OPTICAL ELEMENT AND IMAGING DEVICE

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an optical element on which dust hardly sticks and which has small surface reflection. SOLUTION: The optical element 18 is arranged between a taking lens 4 and an imaging element unit 12 of a digital camera and equipped with an optical low-pass filter 20 and an infrared-ray cutting filter 21. The optical low-pass filter 20 is formed by holding a 1/4-wavelength plate 201 between two lithium niobate plates 200a and 200b having birefringent characteristics. On the surface of the lithium niobate plate 200a on the side of the taking lens 4, a conductive tin oxide film 222 and a silicon oxide film 221 as a material having a lower refractive index than the tin oxide film 222 are formed. The tin oxide film 222 is grounded. Consequently, an antireflective film 22 has both an antireflective function and an antistatic function. COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI