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AssigneeBoard of Regents of the University of Colorado
InventorsGary D. Sharp, Kristina M. Johnson, Mark O. Freeman
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The present invention provides optical modulators which comprise aligned chiral smectic liquid crystal cells within an optical resonance cavity. The cavity configurations include symmetric and asymmetric Fabry-Perot etalons. The liquid crystal cells can be planar- or homeotropically-aligned and can be discrete state or analog cells. The device configurations of the present invention provide discrete or continuous optical modulation of the phase, intensity, and wavelength of elliptically polarized light, without requiring polarization analyzers. The modulators are optically or electronically addressable in single pixels or arrays of multiple pixels. Certain homeotropically-aligned cells are provided as an aspect of this invention, as are certain variable retarders comprised of planar-aligned cells in combination with birefringent elements.
A variable retarder for elliptically polarized light comprising:
A variable retarder of linearly polarized light comprising:
A reflection-mode variable retarder of elliptically polarized light comprising:
An etalon modulator of elliptically polarized light comprising:
A reflection-mode etalon modulator of elliptically polarized light comprising:
A multiple pixel modulator comprising an array of etalon modulators, each etalon modulator comprising:
A multiple pixel reflection-mode modulator comprising an array of reflection-mode etalon modulators, each modulator comprising:
A multipixel phase modulator for light comprising an array of variable retarders, each variable retarder comprising:
A variable retarder for light comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.