The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 02, 2023
Filed:
Jul. 23, 2020
Raytheon Company, Waltham, MA (US);
David N. Sitter, Jr., El Segundo, CA (US);
RAYTHEON COMPANY, Waltham, MA (US);
Abstract
A beam splitter configured to split incident light includes a polarization grating having a liquid crystal layer and a reflective sub-aperture beam splitter. The liquid crystal layer is configured to switch between an 'on' state and an 'off' state in response to an applied voltage. In the “off” state, the polarization grating angularly deviates and polarizes a portion of received incident light passing therethrough. In the “on” state, crystals of the polarization grating align with the incident light, allowing it to pass therethrough unimpeded and unpolarized. The beam splitter includes a plurality of sub-aperture mirrors which are spaced at randomly varying distances from one another, the mirrors being configured to reflect a portion of the incident light.