the photosensitive material surface, exposing the interference pattern (times
The main feature of this method is to produce an article made of a diffraction grating by forming a folded lattice dot .

An embodiment of the present invention based on the above-described concept will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration example of an apparatus for manufacturing an article including a diffraction grating according to the present invention.

That is, in the apparatus for manufacturing an article comprising a diffraction grating of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a substrate 1 coated with a photosensitive material 1a for forming a diffraction grating is placed, and An XY stage 2 for moving the laser beam 1; a laser light source 4 for generating a laser beam 3; a shutter 5 for receiving a laser beam 3 from the laser light source 4 and controlling exposure or non-exposure by controlling its light shielding; 2 which sequentially reflects the laser beam 3 from the shutter 5
A collimator system 7 composed of two mirrors 61 and 62, two lenses for converting the laser beam 3 from the mirror 62 into a plane wave having an appropriate diameter, and a plane wave 8 from the collimator system 7
And light-shielding plates 9 and 11, which are first and second two light-collecting elements, which are provided in the light-transmitting portion on the light-shielding plate 9 and have substantially the same light-condensing distance. When,
A lens 12 serving as a third light-collecting element for forming respective light beams from the two light-collecting elements 10 and 11 on the photosensitive material 1a;
And XY stage 2 based on the read data.
Movement, light shielding of the shutter 5 or light transmission, movement of the light shielding plate 9 (rotation in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light 8), and movement of the two light condensing elements 10 and 11 (light shielding Board 9
(I.e., movement in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser beam 8).

Here, as the light shielding plate 9, for example, FIG.
One having a light-transmitting portion shape (light-shielding pattern) as shown in (a) or (b) can be used. Next, a manufacturing method of the apparatus for manufacturing an article including the diffraction grating of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

First, image data taken in from a scanner, which is an image input means, is read, and the computer corrects the image data by decomposing or adjusting color information, and setting of a viewing zone and setting of an observation direction. Create diffraction grating pattern data (dot data).

Next, the XY stage 2 is moved to a position corresponding to the data by the controller 13, and the light shielding and light transmission of the shutter 5 are controlled so that the brightness of the diffraction grating according to the data is obtained. Then, exposure is performed on the substrate 1 on which the photosensitive material 1a is applied.

That is, the laser emitted from the laser light source 4
The beam 3 is moved to the mirrors 61 and 6 through the shutter 5.
The light is reflected by the light 2 and further converted into a plane wave 8 having a sufficient diameter by the collimator system 7, and is incident on the lenses 10 and 11, which are the first and second condensing elements. And this lens 10,
The light that has passed through 11 spreads after being once collected,
Light that enters the lens 12 that is the third light-collecting element, and light in other areas is shielded by the light-shielding plate 9.

Thereafter, the two lights incident on the lens 12 respectively go to the same position on the photosensitive material 1a applied to the substrate 1, and intersect on the photosensitive material 1a to form interference fringes. The interference fringe recorded on the photosensitive material 1a becomes a diffraction grating.

At this stage, the step of forming a diffraction grating corresponding to one dot is completed. Next, the controller 13 determines whether or not the exposure of all data has been completed.

As a result, if the exposure has not been completed for all the data, the above operations are performed while rotating the lenses 10, 11 and the light shielding plate 9 based on the data, and / or , 11 are repeated until the exposure of all the data is completed, while moving the position in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the data.

In this way, articles composed of diffraction gratings having various spatial frequencies and various angles are completed (after development of the photosensitive material 1a). In FIG. 3, the lenses 10, 1
The focal length (focal length) of 1 is shown as fa, and the focal length (focal length) of the lens 12 is shown as fb.

In the method and apparatus for manufacturing an article comprising a diffraction grating as described above, the laser light is used as a sufficiently widened parallel light, so that it is substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the laser light. The influence of the non-uniformity of the light amount in a complicated section is small.

Also, it can be realized with the minimum configuration of the two lenses 10, 11 and the light shielding plate 9, which are small light-collecting elements, and one lens 12, which is a relatively large light-collecting element. Only inexpensive parts are required.

Further, the arrangement of the two lenses 10 and 11, which are the first and second condenser elements, does not need to be symmetrical with respect to the center of the optical axis of the laser light, and can be performed with high precision. No special alignment is required.

Further, the ratio of the focusing distance of the two lenses 10 and 11 as the first and second focusing elements to the focusing distance of the one lens 12 as the third focusing element is given by
Two lenses 10, 1 serving as first and second condensing elements
1 and the diameter of the light on the photosensitive material 1a (the size at the surface of the photosensitive material 1a) and the diameter of the light passing through the photosensitive material 1a (the size in a section substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the laser light). By setting the ratio freely, a diffraction grating having a sufficiently small diameter can be manufactured even when the diameters of the two lenses 10 and 11 as the first and second light-collecting elements are somewhat large.

As described above, since the configuration is simple and lightweight, the stability of the apparatus is high, and the apparatus is hardly affected by vibration at the time of recording interference fringes. On the other hand, by rotating the two lenses 10 and 11 serving as the first and second condenser elements in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light, a diffraction grating having an arbitrary angle is obtained. Can be produced. In this case, only the light-shielding plate 9 and the two lenses 10 and 11, which are small light-collecting elements, need to be rotated. it can.

Further, by changing the positions of the two lenses 10 and 11, which are the first and second light-collecting elements, in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light, Spatial frequency diffraction gratings can be made. This is shown by the following equation:

S. f. = (Sin θ1−sin θ2) / λ where s. f. Is the spatial frequency of the diffraction grating, λ is the wavelength of the laser light, θ1 and θ2 are the light passing through the lenses 10 and 11, which are the first and second condenser elements, respectively, and the light-sensitive material 1a.
Is the angle of incidence.

From this, it can be seen that changes in the positions of the lenses 10 and 11, which are the first and second light-collecting elements, result in changes in θ1 and θ2, and the recorded spatial frequency changes. Furthermore, two lenses 1 as first and second light-collecting elements
By making the light passing through 0 and 11 into an arbitrary shape,
Two lenses 10, 1 serving as first and second condensing elements
1 is formed on the photosensitive material 1a.
The shape of the diffraction grating recorded on the photosensitive material 1a can be arbitrary.

As described above, in this embodiment, the substrate 1 on which the photosensitive material 1a for forming the diffraction grating is applied is placed, and the XY stage 2 for moving the substrate 1; A laser light source 4 for generating a laser beam 3, a shutter 5 for receiving the laser beam 3 from the laser light source 4, and controlling exposure or non-exposure by controlling light shielding thereof;
Two mirrors 61 and 62 for sequentially reflecting the laser beam 3 from the shutter 5 respectively; a collimator system 7 for converting the laser beam 3 from the mirror 62 to a plane wave of an appropriate diameter; and a plane wave 8 from the collimator system 7. A light-shielding plate 9 that transmits only part of the light, and a light-transmitting portion on the light-shielding plate 9
First and second 2 having substantially the same focusing distance with each other
One of the lenses 10 and 11 is a condensing element, forming each of the light from the two light collecting elements 10 and 11 on the photosensitive material 1a
A lens 12 which is the third light-collecting device to the image, based on the read data, the movement of the X-Y stage 2, the light blocking shutter 5, or a light-transmitting, movement (incident laser beam of the light shielding plate 9 8), and the two light-condensing elements 10 and 11 move (on the light-shielding plate 9, that is, in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser beam 8). And a controller 13 for controlling each of the movements, and necessary portions are extracted from the plane wave by the lenses 10 and 11 which are the first and second two light-collecting elements, and are extracted from the photosensitive material. An article made of a diffraction grating is manufactured by recording the interference fringes on the surface of the photosensitive material 1a by a lens 12 which is a third light condensing element disposed immediately before 1a.

Therefore, the following various effects can be obtained. (A) Since the laser light is used as a sufficiently widened parallel light, it is possible to reduce the effect of the unevenness of the light amount in the cross section perpendicular to the optical axis of the laser light. Becomes

(B) Since it can be realized with the minimum configuration of the two lenses 10, 11 and the light shielding plate 9 which are small condensing elements and the one lens 12 which is a relatively large condensing element, it is easily realized. And only inexpensive parts are required.

(C) First and second light-collecting elements 2
The arrangement of the lenses 10 and 11 does not need to be symmetrical with respect to the center of the optical axis of the laser light, so that it is not necessary to perform highly accurate alignment.

(D) First and second condensing elements 2
The ratio of the focusing distance of the two lenses 10, 11 to the focusing distance of one lens 12, which is the third focusing element, allows the two lenses 10, 11 as the first and second focusing elements to be separated. The diameter of the transmitted light (the size in a section perpendicular to the optical axis of the laser light) and the diameter of the light on the photosensitive material 1a (the photosensitive material 1a
(The size on the surface) can be freely set, so that the two lenses 1 serving as the first and second light collecting elements
Even when the diameters of 0 and 11 are somewhat large, it is possible to produce a diffraction grating having a sufficiently small diameter.

As described above, because of the simple and lightweight configuration, the stability of the apparatus is high, the apparatus is hardly affected by the vibration at the time of recording the interference fringes, and the articles made of the diffraction grating can be continuously manufactured with high accuracy.

(E) First and second light-collecting elements 2
By rotating the two lenses 10 and 11 in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light, it is possible to produce a diffraction grating having an arbitrary angle. In this case, since only the light-shielding plate 9 and the lenses 10 and 11 which are two small light-collecting elements need to be rotated, it is extremely lightweight, and it is possible to perform highly accurate rotation extremely easily. Becomes possible.

(F) By changing the positions of the two lenses 10 and 11 as the first and second condenser elements in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light, Can be manufactured.

(G) First and second condensing elements 2
By making the light passing through the two lenses 10, 11 into an arbitrary shape, the images on the two lenses 10, 11 which are the first and second light-collecting elements are in a relationship of being formed on the photosensitive material 1a. Therefore, the shape of the diffraction grating recorded on the photosensitive material 1a can be made arbitrary. (H) Forming two light beams from a plane wave laser light (one light beam)
When light is generated, light is attenuated by way of a diffraction grating, etc.
Therefore, it is possible to increase the light use efficiency.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be similarly implemented in the following manner. (A) In the above embodiment, the case where the time during which the shutter 5 is open is controlled when performing exposure is described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when performing exposure, the shutter 5 is opened for a preset time. It may be.

(B) In the above embodiment, the collimator system 7
Although the case where two lenses are provided has been described,
Not limited to this, one or three as collimator system 7
A plurality of lenses or more may be provided.

(C) In the above embodiment, the XY stage 2, that is, the base material 1 is controlled to move in the Z direction by the controller 13 as control means, so that the light converging position is shifted and two light beams interfere with each other. Because you can control the area,
The area of the diffraction grating to be formed can be changed very easily.

(D) In the above embodiment, the first, second, and third
In the above, the case where a lens is used as the light-collecting element has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Is also good.

In this case, the holographic optical element is smaller and lighter than a normal lens or the like, and can realize an imaging function similar to that of a lens or the like. Can be achieved.

(E) In the present invention, as an article comprising a diffraction grating to be produced, for example, not only a display but also other articles can be similarly applied. (F) In the above embodiment, the light shielding pattern of the light shielding plate 9 is not limited to that shown in FIG.
Other light-shielding patterns (for example, quadrangular, triangular, etc.) may be used.

(G) In the above embodiment, two light-collecting elements 1
A case has been described in which 0 and 11 are moved by the controller 13 on the light shielding plate 9, that is, in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light 8. A plurality of types of light-shielding plates 9 whose light-transmitting portions (light-shielding patterns) are different from each other in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of 8 are prepared in advance, and these are manufactured in the same manner as described above while alternately changing these appropriately. You may make it.

[0066]

According to the present invention as described above, according to the present invention, the
Planar wave-shaped laser by first and second two condensing elements
-Extract the necessary part from the light,
Intersect on the surface of the photosensitive material by the third light condensing element
And expose the interference fringes (form diffraction grating dots)
This makes it possible to produce an article made of a diffraction grating, thereby increasing the light use efficiency, making the device configuration extremely simple and adjusting the device extremely simple, and accurately connecting the article made of a diffraction grating. It is possible to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing an article formed of an extremely reliable diffraction grating that can be manufactured by using the above method.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an embodiment of an apparatus for manufacturing an article comprising a diffraction grating according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a light shielding plate in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method for manufacturing an article made of a diffraction grating in the same example.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Base material, 1a ... Photosensitive material, 2 ... XY stage, 3 ...
Laser beam, 4 ... Laser light source, 5 ... Shutter,
61, 62: mirror, 7: collimator system, 8: plane wave, 9: light shielding plate, 10, 11, 12: lens, 13: controller.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-241008 (JP, A) JP-A-7-98405 (JP, A) JP-A-8-36107 (JP, A) JP-A-6-11609 (JP) JP-A-6-102406 (JP, A) JP-A-6-102405 (JP, A) JP-A-63-267990 (JP, A) JP-A-64-63902 (JP, A) 7-159609 (JP, A) JP-A-7-134203 (JP, A) JP-A-5-241007 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 5/18 G02B 5/30-5/32 G03H 1/00-5/00

Claims (12)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for manufacturing an article made of a diffraction grating by exposing a dot-shaped diffraction grating by two-beam interference using a laser beam, wherein a first and a second light beams having substantially the same focusing distance are provided. 2 of 2
A step of injecting a plane-wave laser beam into one of the light-collecting elements; a step of blocking light that does not pass through the two light-collecting elements by a light-blocking unit; Exposing one dot-shaped diffraction grating by forming an image on a photosensitive material by a light-condensing element, and repeating the above steps a plurality of times to produce an article made of the diffraction grating. A method for manufacturing an article comprising a diffraction grating. 2. The distance between the first and second two light-collecting elements and the third light-collecting element is defined by the light-collecting distance between the first and second two light-collecting elements. The sum of the light-collecting distance of the third light-collecting element and the distance between the third light-collecting element and the photosensitive material is made substantially equal to the light-collecting distance of the third light-collecting element. A method for producing an article comprising the diffraction grating according to claim 1. 3. The first and second two light-collecting elements and the light-shielding means are rotated about an axis parallel to the optical axis of the incident laser light while maintaining their relative positions. The method for manufacturing an article comprising a diffraction grating according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the angle of the diffraction grating is controlled by controlling the angle. 4. The position of the first and second light-collecting elements is moved in a plane substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light, whereby the diffraction grating of the formed diffraction grating is moved. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lattice spacing is controlled.
A method for producing an article comprising the diffraction grating according to claim 3. 5. The light passing through the first and second light-collecting elements is formed into an arbitrary shape by a light-shielding pattern, and the shape of the formed diffraction grating is in accordance with the light-shielding pattern. A method for producing an article comprising the diffraction grating according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: 6. An apparatus for manufacturing an article made of a diffraction grating by exposing a dot-shaped diffraction grating by two-beam interference using laser light, wherein a substrate coated with a photosensitive material for forming the diffraction grating is provided. An XY stage on which a material is placed and moving the substrate, a laser light source for generating a laser beam, a laser beam from the laser light source, and exposure or non-exposure by light-shielding control of the laser beam A shutter that controls the laser beam; a collimator system that converts a laser beam from the shutter into a plane wave having an appropriate diameter; a light blocking unit that transmits only a part of the plane wave from the collimator system; A first and a second two light-collecting elements having substantially the same light-condensing distance from each other, and receiving light from the two light-collecting elements, respectively. On the postal
A third light-collecting element that forms an image ; and control means for controlling movement of the XY stage, light blocking of the shutter, or light transmission based on the read data, respectively. An apparatus for manufacturing an article comprising a diffraction grating. 7. The distance between the first and second two light-collecting elements and the third light-collecting element is defined as the distance between the first and second two light-collecting elements. The sum of the light-collecting distance of the third light-collecting element and the distance between the third light-collecting element and the photosensitive material is made substantially equal to the light-collecting distance of the third light-collecting element. An apparatus for producing an article comprising the diffraction grating according to claim 6. 8. The light-shielding means provided with the first and second light-collecting elements is moved in a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the incident laser light by the read data. 8. An apparatus for manufacturing an article comprising a diffraction grating according to claim 6, wherein the apparatus is rotated on the basis of data. 9. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first and second two light-collecting elements are changed in position on the light-shielding means in accordance with the read data. 7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein
An apparatus for producing an article, comprising the diffraction grating according to claim 8. 10. A light-shielding pattern similar to a pattern formed on the photosensitive material is provided in front of or behind the first and second light-collecting elements. 10. The method according to claim 6, wherein:
An apparatus for producing an article comprising the diffraction grating according to the above item. 11. The diffraction according to claim 6, wherein a lens is used as each of the first, second, and third light-collecting elements. An apparatus for manufacturing an article made of a lattice. 12. The holographic optical element according to claim 6, wherein each of said first, second and third light-collecting elements is a holographic optical element. An apparatus for producing an article comprising the diffraction grating according to the above item.