Jds Uniphase Corporation

Optical Coating Laboratory, Inc.

Scott C McEldowney

David M Shemo

Kim Leong Tan

Lauren R Wendt

Steven P Bandettini

Ralf Erz

Scott F Rowlands

A micro-array of optical vortex retarders is provided by forming an alignment layer having a plurality of discrete alignment patches with different orientations. A layer of birefringent material, including one of a liquid crystal and a liquid crystal polymer precursor material, is provided adjacent to the alignment layer. The aligning orientation and position of each discrete alignment patch in the plurality of discrete alignment patches is selected to induce the layer of birefringent material to form at least one optical vortex retarder adjacent to a substantially non-oriented region of the alignment layer.

Optical vortex retarder micro-array

A method and apparatus for reducing speckle in a laser illumination system uses a despeckle device including an optical retarder providing an odd integer multiple of substantially half-wave retardation for light emitted from a coherent laser in the laser illumination system. The near half-wave optical retarder has a substantially constant retardance and a spatially varied slow axis. The spatially varied slow axis imposes a phase mask on the beam of light, which provides sub-resolution optical phase modulation to a resolution spot on the detector. The near half-wave optical retarder is actuated mechanically or electrically to vary the sub-resolution optical phase modulation within an integration time of the detector.

Retarder-based despeckle device for laser illumination systems

An attenuation filter contains absorbing thin film layers, which comprise gray metals or metal compounds. The attenuation filter offers significant advantages when used in optical communication systems subjected to a relatively high flux of incident light. It was surprisingly discovered that particular thin film materials provide significant protection to the attenuating thin film layer thereby improving the temporal stability and power handling capacity over prior art devices.

Optical attenuation filter

A very low reflectance optical coating comprising alternating layers of materials such as chromium oxide and chromium, silicon oxide and silicon, titanium oxide and titanium, and tantalum oxide and tantalum is suitable for use as a black shadow mask in liquid crystal displays, among various applications. Certain designs such as silicon oxide/silicon benefit from a transmission-decreasing overcoat of material such as molybdenum, germanium or titanium.

Growing community of inventors

Windsor, CA, United States of America

Scott C McEldowney