US 7,548,360 B2Granted

Holographic printer

AssigneeView Holographics Ltd.

InventorsDavid Brotherton-Ratcliffe, Florian Michel Robert Vergnes, Alexey Rodin, Mikhail Grichine

Life of this patent

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Abstract

A single method and apparatus for producing many of the most common types of hologram from digital data is disclosed. The data are generated entirely by a computer as a 3-D (animated) model or from multiple 2-D camera images taken of a real 3-D (moving) object or scene from a plurality of different camera positions. The data are digitally processed and displayed on a small high resolution spatial light modulator (SLM). A compact low energy pulsed laser, is used to record composite holograms. The present invention permits the creation of restricted or full parallax master transmission or reflection type composite holograms, known as H1 holograms, that can be copied using traditional methods. Alternatively the same invention and apparatus permits the direct writing of hologram without the need to pass through the intermediate stage of the H1 transmission hologram.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A dual mode holographic printer, said dual mode holographic printer being operable in a first mode of operation for directly writing a 1-step white-light viewable hologram and in a second mode of operation for writing a master hologram (H1) that is used thereafter to produce a white-light viewable hologram (H2), said holographic printer comprising:

a pulsed laser source arranged to produce a laser beam at a first wavelength, said laser beam being split into an object beam and a reference beam which is mutually coherent with said object beam;
an aperture arranged in the path of said reference beam and a reference beam lens arranged downstream of said aperture;
a reference beam telescope arranged to control the size of said reference beam;
a spatial light modulator wherein, in use, said object beam illuminates said spatial light modulator;
a first lens system for writing a holographic pixel of said hologram on to a photosensitive medium, said first lens system being arranged downstream of said spatial light modulator and being arranged to focus said object beam to a minimum beam waist at a Fourier plane defined by said first lens system;
and
positioning means for positioning said photosensitive medium at said Fourier plane in said first mode of operation and at a position downstream of said Fourier plane in said second mode of operation;
wherein said reference beam lens arranged downstream of said aperture produces an approximate image of said aperture at the surface of said photosensitive medium.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 12/046,289Filed 11 Mar 2008 · continuation
Priority: LT 99-14310 Dec 1999
Published: US 2008/0158630 A13 Jul 2008
Granted: 16 Jun 2009
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification27 codes

G03H 1/24
Processes or apparatus for obtaining an optical image from holograms: using white light , e.g. rainbow holograms
G03H 1/268
Processes or apparatus specially adapted to produce multiple sub- holograms or to obtain images from them, e.g. multicolour technique: holographic…
G03H 1/0891
Synthesising holograms, i.e. holograms synthesized from objects or objects from holograms: processes or apparatus adapted to convert digital…
G03H 1/16
Processes or apparatus for producing holograms: using Fourier transform

Family

Application10/149,455Parent of this continuation · filed 15 Oct 2002
Application11/527,068Parent of this continuation · filed 26 Sep 2006
US 2008/0158630 A1Pre-grant publication · published 3 Jul 2008
US 7,423,792 B2Parent of this continuation
US 2003/0156308 A1Published application
US 2007/0070479 A1Published application
US 7,548,360 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.