Illumination device
AssigneeSeeReal Technologies S.A.
InventorGerald Futterer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An illumination device for illuminating a spatial light modulator device. Sub-holograms are used for encoding a hologram into the spatial light modulator device. The Illumination device includes at least one light source for emitting light for illuminating the spatial light modulator device and a beam shaping unit. The beam shaping unit provides a flat-top plateau-type distribution of an absolute value of a complex degree of mutual coherence of the light in a plane of the spatial light modulator device to be illuminated. The flat-top plateau-type distribution of the absolute value of the complex degree of mutual coherence has a shape that is at least similar to a shape of the largest sub-hologram used for encoding of object points into the spatial light modulator device.
Claims28
An illumination device for illuminating a spatial light modulator device, where sub-holograms are used for encoding of object points into the spatial light modulator device, said sub-holograms form a hologram, comprising:
- At least one light source for emitting light to illuminate the spatial light modulator device,
- A beam shaping unit generating in a top view a flat-top plateau-type distribution of an absolute value of a complex degree of mutual coherence of the light in a plane of the spatial light modulator device to be illuminated over an area of a sub-hologram but not over the entire area of the spatial light modulator device, where the flat-top plateau-type distribution of the absolute value of the complex degree of mutual coherence has an extension or a shape that is at least similar to an extension or shape of a largest sub-hologram.
A method for illuminating a spatial light modulator device with a light intensity distribution having defined coherence properties, where sub-holograms are used for encoding of object points into the spatial light modulator device, said sub-holograms form a hologram, comprising the following steps:
- Emitting light by at least one extended light source,
- Collimating the light propagating behind the at least one extended light source by a collimation unit,
- Generating in a top view a flat-top plateau-type distribution of an absolute value of a complex degree of mutual coherence of the light in a plane of the spatial light modulator device by a beam shaping unit over an area of a sub-hologram but not over the entire area of the spatial light modulator device, where the flat-top plateau-type distribution of the absolute value of the complex degree of mutual coherence has an extension or shape that is at least similar to an extension or shape of a largest sub-hologram, and
- Illuminating the spatial light modulator device with the flat-top plateau-type distribution of the absolute value of the complex degree of mutual coherence of the light.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.