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:
Feb. 27, 2007
Filed:
Sep. 13, 2005
Thomas E. Furtak, Golden, CO (US);
Youngwoo Yi, Boulder, CO (US);
Thomas E. Furtak, Golden, CO (US);
Youngwoo Yi, Boulder, CO (US);
Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a device that acts as an optical switch to control the intensity of a light beam through the action of a second control beam. This behavior is achieved through photoinduced anisotropy that develops in a monomolecular layer coating the inside surfaces of a liquid crystal cell. One of the surfaces is permanently aligned prior to assembly by illuminating the surface with polarized light in the presence of oxygen. The other surface retains reversible behavior, adapting anisotropy according to the orientation of the polarization of the control beam. Accordingly, an optically controlled liquid crystal light valve is provided that does not require contact-rubbing methods in order to permanently align one of the layers coating an inside surface of the cell.