US20110262844A1 - Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays - Google Patents

Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays Download PDF

Info

Publication number
US20110262844A1
US20110262844A1 US12/662,525 US66252510A US2011262844A1 US 20110262844 A1 US20110262844 A1 US 20110262844A1 US 66252510 A US66252510 A US 66252510A US 2011262844 A1 US2011262844 A1 US 2011262844A1
Authority
US
United States
Prior art keywords
polarization
material layer
light beam
photoresponsive material
modulation
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US12/662,525
Inventor
Nelson Tabirian
Sarik R. Nersisyan
Brian R. Kimball
Diane M. Steeves
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Beam Engineering for Advanced Measurements Co
Original Assignee
Beam Engineering for Advanced Measurements Co
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Beam Engineering for Advanced Measurements Co filed Critical Beam Engineering for Advanced Measurements Co
Priority to US12/662,525 priority Critical patent/US20110262844A1/en
Publication of US20110262844A1 publication Critical patent/US20110262844A1/en
Priority to US13/860,934 priority patent/US20130236817A1/en
Priority to US14/048,557 priority patent/US9983479B2/en
Priority to US14/214,375 priority patent/US10114239B2/en
Priority to US14/810,569 priority patent/US10031424B2/en
Priority to US16/169,717 priority patent/US10802302B2/en
Priority to US16/213,467 priority patent/US11119257B2/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

Links

Images

Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
    • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
    • G03F7/70—Microphotolithographic exposure; Apparatus therefor
    • G03F7/70058—Mask illumination systems
    • G03F7/70191—Optical correction elements, filters or phase plates for controlling intensity, wavelength, polarisation, phase or the like
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B5/00—Optical elements other than lenses
    • G02B5/30—Polarising elements
    • G02B5/3083—Birefringent or phase retarding elements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B5/00—Optical elements other than lenses
    • G02B5/32—Holograms used as optical elements
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03F—PHOTOMECHANICAL PRODUCTION OF TEXTURED OR PATTERNED SURFACES, e.g. FOR PRINTING, FOR PROCESSING OF SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; MATERIALS THEREFOR; ORIGINALS THEREFOR; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED THEREFOR
    • G03F7/00—Photomechanical, e.g. photolithographic, production of textured or patterned surfaces, e.g. printing surfaces; Materials therefor, e.g. comprising photoresists; Apparatus specially adapted therefor
    • G03F7/20—Exposure; Apparatus therefor
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03H—HOLOGRAPHIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS
    • G03H1/00—Holographic processes or apparatus using light, infrared or ultraviolet waves for obtaining holograms or for obtaining an image from them; Details peculiar thereto
    • G03H1/04—Processes or apparatus for producing holograms
    • G03H1/0402—Recording geometries or arrangements
    • G03H2001/0439—Recording geometries or arrangements for recording Holographic Optical Element [HOE]
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G03—PHOTOGRAPHY; CINEMATOGRAPHY; ANALOGOUS TECHNIQUES USING WAVES OTHER THAN OPTICAL WAVES; ELECTROGRAPHY; HOLOGRAPHY
    • G03H—HOLOGRAPHIC PROCESSES OR APPARATUS
    • G03H2260/00—Recording materials or recording processes
    • G03H2260/50—Reactivity or recording processes
    • G03H2260/51—Photoanisotropic reactivity wherein polarized light induces material birefringence, e.g. azo-dye doped polymer

Definitions

  • This invention relates to fabrication of one or two dimensional diffractive waveplates and their arrays, those waveplates including “cycloidal” waveplates, optical axis gratings, polarization gratings (PGs), axial waveplates, vortex waveplates, and q-plates.
  • waveplates including “cycloidal” waveplates, optical axis gratings, polarization gratings (PGs), axial waveplates, vortex waveplates, and q-plates.
  • a grating characterized only by spatial variations in the orientation of the induced optics axis can be obtained when the photoanisotropic medium is exposed to a constant intensity, rectilinear light vibrations, with spatially varying orientation, obtained from superposition of two orthogonal circularly polarized waves propagating, in slightly different directions (M. Attia, et al., “Anisotropic gratings recorded from two circularly polarized coherent waves,” Opt. Commun. 47, 85, 1983).
  • Methyl Red azobenzene dye in a polymer layer allowed to claim that photochemical processes in such material systems would enable obtaining 100 percent diffraction efficiency even in “thin” gratings (T.
  • a material possesing birefringence that is not influenced by light is an alternative to the photoanisotropic materials that are typically capable of only small induced birefringence (L. Nikolova et al., “Diffraction efficiency and selectivity of polarization holographic recording,” Optica Acta 31, 579, 1984).
  • the orientation of such a material, a liquid crystal (LC) can be controlled with the aid of “command surfaces” due to exposure of the substrate carrying the command layer to light beams (K. Ichimura, et al., “Reversible Change in Alignment Mode of Nematic Liquid Crystals Regulated Photochemically by Command Surfaces Modified with an Azobenzene Monolayer,” Langmuir 4, 1214, 1988).
  • LCs with spatially modulated orientation patterns produced using the photoalignment technqiue are known in the prior art (W. M. Gibbons, et al., “Surface-mediated alignment of nematic liquid crystals with polarized laser light,” Nature 351, 49, 1991; C. M. Titus et al., “Efficient, polarization-independent, reflective liquid crystal phase grating,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 71, 2239, 1997; J. Chen, et al., “An electro-optically controlled liquid crystal diffraction grating, Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 2588, 1995; B. J.
  • CDWs cycloidal diffractive waveplates
  • PGs polarization gratings
  • optical axis modulation patterns of anisotropic material systems were demonstrated, including in LCs and LC polymers, due to modulation of boundary alignment conditions, and it was shown that such boundary conditions can be achieved by a number of ways, including using photoaligning materials, orthogonal circular polarized beams, microrubbing, and substrate rotation (Funfshilling et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,330; B. Wen, et al., “Nematic liquid-crystal polarization gratings by modification of surface alignment,” Appl. Opt. 41, 1246, 2002; S. C. McEldowney et al., “Creating vortex retarders using photoaligned LC polymers,” Opt.
  • LC optical components with orientation pattern created by exposure of an alignment layer to a linear polarized light through a mask, by scanning a linear polarized light beam in a pattern, or creating a pattern using an interference of coherent beams is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,009 to Gibbons, et al. Also, in the prior art, “Optically controlled planar orientation of liquid crystal molecules with polarized light is used to make phase gratings in liquid crystal media” (W. M. Gibbons and S.-T. Sun, “Optically generated liquid crystal gratings,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 2542, 1994).
  • DWs are characterized by their efficiency, optical homogeneity, scattering losses, and size. While acceptable for research and development purposes, none of the techniques known in the prior art can be used for fabricating high quality DWs and their arrays in large area, inexpensively, and in high volume production. Since DWs consist of a pattern of optical axis orientation, they can not be reproduced with conventional techniques used for gratings of surface profiles (J. Anagnostis, D. Rowe, “Replication produces holographic optics in volumes”, Laser Focus World 36, 107, 2000); M. T. Gale, “Replicated diffractive optics and micro-optics”, Optics and Photonics News, August 2003, p. 24).
  • the printing method of the current invention does not require complex holographic setups, nor special alignment or vibration isolation as described in the publications S. R. Nersisyan, et al., “Optical Axis Gratings in Liquid Crystals and their use for Polarization insensitive optical switching,” J. Nonlinear Opt. Phys. & Mat., 18, 1, 2009; S. R. Nersisyan, et al., “Characterization of optically imprinted polarization gratings,” Appl. Optics 48, 4062, 2009 and N. V. Tabiryan, et al., “The Promise of Diffractive Waveplates,” Optics and Photonics News, 21, 41, 2010, which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • the objective of the present invention is providing means for fabricating high quality DWs in large area, typically exceeding 1′′ in sizes, in large quantities, with high yield, and low cost.
  • the second objective of the present invention is providing means for fabricating DWs with different periods of optical axis modulation.
  • the invention particularly, includes converting a linear or unpolarized light, generally non-monochromatic, incoherent or partially coherent, into a light beam of a periodic pattern of polarization modulation and subjecting materials with capability of photoalignment to said pattern for time periods exceeding the times otherwise required for obtaining homogeneous orientation state.
  • FIG. 1A shows the schematic of printing DWs.
  • FIG. 1B schematically shows distribution of light polarization at the output of the linear-to-cycloidal polarization converter.
  • FIG. 1C schematically shows distribution of light polarization at the output of a linear-to-axial polarization converter.
  • FIG. 1D schematically shows distribution of light polarization at the output of a two-dimensional cycloidal polarization converter.
  • FIG. 2A shows the schematic of printing DWs using a cycloidal DW as a polarization converter.
  • FIG. 2B shows the schematic of a cycloidal DW.
  • FIG. 3 shows spatial frequency doubling of a cycloidal DW in the printing process. Photos are obtained under polarizing microscope with 100x magnification.
  • FIG. 4 shows two consecutive doubling of the order of an axially symmetric DW.
  • FIG. 5 shows photos of the structure of cycloidal DWs obtained under polarizing microscope for different exposure times. Photos are obtained under polarizing microscope with 40 ⁇ magnification.
  • FIG. 1A The preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1A includes a light beam 101 incident upon an optical component 102 capable of converting the incident light beam 101 into a beam with spatially modulated polarization pattern 103 .
  • cycloidal and axial modulation patterns shown schematically in FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C , correspondingly, wherein the numerals 106 indicate the linear polarization direction at each point of the plane at the output of the polarization converter (S. R. Nersisyan; et al., “Characterization of optically imprinted polarization gratings,” Appl. Optics 48, 4062, 2009).
  • One polarization modulation period is shown in FIG.
  • Polarization modulation may have other distributions as exemplified by the two-dimensional cycloidal pattern shown in FIG. 1D .
  • Examples of such materials include photoanisotropic materials such as azobenzene or azobenzene dye-doped polymers, and photoalignment materials such as azobenzene derivatives, cinnamic acid derivatives, coumarine derivatives, etc.
  • a cycloidal diffractive waveplate (CDW) is used as polarization converter 102 .
  • the structure of said CDW is schematically shown in FIG. 2B wherein the numeral 109 indicates the alignment direction of the optical axis of the material.
  • the cycloidal polarization pattern is obtained at the vicinity of the converter, near its output surface, in the overlap region of the diffracted beams 107 and 108 .
  • the spatial period of the printed DW is equal to that of the DW used as a polarization converter when a circular polarized light is used.
  • a linear polarized light yields in a DW with twice shorter period of the optical axis modulation.
  • FIG. 3 in the photos of the structure of the DW 301 produced via printing using a linear polarized light beam as compared to the structure of the DW 302 used as a polarization converter. Photos were obtained under polarizing microscope with 100 ⁇ magnification (S. R. Nersisyan, et al., “Characterization of optically imprinted polarization gratings,” Appl. Optics 48, 4062, 2009).
  • FIG. 4 This applies both to CDWs as well as to the diffractive waveplates with axial symmetry of optical axis orientation (ADWs) shown in FIG. 4 wherein the numeral 401 corresponds to the ADW used as a polarization converter, and 402 corresponds to the ADW obtained as a result of printing (N. V. Tabiryan, S. R. Nersisyan, D. M. Steeves and B. R. Kimball, The promise of Diffractive Waveplates, Optics and Photonics News 21, 41, 2010).
  • the technique of doubling the spatial frequency allows producing high degree ADWs and their arrays without using mechanical rotating setups.
  • Each DW in these examples was obtained by deposition of a LC polymer on the substrate carrying the photoalignment layer.
  • This process of LC polymer deposition involves spin coating, heating to remove residual solvents, and polymerization in an unpolarized UV light.
  • Other coating techniques spot coating, as an example
  • polymerization techniques heating, as an example
  • the period of the printed CDW can be varied also by incorporating an optical system that projects the cycloidal polarization pattern onto larger or smaller area.
  • Another key aspect of the present invention consists in the disclosure that the photoalignment materials need to be exposed to cycloidal polarization pattern of radiation for time periods considerably exceeding the exposure time required for obtaining homogeneous aligning films at a given power density level of radiation.
  • ROLIC Ltd. specifies 50 mJ/cm 2 exposure energy density for its material ROP 103 at the wavelength 325 nm. Exposure with such an energy density yields in good homogeneous alignment, however, the structure of cycloidal DWs fabricated according to that recipe appears very poor under polarizing microscope as shown in FIG. 5 . Extending the exposure time improves the structure, and practically defect-free structure is obtained for exposure energies >1 J/cm 2 that is 20 ⁇ exceeding the specified values for this particular material.
  • the quality of DWs fabricated in conventional holographic process depends on many factors: the quality of the overlapping beams; the susceptibility of the holographic setup to mechanical vibrations and air fluctuations in the path of the beam; the coherence of the beams and equality of their paths; depolarization effects due to propagation of the beams through multiple optical elements such as lenses and beam splitters; the quality of the substrate; the qualities of the photoalignment materials, their affinity with the substrate in use and the effects of spin coating and solvent evaporation process. These factors include the homogeneity of the LCs layer thickness, and their compatibility issues with the photoalignment layer. The compatibility of the LC materials with the photoalignment material is important as well.
  • Typical thickness of these films is in the micrometer range, whereas thickness variation for as little as the wavelength of radiation, ⁇ 0.5 ⁇ m for visible wavlengths, can dramatically affect the diffraction efficiency of those components.
  • the absolute value of the thickness is as important due to orientation instabilities that is determined, among other things, by the ratio of the layer thickness to the modulation period (H. Sarkissian, et al., “Periodically aligned liquid crystal: potential application for projection displays,” Mol. Cryst. Liquid Cryst., 451, 1, 2006).
  • the exposure energy being a parameter easy to control and specified by its supplier appears to be the least suspected to affect the quality of the DW being fabricated.
  • the obtained component would still show relatively small areas of good quality, good enough for a university research, but beyond the acceptable limits for practical applications.
  • the finding that the exposure times shall considerably exceed photoaligning material specifications is critically important for fabrication of high quality DWs with homogeneous properties in a large area.
  • large area components can be fabricated by continuously translating the substrate in the region of cycloidal polarization pattern. By that, the energy of the light beam can be distributed along a long strip to produce a larger photoalignment area.

Landscapes

  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Polarising Elements (AREA)

Abstract

The objective of the present invention is providing a method for fabricating high quality diffractive waveplates and their arrays that exhibit high diffraction efficiency over large area, the method being capable of inexpensive large volume production. The method uses a polarization converter for converting the polarization of generally non-monochromatic and partially coherent input light beam into a pattern of periodic spatial modulation at the output of said polarization converter. A substrate carrying a photoalignment layer is exposed to said polarization modulation pattern and is coated subsequently with a liquid crystalline material. The high quality diffractive waveplates of the present invention are obtained when the exposure time of said photoalignment layer exceeds by generally an order of magnitude the time period that would be sufficient for producing homogeneous orientation of liquid crystalline materials brought in contact with said photoalignment layer. Compared to holographic techniques, the method is robust with respect to mechanical noises, ambient conditions, and allows inexpensive production via printing while also allowing to double the spatial frequency of optical axis modulation of diffractive waveplates.

Description

    STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
  • This invention was made with Government support under Contract No. W911QY-07-C-0032.
    • RIGHTS OF THE GOVERNMENT
  • The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States for all governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty.
    • CROSS REFERENCES
  • Sh. D. Kakichashvili, “Method for phase polarization recording of holograms,” Soy. J. Quantum. Electron. 4, 795-798, 1974.
  • T. Todorov, et al., High-sensitivity material with reversible photo-induced anisotropy, Opt. Commun., 47, 123-126, 1983.
  • M. Attia, et al., “Anisotropic gratings recorded from two circularly polarized coherent waves,” Opt. Commun., 47, 85-90, 1983.
  • G. Cipparrone, et. al, “Permanent polarization gratings in photosensitive langmuir blodget films,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 2106-2108, 2000.
  • L. Nikolova et al., “Diffraction efficiency and selectivity of polarization holographic recording,” Optica Acta 31, 579-588, 1984.
  • K. Ichimura, et al., “Reversible Change in Alignment Mode of Nematic Liquid Crystals Regulated Photochemically by Command Surfaces Modified with an Azobenzene Monolayer,” Langmuir 4, 1214-1216, 1988.
  • W. M. Gibbons, et al., “Surface-mediated alignment of nematic liquid crystals with polarized laser light,” Nature 351, 49-50, 1991.
  • W. M. Gibbons, et al., “Optically controlled alignment of liquid crystals: devices and applications,” Mol. Cryst. Liquid Cryst., 251, 191-208, 1994.
  • W. M. Gibbons, et al., “Optically generated liquid crystal gratings,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 65, 2542-2544, 1994.
  • M. Schadt, et al., “Optical patterning of multi-domain liquid-crystal displays with wide viewing angles,” Nature 381, 212-215, 1996.
  • S. R. Nersisyan, et al., “Optical Axis Gratings in Liquid Crystals and their use for Polarization insensitive optical switching,” J. Nonlinear Opt. Phys. & Mat., 18, 1-47, 2009.
  • N. V. Tabiryan, et al., “The Promise of Diffractive Waveplates,” Optics and Photonics News, 21, 41-45, 2010.
  • H. Sarkissian et al., “Periodically Aligned Liquid Crystal: Potential application for projection displays,” Storming Media Report, A000824, 2004.
  • H. Sarkissian, et al., “Periodically aligned liquid crystal: potential application for projection displays and stability of LC configuration,” Optics in the Southeast 2003, Orlando, Fla., Conference Program, PSE 02.
  • H. Sarkissian, et al., “Potential application of periodically aligned liquid crystal cell for projection displays,” Proc. of CLEO/QELS Baltimore Md., poster JThE12, 2005.
  • B. Ya. Zeldovich, N. V. Tabirian, “Devices for displaying visual information,” Disclosure, School of Optics/CREOL, July 2000.
  • C. Provenzano, et al., “Highly efficient liquid crystal based diffraction grating induced by polarization holograms at the aligning surfaces,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 89, 121105(1-3), 2006
  • M. J. Escuti et al., “A polarization-independent liquid crystal spatial-light-modulator,” Proc. SPIE 6332, 63320M(1-8), 2006.
  • C. M. Titus et al., “Efficient, polarization-independent, reflective liquid crystal phase grating,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 71, 2239-2241, 1997.
  • J. Chen, et al., “An electro-optically controlled liquid crystal diffraction grating, Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 2588-2590, 1995.
  • B. J. Kim, et al., “Unusual characteristics of diffraction gratings in a liquid crystal cell,” Adv. Materials, 14, 983-988, 2002.
  • R.-P. Pan, et al., “Surface topography and alignment effects in UV-modified polyimide films with micron size patterns,” Chinese J. of Physics, 41, 177-184, 2003.
  • A. Y.-G. Fuh, et al., “Dynamic studies of holographic gratings in dye-doped liquid-crystal films,” Opt. Lett. 26, 1767-1769, 2001.
  • C.-J. Yu, et al., “Polarization grating of photoaligned liquid crystals with oppositely twisted domain structures,” Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst., Vol. 433, pp. 175-181, 2005.
  • G. Crawford, et al., “Liquid-crystal diffraction gratings using polarization holography alignment techniques,” J. of Appl. Phys. 98, 123102 (1-10), 2005.
  • M. Schadt, et al. “Photo-Induced Alignment and Patterning of Hybrid Liquid Crystalline Polymer Films on Single Substrates,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 34, L764-L767 1995.
  • M. Schadt, et al. “Photo-Generation of Linearly Polymerized Liquid Crystal Aligning Layers Comprising Novel, Integrated Optically Patterned Retarders and Color Filters,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 34, 3240-3249, 1995.
  • H. Seiberle, et al., “Photo-aligned anisotropic optical thin films,” SID 03 Digest, 1162-1165, 2003.
  • B. Wen, et al., “Nematic liquid-crystal polarization gratings by modification of surface alignment,” Appl. Opt. 41, 1246-1250, 2002.
  • J. Anagnostis, D. Rowe, “Replication produces holographic optics in volumes”, Laser Focus World 36, 107-111, 2000.
  • M. T. Gale, “Replicated diffractive optics and micro-optics”, Optics and Photonics News, August 2003, 24-29.
  • S. R. Nersisyan, et al., “Characterization of optically imprinted polarization gratings,” Appl. Optics 48, 4062-4067, 2009.
  • H. Sarkissian, et al., “Periodically aligned liquid crystal: potential application for projection displays,” Mol. Cryst. Liquid Cryst., 451, 1-19, 2006.
  • V. G. Chigrinov, et al., “Photoaligning: physics and applications in liquid crystal devices”, Wiley VCH, 2008.
  • S. C. McEldowney et al., “Creating vortex retarders using photoaligned LC polymers,” Opt. Lett., Vol. 33, 134-136, 2008.
    • U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
  • 2009/0141216 June 2009 Marucci
    7,196,758 March 2007 Crawford et al.
    US2008/0278675 November 2008 Escuti et al.
    3,897,136 July 1975 Bryngdahl
    2010/0066929 March 2010 Shemo et al.
    5,903,330 May 1999 Fünfshilling et al.
    5,032,009 July 1991 Gibbons et al.
    • FIELD OF THE INVENTION
  • This invention relates to fabrication of one or two dimensional diffractive waveplates and their arrays, those waveplates including “cycloidal” waveplates, optical axis gratings, polarization gratings (PGs), axial waveplates, vortex waveplates, and q-plates.
    • BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
  • Polarization recording of holograms and related “polarization gratings” were concieved in 1970's as a method for recording and reconstructing the vector field of light. A light-sensitive material that acquired birefringence under the action of polarized light was suggested in the first studies (Sh. D. Kakichashvili, “Method for phase polarization recording of holograms,” Soy. J. Quantum. Electron. 4, 795, 1974). Examples of such photoanisotropic media included colored alkaly halid crystals regarded particularly promising due to reversibilty of the recording process consisting in optically altering the orientation of anisotropic color centers in the crystal.
  • A grating characterized only by spatial variations in the orientation of the induced optics axis can be obtained when the photoanisotropic medium is exposed to a constant intensity, rectilinear light vibrations, with spatially varying orientation, obtained from superposition of two orthogonal circularly polarized waves propagating, in slightly different directions (M. Attia, et al., “Anisotropic gratings recorded from two circularly polarized coherent waves,” Opt. Commun. 47, 85, 1983). The use of Methyl Red azobenzene dye in a polymer layer allowed to claim that photochemical processes in such material systems would enable obtaining 100 percent diffraction efficiency even in “thin” gratings (T. Todorov, et al., “High-sensitivity material with reversible photo-induced anisotropy,” Opt. Commun. 47, 123, 1983). Highly stable polarization gratings with orthogonal circular polarized beams are obtained in thin solid crystalline Langmuir-Blodgett films composed of amphiphilic azo-dye molecules showing that “100% efficiency may be achieved for samples less than 1 μm thick” (G. Cipparrone, et al., “Permanent polarization gratings in photosensitive langmuir blodget films,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 2106, 2000).
  • A material possesing birefringence that is not influenced by light is an alternative to the photoanisotropic materials that are typically capable of only small induced birefringence (L. Nikolova et al., “Diffraction efficiency and selectivity of polarization holographic recording,” Optica Acta 31, 579, 1984). The orientation of such a material, a liquid crystal (LC), can be controlled with the aid of “command surfaces” due to exposure of the substrate carrying the command layer to light beams (K. Ichimura, et al., “Reversible Change in Alignment Mode of Nematic Liquid Crystals Regulated Photochemically by Command Surfaces Modified with an Azobenzene Monolayer,” Langmuir 4, 1214, 1988). Further a “mechanism for liquid-crystal alignment that uses polarized laser light” was revealed (W. M. Gibbons, et al., “Surface-mediated alignment of nematic liquid crystals with polarized laser light,” Nature 351, 49, 1991; W. M. Gibbons, et al., “Optically controlled alignment of liquid crystals: devices and applications,” Mol. Cryst. Liquid Cryst., 251, 191, 1994). Due to localization of dye near the interface, the exposure can be performed in the absence of LC, and the LC is aligned with high spatial and angular resolution (potentially, submicron) after filling the cell (W. M. Gibbons, et al., “Optically generated liquid crystal gratings,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 2542, 1994). Variety of photoalignment materials are developed for achieving high-resolution patterns and obtaining variation of molecular alignment within individual pixels (M. Schadt, et al., “Optical patterning of multi-domain liquid-crystal displays with wide viewing angles,” Nature 381, 212, 1996).
  • A critically important issue for producing LC orientation patterns at high spatial frequencies is their mechanical stability. Particularly, the cycloidal orientation of LCs obtained due to the orienting effect of boundaries is stable only when a specific condition between the material parameters, the cell thickness, and the period of LC orientation modulation is fulfilled (H. Sarkissian et al., “Periodically Aligned Liquid Crystal: Potential application for projection displays,” Storming Media Report, A000824, 2004; H. Sarkissian, et al., “Periodically aligned liquid crystal: potential application for projection displays and stability of LC configuration,” Optics in the Southeast 2003, Orlando, Fla.; Conference Program, PSE 02. and H. Sarkissian, et al., “Potential application of periodically aligned liquid crystal cell for projection displays,” Proc. of CLEO/QELS Baltimore Md., poster JThE12, 2005; B. Ya. Zeldovich, N. V. Tabirian, “Devices for displaying visual information,” Disclosure, School of Optics/CREOL, July 2000). Suggesting fabrication of cycloidal polarization gratings using the photoalignment technique with overlapping right and left circularly polarized beams, the publications by Sarkissian, Zeldovich and Tabirian cited above are credited for having theoretically proven polarization gratings can be 100% efficient and can be used as a diffractive grating for projection displays (C. Provenzano, et al., “Highly efficient liquid crystal based diffraction grating induced by polarization holograms at the aligning surfaces,” Appl. Phys. Lett., 89, 121105, 2006; M. J. Escuti et al., “A polarization-independent liquid crystal spatial-light-modulator,” Proc. SPIE 6332, 63320M, 2006).
  • LCs with spatially modulated orientation patterns produced using the photoalignment technqiue are known in the prior art (W. M. Gibbons, et al., “Surface-mediated alignment of nematic liquid crystals with polarized laser light,” Nature 351, 49, 1991; C. M. Titus et al., “Efficient, polarization-independent, reflective liquid crystal phase grating,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 71, 2239, 1997; J. Chen, et al., “An electro-optically controlled liquid crystal diffraction grating, Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 2588, 1995; B. J. Kim, et al., “Unusual characteristics of diffraction gratings in a liquid crystal cell,” Adv. Materials 14, 983, 2002; R.-P. Pan, et al., “Surface topography and alignment effects in UV-modified polyimide films with micron size patterns,” Chinese J. of Physics 41, 177, 2003; A. Y.-G. Fuh, et al., “Dynamic studies of holographic gratings in dye-doped liquid-crystal films,” Opt. Lett. 26, 1767, 2001; C.-J. Yu, et al., “Polarization grating of photoaligned liquid crystals with oppositely twisted domain structures,” Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 433, 175, 2005; G. Crawford, et al., “Liquid-crystal diffraction gratings using polarization holography alignment techniques,” J. of Appl. Phys: 98, 123102, 2005; Crawford et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,196,758).
  • LC polymers were widely used as well (M. Schadt, et al. “Photo-Induced Alignment and Patterning of Hybrid Liquid Crystalline Polymer Films on Single Substrates,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 34, L764 1995; M. Schadt, et al. “Photo-Generation of Linearly Polymerized Liquid Crystal Aligning Layers Comprising Novel, Integrated Optically Patterned Retarders and Color Filters,” Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 34, 3240, 1995; Escutti et al, US Patent Application US2008/0278675;). Photo-aligned anisotropic thin films can be applied to rigid or flexible substrates, which may be flat or curved and/or generate patterned retarders with continuous or periodical inplane variation of the optical axis (H. Seiberle, et al., “Photo-aligned anisotropic optical thin films,” SID 03 Digest, 1162, 2003).
  • The cycloidal diffractive waveplates (CDWs) wherein the optical axis of the material is periodically rotating in the plane of the waveplate along one axis of a Cartesian coordinate system are the most interesting one-dimensional structures used for applications such as displays, beam steering systems, spectroscopy etc. These are known also as cycloidal DWs (CDWs), optical axis gratings, and polarization gratings (PGs) (S. R. Nersisyan, et al., “Optical Axis Gratings in Liquid Crystals and their use for Polarization insensitive optical switching,” J. Nonlinear Opt. Phys. & Mat. 18, 1, 2009). Most interesting for applications two-dimensional orientation patterns possess with axial symmetry (N. V. Tabiryan, et al., “The Promise of Diffractive Waveplates,” Optics and Photonics News 21, 41, 2010; L. Marucci, US Patent Application 2009/0141216; Shemo et al., US Patent Application 2010/0066929).
  • Thus, in the prior art, optical axis modulation patterns of anisotropic material systems were demonstrated, including in LCs and LC polymers, due to modulation of boundary alignment conditions, and it was shown that such boundary conditions can be achieved by a number of ways, including using photoaligning materials, orthogonal circular polarized beams, microrubbing, and substrate rotation (Funfshilling et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,330; B. Wen, et al., “Nematic liquid-crystal polarization gratings by modification of surface alignment,” Appl. Opt. 41, 1246, 2002; S. C. McEldowney et al., “Creating vortex retarders using photoaligned LC polymers,” Opt. Lett., Vol. 33, 134, 2008). LC optical components with orientation pattern created by exposure of an alignment layer to a linear polarized light through a mask, by scanning a linear polarized light beam in a pattern, or creating a pattern using an interference of coherent beams is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,009 to Gibbons, et al. Also, in the prior art, “Optically controlled planar orientation of liquid crystal molecules with polarized light is used to make phase gratings in liquid crystal media” (W. M. Gibbons and S.-T. Sun, “Optically generated liquid crystal gratings,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 2542, 1994).
  • DWs are characterized by their efficiency, optical homogeneity, scattering losses, and size. While acceptable for research and development purposes, none of the techniques known in the prior art can be used for fabricating high quality DWs and their arrays in large area, inexpensively, and in high volume production. Since DWs consist of a pattern of optical axis orientation, they can not be reproduced with conventional techniques used for gratings of surface profiles (J. Anagnostis, D. Rowe, “Replication produces holographic optics in volumes”, Laser Focus World 36, 107, 2000); M. T. Gale, “Replicated diffractive optics and micro-optics”, Optics and Photonics News, August 2003, p. 24).
  • It is the purpose of the present invention to provide method for the production of DWs. The printing method of the current invention does not require complex holographic setups, nor special alignment or vibration isolation as described in the publications S. R. Nersisyan, et al., “Optical Axis Gratings in Liquid Crystals and their use for Polarization insensitive optical switching,” J. Nonlinear Opt. Phys. & Mat., 18, 1, 2009; S. R. Nersisyan, et al., “Characterization of optically imprinted polarization gratings,” Appl. Optics 48, 4062, 2009 and N. V. Tabiryan, et al., “The Promise of Diffractive Waveplates,” Optics and Photonics News, 21, 41, 2010, which are incorporated herein by reference.
  • Energy densities required for printing DWs are essentially the same as in the case of producing a waveplate in a holographic process. This makes fabrication of diffractive waveplates much faster compared to mechanical scanning or rotating techniques. A technique for obtaining polarization modulation patterns avoiding holographic setups was discussed earlier in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,136 to O. Bryngdahl. It discloses a grating “formed from strips cut in different directions out of linearly dichroic polarizer sheets. The gratings were assembled so that between successive strips a constant amount of rotation of the transmittance axes occurred.” These were also essentially discontinuous structures, with the angle between the strips π/2 and π/6 at the best. The size of individual strips was as large as 2 mm. Thus, such a grating modulated polarization of the output light at macroscopic scales and could not be used for production of microscale-period gratings with diffractive properties at optical wavelengths.
    • BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
  • Thus, the objective of the present invention is providing means for fabricating high quality DWs in large area, typically exceeding 1″ in sizes, in large quantities, with high yield, and low cost.
  • The second objective of the present invention is providing means for fabricating DWs with different periods of optical axis modulation.
  • The invention, particularly, includes converting a linear or unpolarized light, generally non-monochromatic, incoherent or partially coherent, into a light beam of a periodic pattern of polarization modulation and subjecting materials with capability of photoalignment to said pattern for time periods exceeding the times otherwise required for obtaining homogeneous orientation state.
  • Further objectives and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of presently preferred embodiment, which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings.
    • BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
  • FIG. 1A shows the schematic of printing DWs.
  • FIG. 1B schematically shows distribution of light polarization at the output of the linear-to-cycloidal polarization converter.
  • FIG. 1C schematically shows distribution of light polarization at the output of a linear-to-axial polarization converter.
  • FIG. 1D schematically shows distribution of light polarization at the output of a two-dimensional cycloidal polarization converter.
  • FIG. 2A shows the schematic of printing DWs using a cycloidal DW as a polarization converter.
  • FIG. 2B shows the schematic of a cycloidal DW.
  • FIG. 3 shows spatial frequency doubling of a cycloidal DW in the printing process. Photos are obtained under polarizing microscope with 100x magnification.
  • FIG. 4 shows two consecutive doubling of the order of an axially symmetric DW.
  • FIG. 5 shows photos of the structure of cycloidal DWs obtained under polarizing microscope for different exposure times. Photos are obtained under polarizing microscope with 40× magnification.
    •  DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
  • Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not limitation.
  • The preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1A includes a light beam 101 incident upon an optical component 102 capable of converting the incident light beam 101 into a beam with spatially modulated polarization pattern 103. Of particular interest are “cycloidal” and axial modulation patterns shown schematically in FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C, correspondingly, wherein the numerals 106 indicate the linear polarization direction at each point of the plane at the output of the polarization converter (S. R. Nersisyan; et al., “Characterization of optically imprinted polarization gratings,” Appl. Optics 48, 4062, 2009). One polarization modulation period is shown in FIG. 1B, and the polarization direction is reversed 4 times for the example of the axially modulated pattern shown in FIG. 1C. Polarization modulation may have other distributions as exemplified by the two-dimensional cycloidal pattern shown in FIG. 1D.
  • A photoresponsive material film 104 capable of producing an internal structure aligned according to the polarization pattern 103, deposited on a substrate 105, is arranged in the area with spatially modulated polarization pattern. Examples of such materials include photoanisotropic materials such as azobenzene or azobenzene dye-doped polymers, and photoalignment materials such as azobenzene derivatives, cinnamic acid derivatives, coumarine derivatives, etc.
  • In case shown in FIG. 2A, a cycloidal diffractive waveplate (CDW) is used as polarization converter 102. The structure of said CDW is schematically shown in FIG. 2B wherein the numeral 109 indicates the alignment direction of the optical axis of the material. The cycloidal polarization pattern is obtained at the vicinity of the converter, near its output surface, in the overlap region of the diffracted beams 107 and 108.
  • The simplicity of this method, its insensitivity to vibrations, noises, air flows, as opposed to the holographic techniques makes feasible manufacturing high quality DWs with high diffraction efficiency in large areas exceeding 1″ in sizes and in large quantities with low cost. Note that adding a polarizer at the output of the DW transforms the polarization modulation pattern into a pattern of intensity modulation that could be used for printing diffractive optical elements as well.
  • The spatial period of the printed DW is equal to that of the DW used as a polarization converter when a circular polarized light is used. A linear polarized light, however, yields in a DW with twice shorter period of the optical axis modulation. This is evident, FIG. 3, in the photos of the structure of the DW 301 produced via printing using a linear polarized light beam as compared to the structure of the DW 302 used as a polarization converter. Photos were obtained under polarizing microscope with 100× magnification (S. R. Nersisyan, et al., “Characterization of optically imprinted polarization gratings,” Appl. Optics 48, 4062, 2009). This applies both to CDWs as well as to the diffractive waveplates with axial symmetry of optical axis orientation (ADWs) shown in FIG. 4 wherein the numeral 401 corresponds to the ADW used as a polarization converter, and 402 corresponds to the ADW obtained as a result of printing (N. V. Tabiryan, S. R. Nersisyan, D. M. Steeves and B. R. Kimball, The Promise of Diffractive Waveplates, Optics and Photonics News 21, 41, 2010). The technique of doubling the spatial frequency allows producing high degree ADWs and their arrays without using mechanical rotating setups.
  • Each DW in these examples was obtained by deposition of a LC polymer on the substrate carrying the photoalignment layer. This process of LC polymer deposition involves spin coating, heating to remove residual solvents, and polymerization in an unpolarized UV light. Other coating techniques (spray coating, as an example) and polymerization techniques (heating, as an example) are known and can be used for this purpose. The period of the printed CDW can be varied also by incorporating an optical system that projects the cycloidal polarization pattern onto larger or smaller area.
  • Another key aspect of the present invention consists in the disclosure that the photoalignment materials need to be exposed to cycloidal polarization pattern of radiation for time periods considerably exceeding the exposure time required for obtaining homogeneous aligning films at a given power density level of radiation. As an example, ROLIC Ltd. specifies 50 mJ/cm2 exposure energy density for its material ROP 103 at the wavelength 325 nm. Exposure with such an energy density yields in good homogeneous alignment, however, the structure of cycloidal DWs fabricated according to that recipe appears very poor under polarizing microscope as shown in FIG. 5. Extending the exposure time improves the structure, and practically defect-free structure is obtained for exposure energies >1 J/cm2 that is 20× exceeding the specified values for this particular material.
  • The quality of DWs fabricated in conventional holographic process depends on many factors: the quality of the overlapping beams; the susceptibility of the holographic setup to mechanical vibrations and air fluctuations in the path of the beam; the coherence of the beams and equality of their paths; depolarization effects due to propagation of the beams through multiple optical elements such as lenses and beam splitters; the quality of the substrate; the qualities of the photoalignment materials, their affinity with the substrate in use and the effects of spin coating and solvent evaporation process. These factors include the homogeneity of the LCs layer thickness, and their compatibility issues with the photoalignment layer. The compatibility of the LC materials with the photoalignment material is important as well. Typical thickness of these films is in the micrometer range, whereas thickness variation for as little as the wavelength of radiation, ˜0.5 μm for visible wavlengths, can dramatically affect the diffraction efficiency of those components. The absolute value of the thickness is as important due to orientation instabilities that is determined, among other things, by the ratio of the layer thickness to the modulation period (H. Sarkissian, et al., “Periodically aligned liquid crystal: potential application for projection displays,” Mol. Cryst. Liquid Cryst., 451, 1, 2006).
  • Among all these factors, the exposure energy, being a parameter easy to control and specified by its supplier appears to be the least suspected to affect the quality of the DW being fabricated. With all the noises, impurities, and uncertainties in many steps involved in the process, the obtained component would still show relatively small areas of good quality, good enough for a university research, but beyond the acceptable limits for practical applications. Thus, the finding that the exposure times shall considerably exceed photoaligning material specifications is critically important for fabrication of high quality DWs with homogeneous properties in a large area.
  • The reasons for such an effect of the exposure time lie, apparently, in the need to produce stronger forces to support a pattern of spatial modulation of the optical axis than those required for homogeneous alignment. Elastic forces against modulation of molecular orientation are strong in LC materials. Longer exposure induces stronger modulation of the microscopic orientation properties of the photoaligning materials. Anchoring energy of such materials for LCs are not comprehensively studied. The available data relate to homogeneous orientation (V. G. Chigrinov, et al., “Photoaligning: physics and applications in liquid crystal devices”, Wiley VCH, 2008).
  • Due to robustness of the printing method to the mechanical and other ambient noise, large area components can be fabricated by continuously translating the substrate in the region of cycloidal polarization pattern. By that, the energy of the light beam can be distributed along a long strip to produce a larger photoalignment area.
  • Although the present invention has been described above by way of a preferred embodiment, this embodiment can be modified at will, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit and nature of the subject invention.

Claims (11)

1. A method for producing spatially periodic orientation modulation of an anisotropy axis of a photoresponsive material layer, the method comprising:
(a) a light source emitting a light beam;
(b) a polarization converter periodically modulating in space the polarization of said light beam;
(c) a photoresponsive material characterized by an anisotropy axis that may be formed or aligned according to polarization of said light beam;
(d) exposing at least a portion of said photoresponsive material layer to the polarization modulation pattern produced by said polarization converter.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising optical means for projecting said polarization modulation pattern of said light beam onto at least a part of the area of said photoresponsive material layer, said projection generally changing the size, shape and topography of said polarization modulation pattern obtained at the output of said polarization converter.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said polarization converter comprises at least one diffractive waveplate that may be achromatic, and may be part of an array.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising at least one substrate for controlling at least one of the following properties of said photoresponsive material layer: mechanical shape and stability, thermal conductivity, thickness homogeneity, radiation resistance, and resistance to adverse ambient conditions.
5. A method for producing spatially periodic orientation modulation of an anisotropy axis of a photoresponsive material layer, the method comprising:
(a) a light source emitting a light beam;
(b) a polarization converter periodically modulating the polarization of said light beam along a single axis;
(c) a photoresponsive material characterized by an anisotropy axis that may be formed or aligned according to polarization of said light beam;
(d) means for holding and positioning a layer of said photoresponsive material;
(e) means for positioning and projecting said polarization modulation pattern of said light beam onto a part of the area of said photoresponsive material layer;
(d) means for exposing different areas of said photoresponsive material layer to said polarization modulation pattern.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the means for holding and positioning the layer of said photoresponsive material include at least one of the following: a glass substrate; a polymer substrate, a drum, a translation stage, and a rotation stage.
7. The method as in claim 5 wherein the means for exposing different areas of said photoresponsive material layer to said polarization modulation pattern includes at least one of the mechanical motions, translation in the direction perpendicular to the polarization modulation axis, and rotation, said motions performed with the aid of at least one of said positioning means: the positioning means of the holder of said photoresponsive material layer, and the positioning means of said polarization modulation pattern.
8. A method for producing orientation modulation of an anisotropy axis of a photoresponsive material layer at a predetermined spatial period, the method comprising:
(a) producing a linear polarized light beam;
(b) propagating said light beam through a diffractive waveplate, the diffractive waveplate having optical axis modulation period twice larger compared to said predetermined spatial period.
(b) exposing a photoresponsive material layer to said light beam propagated through said diffractive waveplate, the photoresponsive material having the ability of producing an anisotropy axis modulated according to the polarization of said light beam.
9. Any of the methods of claim 1, 5, or 8 further comprising at least one anisotropic material layer with ability of producing an optical axis modulation according to and under the influence of the anisotropy axis of the photoresponsive material layer.
10. A method of fabricating high quality diffractive waveplates for providing diffraction efficiency greater than 95% over an area of greater than 1″ in diameter, and scattering losses less than 1% comprising:
(a) a source of a light beam;
(b) means for periodically modulating the polarization of said light beam across the beam profile;
(c) a photoresponsive material layer with ability of producing an anisotropy axis modulated according to said polarization pattern;
(d) exposing said photoresponsive material layer to said polarization modulation pattern for exposure energy density exceeding at least 5 times the exposure energy density sufficient for producing waveplates with homogeneously orientation of optical axis.
(e) bringing said photoresponsive layer in contact with at least one anisotropic material layer, said anisotropic material having the ability of producing an optical axis modulation according to and under the influence of the anisotropy axis of said photoresponsive material layer.
11. The method of claim 9 or 10 wherein said optical axis modulation of at least one of said anisotropic material layers is twisted in the direction perpendicular to the modulation plane of the anisotropy axis of said photoresponsive material layer.
US12/662,525 2010-04-21 2010-04-21 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays Abandoned US20110262844A1 (en)

Priority Applications (7)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US12/662,525 US20110262844A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2010-04-21 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US13/860,934 US20130236817A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2013-04-11 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US14/048,557 US9983479B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2013-10-08 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US14/214,375 US10114239B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2014-03-14 Waveplate lenses and methods for their fabrication
US14/810,569 US10031424B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2015-07-28 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US16/169,717 US10802302B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2018-10-24 Waveplate lenses and methods for their fabrication
US16/213,467 US11119257B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2018-12-07 Methods of diffractive lens and mirror fabrication

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US12/662,525 US20110262844A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2010-04-21 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays

Related Parent Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US13/860,934 Continuation US20130236817A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2013-04-11 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays

Related Child Applications (4)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US13/860,834 Continuation US20130311329A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2013-04-11 Image-related methods and arrangements
US13/860,934 Continuation US20130236817A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2013-04-11 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US13/860,934 Continuation-In-Part US20130236817A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2013-04-11 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US14/810,569 Continuation US10031424B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2015-07-28 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20110262844A1 true US20110262844A1 (en) 2011-10-27

Family

ID=44816083

Family Applications (3)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US12/662,525 Abandoned US20110262844A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2010-04-21 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US13/860,934 Abandoned US20130236817A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2013-04-11 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US14/810,569 Active US10031424B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2015-07-28 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays

Family Applications After (2)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US13/860,934 Abandoned US20130236817A1 (en) 2010-04-21 2013-04-11 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US14/810,569 Active US10031424B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2015-07-28 Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays

Country Status (1)

Country Link
US (3) US20110262844A1 (en)

Cited By (45)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20100225876A1 (en) * 2007-04-16 2010-09-09 Michael James Escuti Low-twist chiral liquid crystal polarization gratings and related fabrication methods
US20100225856A1 (en) * 2007-04-16 2010-09-09 Michael James Escuti Multi-layer achromatic liquid crystal polarization gratings and related fabrication methods
US20100231847A1 (en) * 2007-04-16 2010-09-16 Michael James Escuti Methods of fabricating switchable liquid crystal polarization gratings on reflective substrates and related devices
US20130202246A1 (en) * 2012-02-03 2013-08-08 Roy Meade Active alignment of optical fiber to chip using liquid crystals
US20130236817A1 (en) * 2010-04-21 2013-09-12 U.S. Government As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US8537310B2 (en) 2005-03-01 2013-09-17 North Carolina State University Polarization-independent liquid crystal display devices including multiple polarization grating arrangements and related devices
WO2014164599A1 (en) * 2013-03-11 2014-10-09 U.S. Government As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Method of fabricating liquid crystal polymer film
CN104345475A (en) * 2013-07-25 2015-02-11 庄臣及庄臣视力保护公司 Contact lenses with embedded labels
US8982313B2 (en) 2009-07-31 2015-03-17 North Carolina State University Beam steering devices including stacked liquid crystal polarization gratings and related methods of operation
US20150109597A1 (en) * 2012-05-30 2015-04-23 Rolic Ag Fast generation of elements with individually patterned anisotropy
US20150219893A1 (en) * 2013-02-07 2015-08-06 Liqxtal Technology Inc. Optical system and its display system
US9195092B2 (en) 2008-10-09 2015-11-24 North Carolina State University Polarization-independent liquid crystal display devices including multiple polarizing grating arrangements and related devices
US9298041B2 (en) 2007-04-16 2016-03-29 North Carolina State University Multi-twist retarders for broadband polarization transformation and related fabrication methods
US9310601B1 (en) 2014-08-13 2016-04-12 Lockheed Martin Corporation System and method for converting between Keplerian and Galilean telescope magnification
US9335562B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2016-05-10 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices comprising dielectrics and liquid crystal polymer networks
US20160131920A1 (en) * 2014-11-06 2016-05-12 Government Of The United States, As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force Universal Polarization Converter
US9366881B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2016-06-14 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including shaped liquid crystal polymer networked regions of liquid crystal
US9442309B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2016-09-13 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices comprising dielectrics and nano-scaled droplets of liquid crystal
US9500882B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2016-11-22 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Variable optic ophthalmic device including shaped liquid crystal elements with nano-scaled droplets of liquid crystal
US9541772B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-01-10 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US20170045760A1 (en) * 2010-04-21 2017-02-16 Nelson Tabirian Waveplate lenses and methods for their fabrication
US9592116B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-03-14 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9690116B2 (en) 2011-12-23 2017-06-27 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Variable optic ophthalmic device including liquid crystal elements
US9753193B2 (en) 2014-04-16 2017-09-05 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Methods and apparatus for human vision correction using diffractive waveplate lenses
US20170264869A1 (en) * 2014-03-12 2017-09-14 The Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology Fabrication method of a polarization grating
US9869885B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2018-01-16 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including gradient-indexed liquid crystal layers and shaped dielectric layers
US9880398B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2018-01-30 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including gradient-indexed and shaped liquid crystal layers
CN107918241A (en) * 2014-03-12 2018-04-17 香港科技大学 The manufacture method of polarization grating
US9976911B1 (en) 2015-06-30 2018-05-22 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Full characterization wavefront sensor
US9983479B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2018-05-29 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US10036886B2 (en) 2010-01-29 2018-07-31 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Broadband optics for manipulating light beams and images
US10107945B2 (en) * 2013-03-01 2018-10-23 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Vector vortex waveplates
US10185182B2 (en) * 2013-03-03 2019-01-22 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Mechanical rubbing method for fabricating cycloidal diffractive waveplates
US10191296B1 (en) 2015-06-30 2019-01-29 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Laser pointer with reduced risk of eye injury
US10197715B1 (en) * 2013-03-15 2019-02-05 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Methods of diffractive lens and mirror fabrication
US10274805B2 (en) 2017-06-13 2019-04-30 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Polarization-independent switchable lens system
US10386653B2 (en) 2012-12-21 2019-08-20 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Variable optic ophthalmic device including liquid crystal elements
US10423045B2 (en) 2016-11-14 2019-09-24 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Electro-optical diffractive waveplate beam shaping system
US10436957B2 (en) 2015-10-27 2019-10-08 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Broadband imaging with diffractive waveplate coated mirrors and diffractive waveplate objective lens
WO2020022496A1 (en) * 2018-07-27 2020-01-30 富士フイルム株式会社 Optical element, method for forming photo-alignment pattern, and method for manufacturing optical element
US20210033765A1 (en) * 2018-04-20 2021-02-04 Fujifilm Corporation Light irradiation device and sensor
US11175441B1 (en) 2018-03-05 2021-11-16 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Polarization-independent diffractive optical structures
US11294240B2 (en) 2019-08-10 2022-04-05 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Diffractive waveplate devices that operate over a wide temperature range
CN114415427A (en) * 2022-02-25 2022-04-29 电子科技大学 Liquid crystal polarization grating preparation light path and preparation method
US11366254B2 (en) 2010-01-29 2022-06-21 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. High-efficiency wide-angle beam steering system

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US11022791B2 (en) 2018-05-18 2021-06-01 Facebook Technologies, Llc Assemblies of anisotropic optical elements and methods of making
US10983262B2 (en) 2018-09-20 2021-04-20 Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited Rotational geometric phase hologram with application for fabricating geometric phase optical element
CN110133865B (en) * 2019-04-18 2021-03-26 深圳市麓邦技术有限公司 Imaging direction selecting apparatus and method thereof
CN110221444B (en) * 2019-06-06 2021-03-26 深圳市麓邦技术有限公司 Imaging system
US11543704B1 (en) 2019-10-31 2023-01-03 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Polymer networks stabilizing liquid crystal diffractive waveplates

Citations (21)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3758186A (en) * 1966-11-30 1973-09-11 Battelle Development Corp Method of copying holograms
US3897136A (en) * 1973-03-09 1975-07-29 Xerox Corp Polarization-grating moire
US5032009A (en) * 1989-03-08 1991-07-16 Hercules Incorporated Process of aligning and realigning liquid crystal media
US5621525A (en) * 1995-02-06 1997-04-15 University Of Central Florida Apparatus and method for measuring the power density of a laser beam with a liquid crystal
US5838407A (en) * 1991-07-26 1998-11-17 Rolic Ag Liquid crystal display cells
US5903330A (en) * 1995-10-31 1999-05-11 Rolic Ag Optical component with plural orientation layers on the same substrate wherein the surfaces of the orientation layers have different patterns and direction
US20010002895A1 (en) * 1997-04-11 2001-06-07 Katsunori Kawano Optical storage medium, optical storage method, optical storage apparatus, optical reading method, optical reading apparatus, optical retrieving method and optical retrieving apparatus
US20020163873A1 (en) * 2001-03-22 2002-11-07 Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Optical recording medium, holographic recording and/or retrieval method and holographic recording and/or retrieval apparatus
US6512085B1 (en) * 2000-01-20 2003-01-28 Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Method and apparatus for providing optical anisotropy to polymeric film and optical anisotropic medium
US6526077B1 (en) * 2000-05-25 2003-02-25 Nelson Tabirian Line-scan laser beam profiler
US6678042B2 (en) * 2002-05-01 2004-01-13 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Laser beam multimeter
US6939587B1 (en) * 1999-09-03 2005-09-06 Kent State University Fabrication of aligned crystal cell/film by simultaneous alignment and phase separation
US20070174854A1 (en) * 2005-09-05 2007-07-26 Hardy Jungermann Storage medium for confidential information
US20070247586A1 (en) * 2006-04-22 2007-10-25 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Optical actuation system with deformable polymer film
WO2008130559A2 (en) * 2007-04-16 2008-10-30 North Carolina State University Methods of fabricating switchable liquid crystal polarization gratings on reflective substrates and related devices
US20080278675A1 (en) * 2005-03-01 2008-11-13 Dutch Polymer Institute Polarization Gratings in Mesogenic Films
US20090009668A1 (en) * 2007-07-03 2009-01-08 Jds Uniphase Corporation Non-Etched Flat Polarization-Selective Diffractive Optical Elements
US20090141216A1 (en) * 2006-04-26 2009-06-04 Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche Liquid crystal geometrical phase optical elements and a system for generating and rapidly switching helical modes of an electromagnetic wave, based on these optical elements
US20100066929A1 (en) * 2008-09-12 2010-03-18 Jds Uniphase Corporation Optical vortex retarder micro-array
US20100263244A1 (en) * 2009-04-16 2010-10-21 Nelson Tabirian Labels and taggants with programmable multi color coded timing
US20110188120A1 (en) * 2010-01-29 2011-08-04 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurement Co. Broadband optics for manipulating light beams and images

Family Cites Families (98)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2435616A (en) 1944-07-07 1948-02-10 Eastman Kodak Co Elimination coupling with azosubstituted couplers
US3721486A (en) 1970-01-13 1973-03-20 A Bramley Light scanning by interference grating and method
US4160598A (en) 1977-08-24 1979-07-10 Rca Corporation Apparatus for the determination of focused spot size and structure
US4301023A (en) 1980-06-23 1981-11-17 American Thermometer Co., Inc. Cholesteric compositions
GB2209751A (en) 1987-09-14 1989-05-24 Plessey Co Plc Water-soluble photochromic compounds
US4981342A (en) 1987-09-24 1991-01-01 Allergan Inc. Multifocal birefringent lens system
JP2612914B2 (en) 1988-10-19 1997-05-21 オリンパス光学工業株式会社 Optical system with multiple liquid crystal elements
US4956141A (en) 1989-04-07 1990-09-11 Libbey-Owens-Ford Co. Molding process utilizing a mold release membrane
US5100231A (en) 1989-04-27 1992-03-31 Coherent, Inc. Apparatus for measuring the mode quality of a laser beam
US4983332A (en) 1989-08-21 1991-01-08 Bausch & Lomb Incorporated Method for manufacturing hydrophilic contact lenses
US5042950A (en) 1990-05-22 1991-08-27 The United States Of America As Represented By The United States Department Of Energy Apparatus and method for laser beam diagnosis
US5218610A (en) 1992-05-08 1993-06-08 Amoco Corporation Tunable solid state laser
US5325218A (en) 1992-12-31 1994-06-28 Minnesota Mining And Manufacturing Company Cholesteric polarizer for liquid crystal display and overhead projector
US5895422A (en) 1993-06-17 1999-04-20 Hauber; Frederick A. Mixed optics intraocular achromatic lens
US5446596A (en) 1993-07-01 1995-08-29 Mostrorocco; Stephen Ophthalmic lens holder
EP0753785B1 (en) 1995-07-11 2016-05-11 Rolic AG Transfer of polarisation patterns to polarisation sensitive photolayers
DE19535392A1 (en) 1995-09-23 1997-03-27 Zeiss Carl Fa Radial polarization-rotating optical arrangement and microlithography projection exposure system with it
US6219185B1 (en) 1997-04-18 2001-04-17 The United States Of America As Represented By The United States Department Of Energy Large aperture diffractive space telescope
US6184961B1 (en) 1997-07-07 2001-02-06 Lg Electronics Inc. In-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device having opposite alignment directions for two adjacent domains
US20010018612A1 (en) 1997-08-07 2001-08-30 Carson Daniel R. Intracorneal lens
US5989758A (en) 1997-09-30 1999-11-23 Nippon Oil Company, Limited Liquid crystalline polyesters, their composition, and their uses
US6139147A (en) 1998-11-20 2000-10-31 Novartis Ag Actively controllable multifocal lens
US6107617A (en) 1998-06-05 2000-08-22 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force Liquid crystal active optics correction for large space based optical systems
US6320663B1 (en) 1999-01-22 2001-11-20 Cymer, Inc. Method and device for spectral measurements of laser beam
GB2345978A (en) 1999-01-23 2000-07-26 Sharp Kk Diffractive spatial light modulator
JP2001142033A (en) 1999-11-11 2001-05-25 Yoshikazu Ichiyama Translucent body having reflected latent image and fashion glasses using the same
US7324286B1 (en) 2000-01-04 2008-01-29 University Of Central Florida Research Foundation Optical beam steering and switching by optically controlled liquid crystal spatial light modulator with angular magnification by high efficiency PTR Bragg gratings
US6452145B1 (en) 2000-01-27 2002-09-17 Aoptix Technologies, Inc. Method and apparatus for wavefront sensing
JP2001242315A (en) 2000-02-29 2001-09-07 Fuji Photo Film Co Ltd Cholesteric liquid crystal color filter, its manufacturing method and display device utilizing the same
US6551531B1 (en) 2000-03-22 2003-04-22 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Molds for making ophthalmic devices
US6646799B1 (en) 2000-08-30 2003-11-11 Science Applications International Corporation System and method for combining multiple energy bands to improve scene viewing
US20030021526A1 (en) 2000-12-05 2003-01-30 Oleg Bouevitch Dynamic dispersion compensator
GB2374081B (en) 2001-04-06 2004-06-09 Central Research Lab Ltd A method of forming a liquid crystal polymer layer
US20030072896A1 (en) 2001-06-07 2003-04-17 The Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology Photo-induced alignment materials and method for LCD fabrication
WO2003019247A1 (en) 2001-08-24 2003-03-06 Asahi Glass Company, Limited Multi-layer diffraction type polarizer and liquid crystal element
KR100961028B1 (en) 2001-11-01 2010-06-01 이데미쓰 유니테크 가부시키가이샤 Atmosphere improving tape for package, package with atmosphere improving tape and method of manufacturing the package, package container with atmosphere improving tape, engaging device, and package with engaging device
KR100577792B1 (en) 2001-12-22 2006-05-10 비오이 하이디스 테크놀로지 주식회사 Rubbing machine of LCD having religning function and method for rubbing using the same
JP3969637B2 (en) 2002-02-13 2007-09-05 日東電工株式会社 Method for producing liquid crystal alignment film, liquid crystal alignment film, optical film and image display device
JP3873869B2 (en) 2002-02-26 2007-01-31 ソニー株式会社 Liquid crystal display device and manufacturing method thereof
US6792028B2 (en) 2002-03-22 2004-09-14 Raytheon Company Method and laser beam directing system with rotatable diffraction gratings
JP4367684B2 (en) 2002-05-15 2009-11-18 シチズンホールディングス株式会社 Dynamic gain equalizer
JP2004133152A (en) 2002-10-10 2004-04-30 Nippon Oil Corp Transferable liquid crystal laminate
CN1256617C (en) 2002-12-05 2006-05-17 联华电子股份有限公司 Apparatus and method for rubbing LCD substrate
JP2004226752A (en) 2003-01-23 2004-08-12 Nippon Oil Corp Method for manufacturing optical layered body, and elliptically polarizing plate, circularly polarizing plate and liquid crystal display comprising the layered body
US6728049B1 (en) 2003-03-31 2004-04-27 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Universal optical filter holder
IL155330A (en) 2003-04-09 2011-11-30 Technion Res & Dev Foundation System and method for producing a light beam with spatially varying polarization
US7095772B1 (en) 2003-05-22 2006-08-22 Research Foundation Of The University Of Central Florida, Inc. Extreme chirped/stretched pulsed amplification and laser
US7035025B2 (en) 2003-05-28 2006-04-25 Agilent Technologies, Inc. Compact precision beam manipulators
US7094304B2 (en) 2003-10-31 2006-08-22 Agilent Technologies, Inc. Method for selective area stamping of optical elements on a substrate
US7196758B2 (en) 2003-12-30 2007-03-27 3M Innovative Properties Company Method of alignment of liquid crystals comprising exposing an alignment material to an interference pattern
US20050271325A1 (en) 2004-01-22 2005-12-08 Anderson Michael H Liquid crystal waveguide having refractive shapes for dynamically controlling light
US7304719B2 (en) 2004-03-31 2007-12-04 Asml Holding N.V. Patterned grid element polarizer
US7156516B2 (en) 2004-08-20 2007-01-02 Apollo Optical Systems Llc Diffractive lenses for vision correction
JP2006318515A (en) * 2004-09-10 2006-11-24 Ricoh Co Ltd Hologram element, production method thereof and optical header
US20060109532A1 (en) * 2004-11-19 2006-05-25 Savas Timothy A System and method for forming well-defined periodic patterns using achromatic interference lithography
US7424185B2 (en) 2005-01-24 2008-09-09 University Of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc. Stretching and compression of laser pulses by means of high efficiency volume diffractive gratings with variable periods in photo-thermo-refractive glass
JP4553769B2 (en) 2005-03-29 2010-09-29 大日本印刷株式会社 Optical element manufacturing method
US20070115551A1 (en) 2005-04-01 2007-05-24 Alexis Spilman Space-variant waveplate for polarization conversion, methods and applications
US7495369B2 (en) 2005-05-26 2009-02-24 Araz Yacoubian Broadband imager
JP2009503622A (en) 2005-08-05 2009-01-29 ヴィジオジェン・インコーポレーテッド Adjusted diffractive intraocular lens
KR20070063237A (en) 2005-12-14 2007-06-19 비오이 하이디스 테크놀로지 주식회사 Apparatus for rubbing alignment layer
KR100939611B1 (en) 2005-12-29 2010-02-01 엘지디스플레이 주식회사 System and apparatus for rubbing an alignment layer and method of fabricating a liquid crystal display device using thereof
US7783144B2 (en) 2006-04-24 2010-08-24 The Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology Electrically tunable microresonators using photoaligned liquid crystals
US7450213B2 (en) 2006-06-29 2008-11-11 Lg Display Co., Ltd. Methods of manufacturing liquid crystal display devices
US8360963B2 (en) 2006-12-22 2013-01-29 Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. Imaging system with two imaging modalities
ATE524754T1 (en) 2007-03-12 2011-09-15 Jds Uniphase Corp PRODUCTION METHOD FOR A SPACIALLY VARIABLE LIQUID CRYSTAL DELAY PLATE
EP2388625B1 (en) 2007-04-16 2013-01-09 North Carolina State University Low-twist chiral liquid crystal polarization gratings and related fabrication methods
KR101383717B1 (en) 2007-06-27 2014-04-10 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 Display device and method of manufacturing the same
US8643822B2 (en) 2007-07-03 2014-02-04 Jds Uniphase Corporation Non-etched flat polarization-selective diffractive optical elements
US8531646B2 (en) 2007-09-11 2013-09-10 Kent State University Tunable liquid crystal devices, devices using same, and methods of making and using same
US8077388B2 (en) 2007-09-13 2011-12-13 University Of Utah Research Foundation Light polarization converter for converting linearly polarized light into radially polarized light and related methods
KR101374110B1 (en) 2007-11-08 2014-03-13 엘지디스플레이 주식회사 Method of Rubbing and Method of Fabricating for Liquid Crystal Display Device Using the same, and Liquid Crystal Display Device Manufactured by therby
US20090122402A1 (en) 2007-11-14 2009-05-14 Jds Uniphase Corporation Achromatic Converter Of A Spatial Distribution Of Polarization Of Light
US8523354B2 (en) 2008-04-11 2013-09-03 Pixeloptics Inc. Electro-active diffractive lens and method for making the same
ATE478357T1 (en) 2008-04-15 2010-09-15 Jds Uniphase Corp WAVELENGTH PLATE BASED DEVICE AND METHOD FOR REDUCING SPECKLES IN LASER ILLUMINATION SYSTEMS
US20100003605A1 (en) * 2008-07-07 2010-01-07 International Business Machines Corporation system and method for projection lithography with immersed image-aligned diffractive element
US8982313B2 (en) 2009-07-31 2015-03-17 North Carolina State University Beam steering devices including stacked liquid crystal polarization gratings and related methods of operation
EP2476349A4 (en) 2009-09-08 2013-06-26 Imaginacion Creativa S L U Display cabinet with photographic and video camera disabling system
US8300294B2 (en) 2009-09-18 2012-10-30 Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. Planar gradient index optical metamaterials
JP2011090278A (en) 2009-09-25 2011-05-06 Hitachi Displays Ltd Liquid crystal display
US20110097557A1 (en) 2009-10-26 2011-04-28 Merck Patent Gesellschaft Mit Beschrankter Haftung Alignment layer for planar alignment of a polymerizable liquid crystalline or mesogenic material
US8623083B2 (en) 2009-11-06 2014-01-07 Amo Groningen B.V. Diffractive binocular lens systems and methods
US9475901B2 (en) 2009-12-08 2016-10-25 Transitions Optical, Inc. Photoalignment materials having improved adhesion
US10120112B2 (en) 2010-01-29 2018-11-06 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Diffractive waveplate lenses for correcting aberrations and polarization-independent functionality
US9557456B2 (en) 2010-01-29 2017-01-31 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Broadband optics for manipulating light beams and images
US8828176B2 (en) 2010-03-29 2014-09-09 Ravenbrick Llc Polymer stabilized thermotropic liquid crystal device
US9983479B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2018-05-29 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US20110262844A1 (en) * 2010-04-21 2011-10-27 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurement Co. Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US20120140167A1 (en) 2010-11-01 2012-06-07 Pixeloptics, Inc. Dynamic Changeable Focus Contact And Intraocular Lens
KR101874424B1 (en) 2011-09-05 2018-07-06 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 Alignment layer for display device, liquid crystal display device including the same and method and apparatus for treating the same
US8911080B2 (en) 2012-08-27 2014-12-16 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Usage compliance indicator for contact lenses
US9658512B2 (en) 2013-01-28 2017-05-23 Beam Engineering for Advanced Materials Co. Cycloidal diffractive waveplate and method of manufacture
US10107945B2 (en) 2013-03-01 2018-10-23 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Vector vortex waveplates
US20140252666A1 (en) 2013-03-11 2014-09-11 U.S. Government As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Method of fabricating a liquid crystal polymer film
US9140444B2 (en) 2013-08-15 2015-09-22 Medibotics, LLC Wearable device for disrupting unwelcome photography
US9592116B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-03-14 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9541772B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-01-10 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9976911B1 (en) 2015-06-30 2018-05-22 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Full characterization wavefront sensor

Patent Citations (22)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3758186A (en) * 1966-11-30 1973-09-11 Battelle Development Corp Method of copying holograms
US3897136A (en) * 1973-03-09 1975-07-29 Xerox Corp Polarization-grating moire
US5032009A (en) * 1989-03-08 1991-07-16 Hercules Incorporated Process of aligning and realigning liquid crystal media
US5838407A (en) * 1991-07-26 1998-11-17 Rolic Ag Liquid crystal display cells
US5621525A (en) * 1995-02-06 1997-04-15 University Of Central Florida Apparatus and method for measuring the power density of a laser beam with a liquid crystal
US5903330A (en) * 1995-10-31 1999-05-11 Rolic Ag Optical component with plural orientation layers on the same substrate wherein the surfaces of the orientation layers have different patterns and direction
US20010002895A1 (en) * 1997-04-11 2001-06-07 Katsunori Kawano Optical storage medium, optical storage method, optical storage apparatus, optical reading method, optical reading apparatus, optical retrieving method and optical retrieving apparatus
US6939587B1 (en) * 1999-09-03 2005-09-06 Kent State University Fabrication of aligned crystal cell/film by simultaneous alignment and phase separation
US6512085B1 (en) * 2000-01-20 2003-01-28 Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Method and apparatus for providing optical anisotropy to polymeric film and optical anisotropic medium
US6526077B1 (en) * 2000-05-25 2003-02-25 Nelson Tabirian Line-scan laser beam profiler
US20020163873A1 (en) * 2001-03-22 2002-11-07 Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. Optical recording medium, holographic recording and/or retrieval method and holographic recording and/or retrieval apparatus
US6678042B2 (en) * 2002-05-01 2004-01-13 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Laser beam multimeter
US20080278675A1 (en) * 2005-03-01 2008-11-13 Dutch Polymer Institute Polarization Gratings in Mesogenic Films
US7692759B2 (en) * 2005-03-01 2010-04-06 Stichting Dutch Polymer Institute Polarization gratings in mesogenic films
US20070174854A1 (en) * 2005-09-05 2007-07-26 Hardy Jungermann Storage medium for confidential information
US20070247586A1 (en) * 2006-04-22 2007-10-25 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Optical actuation system with deformable polymer film
US20090141216A1 (en) * 2006-04-26 2009-06-04 Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche Liquid crystal geometrical phase optical elements and a system for generating and rapidly switching helical modes of an electromagnetic wave, based on these optical elements
WO2008130559A2 (en) * 2007-04-16 2008-10-30 North Carolina State University Methods of fabricating switchable liquid crystal polarization gratings on reflective substrates and related devices
US20090009668A1 (en) * 2007-07-03 2009-01-08 Jds Uniphase Corporation Non-Etched Flat Polarization-Selective Diffractive Optical Elements
US20100066929A1 (en) * 2008-09-12 2010-03-18 Jds Uniphase Corporation Optical vortex retarder micro-array
US20100263244A1 (en) * 2009-04-16 2010-10-21 Nelson Tabirian Labels and taggants with programmable multi color coded timing
US20110188120A1 (en) * 2010-01-29 2011-08-04 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurement Co. Broadband optics for manipulating light beams and images

Non-Patent Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
Chigrinov, "Liquid crystal applications in photonics", Proc. SPIE, Vol. 7232, 72320P-1 to 72320P-12 (01/2009) *
Escuti et al., "Polarization-independent LC microdisplays using liquid crystal polarization gratings" A viable solution ?" Presentation slide" July 2008 at ILCC'08 (30 pages) *
Honma et al., "Polarization-independent liquid crystal grating fabricated by microrubbing process", Jpn. J Appl. Phys. Vol. 42(11), pt. 1, pp 6992-6997 (2003) *
Naydenova et al., "Diffraction form polarization holographic gratings with surface relief in side chain azobenzene polyesters" J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, Vol. 15, pp 1257(1998) *
Nicolescu et al., "Polarization-independent tunable optical filters based liquid crystal polarization gratings", Proc. SPIE 6654 pp 665405 (2007) *
Oh et al., "Achromatic polarization gratings as highly efficient thin-film polarizing beamsplitters for broadband light Proc. SPIE Vol. 6682 pp 668211-1 to 668211-12 (2007) *
Ono et al., "Effects of phase shift between two photoalignment substrates on diffraction properties in liquid crystalline grating cells", Appl. Opt., Vol. 48(2) pp 309-315 (01/2009) *
Ramanujam et al., "Polarization-sensitive optical elements in azobenzene polyesters and polypeptides", Opt. Lasers Engineering, Vol. 44 pp 912-925 (2006) *
Stadler et al., "Linearly polarized light with axial symmetry generated by liquid-crystal polarization converters",Opt. Lett., Vol. 21(23) pp 1948-1950 (1996) *

Cited By (84)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US8537310B2 (en) 2005-03-01 2013-09-17 North Carolina State University Polarization-independent liquid crystal display devices including multiple polarization grating arrangements and related devices
US8610853B2 (en) 2007-04-16 2013-12-17 North Carolina State University Methods of fabricating optical elements on substrates and related devices
US20100225856A1 (en) * 2007-04-16 2010-09-09 Michael James Escuti Multi-layer achromatic liquid crystal polarization gratings and related fabrication methods
US20100231847A1 (en) * 2007-04-16 2010-09-16 Michael James Escuti Methods of fabricating switchable liquid crystal polarization gratings on reflective substrates and related devices
US8305523B2 (en) 2007-04-16 2012-11-06 North Carolina State University Multi-layer achromatic liquid crystal polarization gratings and related fabrication methods
US8339566B2 (en) 2007-04-16 2012-12-25 North Carolina State University Low-twist chiral liquid crystal polarization gratings and related fabrication methods
US8358400B2 (en) 2007-04-16 2013-01-22 North Carolina State University Methods of fabricating liquid crystal polarization gratings on substrates and related devices
US20100225876A1 (en) * 2007-04-16 2010-09-09 Michael James Escuti Low-twist chiral liquid crystal polarization gratings and related fabrication methods
US8520170B2 (en) 2007-04-16 2013-08-27 North Carolina State University Low-twist chiral optical layers and related fabrication methods
US9298041B2 (en) 2007-04-16 2016-03-29 North Carolina State University Multi-twist retarders for broadband polarization transformation and related fabrication methods
US9195092B2 (en) 2008-10-09 2015-11-24 North Carolina State University Polarization-independent liquid crystal display devices including multiple polarizing grating arrangements and related devices
US8982313B2 (en) 2009-07-31 2015-03-17 North Carolina State University Beam steering devices including stacked liquid crystal polarization gratings and related methods of operation
US10557977B1 (en) 2010-01-29 2020-02-11 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Diffractive waveplate lenses and applications
US11366254B2 (en) 2010-01-29 2022-06-21 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. High-efficiency wide-angle beam steering system
US10274650B2 (en) 2010-01-29 2019-04-30 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Diffractive waveplate lenses and applications
US10036886B2 (en) 2010-01-29 2018-07-31 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Broadband optics for manipulating light beams and images
US10120112B2 (en) 2010-01-29 2018-11-06 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Diffractive waveplate lenses for correcting aberrations and polarization-independent functionality
US11366253B2 (en) 2010-01-29 2022-06-21 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Diffractive waveplate lenses and applications
US11119257B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2021-09-14 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co Methods of diffractive lens and mirror fabrication
US20170045760A1 (en) * 2010-04-21 2017-02-16 Nelson Tabirian Waveplate lenses and methods for their fabrication
US9983479B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2018-05-29 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US10031424B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2018-07-24 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US10802302B2 (en) 2010-04-21 2020-10-13 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Waveplate lenses and methods for their fabrication
US10114239B2 (en) * 2010-04-21 2018-10-30 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Waveplate lenses and methods for their fabrication
US20130236817A1 (en) * 2010-04-21 2013-09-12 U.S. Government As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US9690116B2 (en) 2011-12-23 2017-06-27 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Variable optic ophthalmic device including liquid crystal elements
US9235097B2 (en) * 2012-02-03 2016-01-12 Micron Technology, Inc. Active alignment of optical fiber to chip using liquid crystals
US20130202246A1 (en) * 2012-02-03 2013-08-08 Roy Meade Active alignment of optical fiber to chip using liquid crystals
US20150109597A1 (en) * 2012-05-30 2015-04-23 Rolic Ag Fast generation of elements with individually patterned anisotropy
US9869935B2 (en) * 2012-05-30 2018-01-16 Rolic Ag Fast generation of elements with individually patterned anisotropy
US10386653B2 (en) 2012-12-21 2019-08-20 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Variable optic ophthalmic device including liquid crystal elements
US20180259769A1 (en) * 2013-02-07 2018-09-13 National Chiao Tung University Display system
US10409056B2 (en) * 2013-02-07 2019-09-10 Liqxtal Technology Inc. Display system
US20150219893A1 (en) * 2013-02-07 2015-08-06 Liqxtal Technology Inc. Optical system and its display system
US10107945B2 (en) * 2013-03-01 2018-10-23 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Vector vortex waveplates
US10185182B2 (en) * 2013-03-03 2019-01-22 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Mechanical rubbing method for fabricating cycloidal diffractive waveplates
US9617205B2 (en) 2013-03-11 2017-04-11 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Method of fabricating a liquid crystal polymer film
WO2014164599A1 (en) * 2013-03-11 2014-10-09 U.S. Government As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Method of fabricating liquid crystal polymer film
US10197715B1 (en) * 2013-03-15 2019-02-05 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Methods of diffractive lens and mirror fabrication
US9304328B2 (en) 2013-07-25 2016-04-05 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Contact lenses with embedded labels
EP3139201A1 (en) * 2013-07-25 2017-03-08 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care Inc. Contact lenses with embedded labels
CN104345475A (en) * 2013-07-25 2015-02-11 庄臣及庄臣视力保护公司 Contact lenses with embedded labels
EP2848965A3 (en) * 2013-07-25 2015-05-20 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Contact lenses with embedded labels
US9195072B2 (en) 2013-07-25 2015-11-24 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Contact lenses with embedded labels
US9500882B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2016-11-22 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Variable optic ophthalmic device including shaped liquid crystal elements with nano-scaled droplets of liquid crystal
US9442309B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2016-09-13 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices comprising dielectrics and nano-scaled droplets of liquid crystal
US9869885B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2018-01-16 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including gradient-indexed liquid crystal layers and shaped dielectric layers
US9880398B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2018-01-30 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including gradient-indexed and shaped liquid crystal layers
JP2019074746A (en) * 2013-09-17 2019-05-16 ジョンソン・アンド・ジョンソン・ビジョン・ケア・インコーポレイテッド Method and device for ophthalmic device including liquid crystal layer with cycloidal alignment
US9958704B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2018-05-01 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9823490B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-11-21 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9817244B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-11-14 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9784993B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-10-10 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9823491B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-11-21 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9335562B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2016-05-10 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices comprising dielectrics and liquid crystal polymer networks
US9817245B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-11-14 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9592116B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-03-14 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9823492B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-11-21 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9835876B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-12-05 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9541772B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2017-01-10 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Methods and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including cycloidally oriented liquid crystal layers
US9366881B2 (en) 2013-09-17 2016-06-14 Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. Method and apparatus for ophthalmic devices including shaped liquid crystal polymer networked regions of liquid crystal
US10142602B2 (en) * 2014-03-12 2018-11-27 The Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology Fabrication method of a polarizing grating
US20170264869A1 (en) * 2014-03-12 2017-09-14 The Hong Kong University Of Science And Technology Fabrication method of a polarization grating
CN107918241A (en) * 2014-03-12 2018-04-17 香港科技大学 The manufacture method of polarization grating
US9753193B2 (en) 2014-04-16 2017-09-05 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Methods and apparatus for human vision correction using diffractive waveplate lenses
US10191191B2 (en) 2014-04-16 2019-01-29 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Diffractive waveplate lenses and applications
US9310601B1 (en) 2014-08-13 2016-04-12 Lockheed Martin Corporation System and method for converting between Keplerian and Galilean telescope magnification
US9778475B2 (en) * 2014-11-06 2017-10-03 The United States of America as represesnted by the Secretary of the Air Forice Universal polarization converter
US20160131920A1 (en) * 2014-11-06 2016-05-12 Government Of The United States, As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force Universal Polarization Converter
US9835869B2 (en) 2014-11-06 2017-12-05 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Air Force Universal polarization converter
US10191296B1 (en) 2015-06-30 2019-01-29 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Laser pointer with reduced risk of eye injury
US9976911B1 (en) 2015-06-30 2018-05-22 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Full characterization wavefront sensor
US10436957B2 (en) 2015-10-27 2019-10-08 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Broadband imaging with diffractive waveplate coated mirrors and diffractive waveplate objective lens
US10423045B2 (en) 2016-11-14 2019-09-24 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Electro-optical diffractive waveplate beam shaping system
US10274805B2 (en) 2017-06-13 2019-04-30 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Polarization-independent switchable lens system
US11175441B1 (en) 2018-03-05 2021-11-16 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Polarization-independent diffractive optical structures
US20210033765A1 (en) * 2018-04-20 2021-02-04 Fujifilm Corporation Light irradiation device and sensor
JP7054415B2 (en) 2018-07-27 2022-04-13 富士フイルム株式会社 Optical element, method of forming optical alignment pattern, and method of manufacturing optical element
JPWO2020022496A1 (en) * 2018-07-27 2021-05-13 富士フイルム株式会社 Optical element, method of forming optical orientation pattern, and method of manufacturing optical element
WO2020022496A1 (en) * 2018-07-27 2020-01-30 富士フイルム株式会社 Optical element, method for forming photo-alignment pattern, and method for manufacturing optical element
US11454752B2 (en) 2018-07-27 2022-09-27 Fujifilm Corporation Optical element, method for forming photo-alignment pattern, and method for manufacturing optical element
JP7297970B2 (en) 2018-07-27 2023-06-26 富士フイルム株式会社 Optical element, method for forming optical alignment pattern, and method for manufacturing optical element
US11294240B2 (en) 2019-08-10 2022-04-05 Beam Engineering For Advanced Measurements Co. Diffractive waveplate devices that operate over a wide temperature range
CN114415427A (en) * 2022-02-25 2022-04-29 电子科技大学 Liquid crystal polarization grating preparation light path and preparation method

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
US20160026092A1 (en) 2016-01-28
US10031424B2 (en) 2018-07-24
US20130236817A1 (en) 2013-09-12

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
US10031424B2 (en) Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US9983479B2 (en) Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays
US8373810B2 (en) Optical vortex retarder micro-array
Li et al. Single-exposure fabrication of tunable Pancharatnam-Berry devices using a dye-doped liquid crystal
US8264623B2 (en) Liquid crystal geometrical phase optical elements and a system for generating and rapidly switching helical modes of an electromagnetic wave, based on these optical elements
JP6301937B2 (en) Direct writing lithography for the production of geometric phase holograms
JP5651753B2 (en) Method and related apparatus for making a liquid crystal polarizing grating on a substrate
Yin et al. Patterning liquid-crystal alignment for ultrathin flat optics
US10114239B2 (en) Waveplate lenses and methods for their fabrication
US11003028B2 (en) Photo-alignment apparatus that realizes desirable distribution through single exposure and method of manufacturing an optical element
US10185182B2 (en) Mechanical rubbing method for fabricating cycloidal diffractive waveplates
Sakhno et al. Fabrication and performance of efficient thin circular polarization gratings with Bragg properties using bulk photo-alignment of a liquid crystalline polymer
Shi et al. Photoalignment-induced two-dimensional liquid crystal polarization structure via multi-beam polarization interferometry
JP2006201388A (en) Optical diffraction liquid crystal element
CN101995598A (en) Liquid crystal layers having a spatially-varying tilt angle
Tabiryan et al. Thin waveplate lenses: new generation in optics
Chen et al. Interference-free and single exposure to generate continuous cycloidal alignment for large-area liquid crystal devices
Sasaki et al. Liquid crystal gratings with twisted alignment produced by one-step polarizer-rotation exposure on photocrosslinkable polymer liquid crystal films
Li et al. Controlling orbital angular momentum using forked polarization gratings
Lepera et al. Liquid crystal based polarization gratings for spectro-polarimetric applications
Chigrinov et al. Azodyes for liquid crystal photoalignment in displays and diffraction optical elements
Meng et al. Large aperture and defect-free liquid crystal planar optics enabled by high-throughput pulsed polarization patterning
Sasaki et al. Lensless Wavefront Parallel Processing of Vector Beams by Self‐Images of a Self‐Organized Q‐Plates Microarray
Sasaki et al. Polarization axis-selective realignment of a photoreactive liquid crystalline composite with homogeneous alignment
Nersisyan et al. Vector vortex waveplates with tunable spectrum and switchable topological charge

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION