Non mechanical optical beam steering mechanism for laser printers

A non-mechanical optical beam steering mechanism for scanning a laser light beam of a laser printer across a photoconductive layer on a photoreceptor drum of the laser printer, wherein the laser light beam is modulated according to image data provided to the laser printer, the non-mechanical optical beam steering mechanism comprising:

• a waveguide core for guiding the laser light beam through the non-mechanical optical beam steering mechanism;
• a first cladding layer disposed on a side of the waveguide core, the first cladding layer comprising a liquid crystal material;
• a substrate supporting the waveguide core and the first cladding layer, the substrate being made from at least one of silicon or an insulator;
• and
• a control system configured to control a refractive index of the liquid crystal material so as to scan the modulated laser light beam back and forth across the photoconductive layer on the photoreceptor drum.

A laser printing system, comprising:

• a laser configured to produce a beam of light modulated according to image data input to the laser printing system;
• a photoreceptor drum comprising a photoconductive layer disposed along an outer peripheral surface of the drum;
• a non-mechanical beam steerer configured to steer the modulated light beam in a scanning motion back and forth across the photoconductive layer;
• and
• a printer controller configured to:
• organize the image data into pages of information to be printed on recording medium by setting text margins and arranging words and graphics;
• process the image data to convert the image data into dot image data;
• feed the dot image data one horizontal line at a time to the modulator;
• activate the laser and modulator to output a pulsed light beam to the non-mechanical beam steerer, with one pulse of light from the laser for every dot to be printed;
• and
• control an amount of electrical current flowing through the non-mechanical beam steerer to change an effective index of refraction of the non-mechanical beam steerer and steer the light beam in the scanning motion.

A non-mechanical optical beam processing device for controlling a laser light beam of a laser printer across a photoreceptor drum of the laser printer, the device comprising:

• solid state photonics components for modulating the laser light beam in accordance with image data supplied to the device;
• and
• a non-mechanical beam steering system for receiving the modulated laser light beam, the non-mechanical beam steering system comprising:
• a waveguide core for guiding the modulated laser light beam through the non-mechanical beam steering system;
• a cladding layer comprising a liquid crystal material disposed adjacent the waveguide core;
• a substrate comprising at least one of silicon or an insulator and providing structural support for the waveguide core and the cladding layer;
• and
• a controller configured to control a refractive index of the liquid crystal material of the cladding layer so as to steer the modulated laser light beam propagating through the waveguide core and exiting from the waveguide core in a scanning motion back and forth across the photoreceptor drum of the laser printer.