| Class / Patent application number | Description | Number of patent applications / Date published |
|---|
| 359315000 | Electro-optic | 70 |
| 20090195861 | LIGHT CONTROL OF AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE - The invention is directed towards an electronic device including at least one electro active polymer element. The at least one electro active polymer element includes an electrode. The at least one electro active polymer element is configured to change volume when a voltage is applied to the electrode, where the change in volume results in a change in a luminous transmittance of the electro active polymer element. | 08-06-2009 |
| 20120206791 | Beam Steering Device - A beam steering device ( | 08-16-2012 |
| 20090015904 | Optical deflector - An optical deflector made of an electro-optic material has one or more pairs of electrodes on opposite surfaces. Each pair of electrodes defines an interaction region in which an electric field applied from the electrodes produces a linear refractive-index gradient in the direction of the electric field. An incident light beam is refracted in this direction within the interaction region. The interaction region is shaped so that the light beam is also refracted in an orthogonal direction when it enters or leaves the interaction region. The light beam is thereby deflected three-dimensionally. | 01-15-2009 |
| 20090244692 | VARIABLE FOCUS LENS TO ISOLATE OR TRAP SMALL PARTICULATE MATTER - Beam manipulation member for use in an optical tweezers system, the beam manipulation member comprising at least one optical element, being controllably deformable in order to act on a laser beam in response to signals coming from the optical tweezers system. The beam manipulation member may be used to change the focal distance of the optical tweezers system and also to deflect the laser beam. | 10-01-2009 |
| 20090052010 | Apparatus for providing multiple independently controllable beams from a single laser output beam and delivering the multiple beams via optical fibers - An output beam from a laser is directed into an acousto-optic cell. The acousto-optic cell is driven by RF voltages at four different frequencies. A portion of the laser output beam is diffracted by the acousto-optic cell at four different angles to the laser output beam. This provides four secondary beams. The magnitude of the RF voltages applied to the acousto-optic cell and the power in the laser output beam may be cooperatively varied to provide a predetermined power in each of the secondary beams. The four secondary beams are directed into four beam separating optical fibers connected to four transport optical fibers for transporting the secondary beams to a location remote from the laser. Power in the beams is monitored at the output ends of the four optical fibers for controlling the magnitude of the RF voltages. All four beams are focused into the beam-separating fibers by a single lens. | 02-26-2009 |
| 20090201571 | INTEGRATED FRONT LIGHT DIFFUSER FOR REFLECTIVE DISPLAYS - A reflective electronic display includes a front light assembly with a diffuser for enlarging the viewing cone of the display. The front light may include a substrate, a plurality of optical turning features, and a diffuser formed therebetween. The haze of the diffuser may be spatially non-uniform and switchable between two or more levels. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090284827 | OPTICAL ELEMENT - An optical element ( | 11-19-2009 |
| 20090290210 | DISPLAY USING LIGHT GUIDE AND REFRACTIVE INDEX CONTROL - Some embodiments provide a device including a first material associated with a controllable refractive index, a second material associated with a first refractive index, and a third material disposed between the first material and the second material, the third material being substantially transparent to a plurality of visible light wavelengths and being associated with a second refractive index greater than the first refractive index. Devices according to some embodiments may be employed as a display in a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant, a minicomputer, a projection television, a front projector, etc. | 11-26-2009 |
| 20100060975 | SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF A PHOTOREFRACTIVE DEVICE - A photorefractive device ( | 03-11-2010 |
| 20080239463 | Optical Scanning Device - An optical scanning device provides a radiation source | 10-02-2008 |
| 20110267680 | ELECTROACTIVE OPTICAL DEVICE - An optical device includes a soft polymer film having a first and second surface. A first compliant electrode is connected to the first surface and a second compliant electrode is connected to the second surface. A rigid optical element is connected on the first and/or second surface or integrated into the polymer film | 11-03-2011 |
| 20080239464 | TRANSMISSIVE ACTIVE GRATING DEVICE - Provided is a transmissive active grating device that transmits light or diffracts light according to an applied voltage. The transmissive active grating device includes: an electro optical material layer which transmits light; a first electrode formed on a bottom surface of the electro optical material layer; and an array of a plurality of second electrodes arranged on a top surface of the electro optical material layer in parallel with each other. | 10-02-2008 |
| 20090073545 | DISPLAY APPARATUS USING MONITORING LIGHT SOURCE - A display apparatus using monitoring light source is disclosed. a display apparatus includes a display light source of emitting a display beam, a monitoring light source of emitting a monitoring beam, an optical modulator of modulating the display beam and the monitoring beam to output a diffracted display beam and a diffracted monitoring beam, a scanner of scanning the diffracted display beam onto a display screen, an optical detector of receiving the diffracted monitoring beam and producing a detection signal corresponding to a quantity of light of the diffracted monitoring beam, and a controller of producing a control signal for controlling the optical signal according to an image signal, deciding a compensation value on receiving the detection signal, and producing a control signal to where that the compensation value is applied when modulating the display beam. Variation in displacement of each micro-mirror can be compensated by using a monitoring light source. | 03-19-2009 |
| 20110211249 | Optical device and method of making - An optical device and method is disclosed for forming the optical device within the wide-bandgap semiconductor substrate. The optical device is formed by directing a thermal energy beam onto a selected portion of the wide-bandgap semiconductor substrate for changing an optical property of the selected portion to form the optical device in the wide-bandgap semiconductor substrate. The thermal energy beam defines the optical and physical properties of the optical device. The optical device may take the form of an electro-optical device with the addition of electrodes located on the wide-bandgap semiconductor substrate in proximity to the optical device for changing the optical property of the optical device upon a change of a voltage applied to the optional electrodes. The invention is also incorporated into a method of using the optical device for remotely sensing temperature, pressure and/or chemical composition. | 09-01-2011 |
| 20110085229 | Methods and Apparatus for Controlling Dispersions of Nanoparticles - Electrically reconfigurable metamaterial with spatially varied refractive index is proposed for applications such as optical cloaks and lenses. The apparatus and method comprises a metamaterial in which the refractive indices are modified in space and time by applying one or more electric fields. The metamaterials are electrically controllable and reconfigurable, and consist of metal (gold, silver, etc.) particles of different shapes, such as rods, with dimension much smaller than the wavelength of light, dispersed in a dielectric medium, for example, fluids such as water, toluene, oil, glycerine, thermotropic liquid crystal, lyotropic liquid crystal, polymer, elastomer, and other suitable materials placed in a non-uniform electric field. The metamaterial is controlled by applying a non-uniform electric field that causes two effects: (1) It aligns the metallic anisometric particles with respect to the direction of the applied electric field and (2) It redistributes particles in space, making their local concentration position dependent. Both effects modify the local value of the dielectric permittivity of the composite meta-material, thus modifying its effective optical refractive index (or indices, as the material is often birefringent). | 04-14-2011 |
| 20100226000 | OPTICAL PROPERTY ALTERING APPARATUS - An optical property altering apparatus includes an optical property altering element formed by inductors that are smaller than a wavelength of visible light, mutually connected by connecting lines, and arranged in a single plane; a photoconductor that is excited by incident light and generates alternating current of a frequency identical to that of the incident light; and an amplifying circuit that amplifies the alternating current generated by the photoconductor and supplies the amplified alternating current to the optical property altering element, where the optical property altering element, through supply of the alternating current from the amplifying circuit, arbitrarily alters a refractive index of the incident light. | 09-09-2010 |
| 20100165450 | ILLUMINATION DEVICE, DISPLAY DEVICE, AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING LIGHT MODULATOR - An illumination device is provided and has a light guide plate, a light source and a light modulator, wherein the light modulator has a pair of transparent substrates a pair of electrodes and a light modulator layer. The light modulator layer includes a first region being changed between a transparent state and a scatterable state depending on intensity of an electric field, and a second region being more transparent than the first region in a scatterable state at an electric field having a certain intensity, the electric field being applied when the first region is changed between the transparent state and the scatterable state, and an occupancy rate of the first region in the light modulator layer is increased with increase in distance from the light source. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20090135472 | METHOD OF MANUFACTURING OSCILLATOR DEVICE, AND OPTICAL DEFLECTOR AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENT HAVING OSCILLATOR DEVICE - A method of manufacturing an oscillator based on etching a monocrystal silicon substrate, the method including a mask forming step for forming, on the monocrystal silicon substrate, an etching mask having a pattern with a repetition shape comprised of a plurality of mutually coupled oscillators each including a torsion spring between a supporting base plate and a movable member, an etching step for etching the monocrystal silicon substrate while using the etching mask as a mask, to form on the monocrystal silicon substrate a repetition shape comprised of a plurality of corresponding mutually coupled oscillators, and a dicing step for determining a width of the movable member and the supporting base plate of each of the oscillators in the repetition shape, which width is effective to determine a resonance frequency of the individual oscillators required when these are used as oscillators, and for cutting by dicing the movable member and the supporting base plate between adjoining oscillators, at the determined width. | 05-28-2009 |
| 20120281273 | DISPLAY AND ILLUMINATION UNIT - A light modulation layer disposed between a first transparent substrate and a second transparent substrate generates a plurality of first strip-like illumination light beams extending in a direction intersecting with a first end surface of the first or second transparent substrate at a first angle with use of light from a light source, when an electric field for a first mode is applied from an electrode to the light modulation layer. The light modulation layer generates a plurality of second strip-like illumination light beams extending in a direction intersecting with the first end surface at an angle different from the first angle or a direction parallel to the first end surface with use of light from the light source, when an electric field for a second mode is applied from the electrode to the light modulation layer. | 11-08-2012 |
| 20080225377 | Bi-Directional Optoelectric Conversion - An apparatus and to a method of optoelectrical conversion, comprising the steps of: providing a first electrical signal to an electrical directional element, using the electrical directional element to direct the first electrical signal to an optoelectric converter, using the optoelectric converter for converting the first electrical signal into an optical signal and providing the optical signal to a DUT, using the optoelectric converter for receiving and converting a reflected optical signal reflected by the DUT back into a second electrical signal, and using the electrical directional element to direct the second electrical signal to a receiver. | 09-18-2008 |
| 359316000 | Plural modulation cells | 15 |
| 20130077154 | Autostereoscopic display - An autostereoscopic display is provided comprising a Spatial Light Modulator (SLM), an illuminator, and first and second light redirecting grids. The light directing grids comprise vertical bar-shaped electrically switchable diffractive elements. The light redirecting grids direct light from the illuminator through the SLM towards left and right eye positions. | 03-28-2013 |
| 20100157413 | METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING A DECORATIVE SURFACE - A decorative housing ( | 06-24-2010 |
| 20130038922 | OPTICAL ELEMENT, OPTICAL ELEMENT ARRAY, DISPLAY DEVICE, AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS - Disclosed is an optical element including a first electrode and a second electrode disposed to face each other; an insulating film covering a surface of the first electrode facing the second electrode, the insulating film including a dielectric layer, an ion barrier layer, and a water repellent layer laminated in order; and a polar liquid and a non-polar liquid enclosed between the insulating film and the second electrode and having refractive indices different from each other. The dielectric layer has a larger permittivity than that of the ion barrier layer, the ion barrier layer suppresses permeation of an ion contained in the polar liquid, and the water repellent layer is located in an uppermost layer of the insulating film and exhibits an affinity for the non-polar liquid. | 02-14-2013 |
| 20130135709 | ACTIVE OPTICAL DEVICE AND DISPLAY APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAME - An active optical device and a display apparatus including the same are provided. The active optical device includes: first to third electrodes that are sequentially disposed spaced apart from one another; a first refractive index change layer disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode and in which a refractive index is changed by an electric field; and a second refractive index change layer disposed between the second electrode and the third electrode and in which a refractive index is changed by an electric field. | 05-30-2013 |
| 20120182600 | ELECTROOPTIC DEVICE - An electrooptic device having a simple structure that can efficiently increase deflection of a beam is provided. The device includes: an electrooptic crystal ( | 07-19-2012 |
| 20130050807 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL DISPLAY DEVICE - A 3D image display device with high resolution is disclosed. The device may deflect left and right eye images to a left and right eye of a viewer, respectively. As such, the viewer may see 3D images. The 3D image display device includes a plurality of electrically switchable light modulating cells containing two incompatible light modulating mediums. When a voltage is applied to electrodes of the electrically switchable light modulating cell, the interface between the incompatible light modulating mediums non-horizontally deforms corresponding to the electrowetting or electrostatic concept. The geometrical shape, size, and material of partition walls in the electrically switchable light modulating cells may reduce or eliminate misplacement of incompatible light modulating mediums while voltages are applied thereto. In addition, the method of manufacturing the 3D image display device is also disclosed. | 02-28-2013 |
| 20110141551 | ILLUMINATION DEVICE AND DISPLAY DEVICE - An illumination device is provided and includes: a light guide member; a light source provided on one or more side faces of the light guide member; and a light modulating element including a pair of transparent substrates disposed to oppose each other with a gap therebetween, a first electrode provided on a surface of one of the transparent substrates, a second electrode provided on a surface of the other of the transparent substrates, and a light modulation layer provided in the gap and expressing a scattering property or a transparency to light from the light source in accordance with a magnitude of an electric field. The first electrode, the second electrode, or both thereof is patterned, and a density of pattern of the first electrode, the second electrode, or both thereof to which the patterning is applied is varied depending on a distance from the light source. | 06-16-2011 |
| 20090201572 | METAMATERIAL GRADIENT INDEX LENS - Examples of the present invention include a gradient index element formed from a material such as a metamaterial, the material having an index profile and an index gradient profile, where the index profile includes at least one discontinuity and the index gradient profile is substantially continuous. | 08-13-2009 |
| 20090128890 | Spatial light modulator and mirror array device - The present invention provides a spatial light modulator, comprising: a pixel array comprises a plurality of pixel units. Each of the pixel units comprises a memory cell. A plurality of word lines and a plurality of plate lines to electrically communicate with the pixel units. A plurality of bit line sets wherein each of the sets includes a pair of bit lines each connected to a memory cell, wherein at least one pair of the memory cells connected to the pair of bit lines are on a same row connected to a same word line. | 05-21-2009 |
| 20100253996 | ELECTROOPTIC DEVICE - An electrooptic device having a simple structure that can efficiently increase deflection of a beam is provided. The device includes: an electrooptic crystal ( | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100165451 | OPTICAL DEFLECTOR AND OPTICAL DEFLECTING BOARD - An optical deflector includes a substrate, an electrode layer on the substrate, an insulating layer at a predetermined peripheral region on the electrode layer, exposing the central region of the electrode layer. First electrode sandwiched wall is on the insulating layer. Second electrode sandwiched wall is on the insulating layer corresponding to the first electrode sandwiched wall. A pair of insulating walls is between the first electrode sandwiched wall and the second electrode sandwiched wall in enclosing to form an inner space. An outer wall encloses the pair of insulating layers, the first and the second electrode sandwiched walls at outside. A cap layer covers on the outer wall. A first liquid is filled into the inner space in contact with the electrode layer. A second liquid is filled into the inner spacer without solving to each other and forms a liquid interface. | 07-01-2010 |
| 20100039698 | Autostereoscopic display system with efficient pixel layout - The present disclosure is directed to autostereoscopic display systems operable to provide increased number of views and related methods. One embodiment of the display systems comprises a light-modulating display panel comprising a first set of colored subpixels and a second set of colored subpixels, and the number of subpixels in the first set of colored subpixels is greater than the number of subpixels in the second set of colored subpixels. The display system further comprises a lenticular sheet disposed in light paths of the colored subpixels of the display panel. | 02-18-2010 |
| 20100110532 | ELECTRO-WETTING APPARATUS, VARIFOCAL LENS, OPTICAL PICK-UP APPARATUS, OPTICAL RECORDING/REPRODUCING APPARATUS, DROPLET OPERATING APPARATUS, OPTICAL DEVICE, ZOOM LENS, IMAGING APPARATUS, LIGHT MODULATOR, DISPLAY APPARATUS, STROBE APPARATUS, AND METHOD OF DRIVING ELECTRO-WETTING APPARATUS - An electro-wetting apparatus includes a liquid having conductivity or polarity and a first electrode and a second electrode that apply voltage to the liquid. The electro-wetting apparatus also includes a dielectric layer provided between the liquid and the first electrode. The electro-wetting apparatus further includes a voltage-applying unit that applies a voltage signal between the first electrode and the second electrode, where the voltage signal is periodically changed between a first voltage of zero (0) volt or more and a second voltage of larger than the first voltage. | 05-06-2010 |
| 20100195190 | LENS ARRAY DEVICE AND IMAGE DISPLAY DEVICE - A lens array device and an image display device using the lens array device, which allow a lens effect characteristic different from that of a single variable lens array to be easily obtained, are provided. The lens array device includes a variable lens array and a fixed lens array. The variable lens array includes a plurality of variable lenses each having electrically-adjustable refracting power. The fixed lens array includes a plurality of fixed lenses each provided in correspondence to each of the plurality of variable lenses. Each of the fixed lenses has a refracting power which, once a corresponding variable lens has come to have a first refracting power, allows the first refracting power to be cancelled out. | 08-05-2010 |
| 20090015905 | Picture display unit - A picture display device includes display elements reflecting specific wavelengths of visible light; and shape deformation portions for inducing elastic deformation of the display elements. The individual display elements have colloidal particles arrayed at regular spacing, and an elastically deformable filler material intervening between the colloidal particles. The shape deformation portion includes a shape retention component formed of a material capable of reversible plastic deformation by external force. | 01-15-2009 |
| 359317000 | Multiple reflections within cell | 2 |
| 20080247032 | PULSE WIDTH MODULATION ALGORITHM - In display systems employing spatial light modulators, the OFF-state light from OFF-state pixels of the spatial light modulator can be captured and directed back to the pixels of the spatial light modulator so as to recycle the OFF-state light in the display system. Bitplanes derived from the desired image to be produced are calibrated to include the recycled off-state light to properly produce the desired image using the display system. | 10-09-2008 |
| 20090073546 | Optical path switching device - An optical path switching device is provided. The optical path switching device utilizes the electro-optic effect to apply an electric field on different reflective elements without moving an input/output end of optical signal or reflective elements. Thus, the reflective elements reflect optical beams to control travel paths of the optical beams, so as to switch the optical paths in the absence of mechanical motion. | 03-19-2009 |
| 359318000 | By reflection | 7 |
| 20130050808 | LIGHT MODULATION LAYER - A light modulation layer of a full-color reflective display ( | 02-28-2013 |
| 20110149380 | Electro-Optical Deflection/Modulation - An optical deflector includes multiple voltage-dependent refractive boundaries. Light passes through the refractive boundaries and accumulates a deflection angle. An electrode placed to apply a voltage to the boundaries may be non-uniform to modulate a wavefront as it passes. A scanning laser projector includes the optical deflector to modulate laser light. | 06-23-2011 |
| 20090122391 | BEAM DEFLECTION USING PZT RESONANCE - Beam deflection devices and methods using piezoelectric tube resonance. A beam deflection device may include a laser that produces a beam of light. The beam of light may then be directed through a piezoelectric tube that includes a light guide and one or more piezoelectric elements. The device may also have an optical tip that extends axially from the end of the piezoelectric tube. The piezoelectric tube is coupled with the light source, such that the beam of light is conducted through the light guide and optionally the optical tip. A controller may be communicatively coupled with the light source and the piezoelectric tube. The controller may include instructions to activate the piezoelectric tube at a resonant frequency of the piezoelectric tube, the light guide, and/or the optical tip. The controller may include instructions to activate one or more of the piezoelectric elements at a different power level. | 05-14-2009 |
| 20090141339 | OPTICAL MODULATOR, OPTICAL MODULATOR MODULE AND SCANNING DISPLAY APPARATUS INCLUDING THE SAME - Disclosed are an optical modulator and an optical modulator module that can reduce a laser speckle. The optical modulator module can include an optical modulator, modulating an incident beam of light incident according to a driving signal and outputting the modulated beam of light; and a light transmissive substrate, placed in the optical modulator and formed with a phase control pattern, the incident beam of light and the outputted beam of light passing through the light transmissive substrate and the phase control pattern being formed in a part of a surface that is a light path of the incident beam of light and the outputted beam of light. Here, the phase control pattern, a central peak of an autocorrelation function can have a width that is smaller than a width of the phase control pattern, and a side lobe level is smaller than a level of the central peak. | 06-04-2009 |
| 20080316586 | Combinational PZT And MEMS Beam Steering - Beam steering systems and methods are disclosed according to various embodiments. A beam steering system may include a laser that produces a beam of light. The beam of light may then be directed through a piezoelectric tube that includes a light guide and one or more piezoelectric elements. The piezoelectric tube is coupled with the light source, such that the beam of light is conducted through the light guide. The piezoelectric tube is coupled with a scanning optical element that includes an optical element and a steering device. A controller may be communicatively coupled with the light source, the piezoelectric tube and the scanning optical element. The controller may include instructions to dither the beam of light with the piezoelectric tube and/or instructions to steer the beam of light with the scanning optical element. | 12-25-2008 |
| 20100002288 | Electrically Controlled Optical Elements and Method - The effective focal length of an optical system can be electronically controlled using switchable wave plates in conjunction with polarized light. | 01-07-2010 |
| 20090073547 | OPTICAL MODULATOR AND OPTICAL MODULATION SYSTEM - A light modulation device that improves utilization efficiency of light is provided. The light modulation device includes a light emitter, a Fabry-Perot type of resonator, and a controller for applying a control voltage to the resonator. The resonator includes a light modulating film in which refractive index changes in accordance with an applied electric field, and comb-shaped electrodes for applying the electrical field to the light modulating film. The light emitted from the light emitter is incident to a light-incident plane, the light being substantially perpendicular to a direction of the electrical field applied to the light modulating film, and inclined from a direction normal to the light-incident plane. | 03-19-2009 |
| 359319000 | Focusing | 14 |
| 20090046349 | MULTIFOCAL LENS WITH A DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL POWER REGION - A lens system is presented having a diffractive optical power region. The diffractive optical power region has a plurality of concentric surface relief diffractive structures. A greater portion of light incident on a diffractive structure near the center point contributes to the optical power than light incident on a diffractive structure peripherally spaced therefrom. | 02-19-2009 |
| 20090091818 | ELECTRO-ACTIVE INSERT - Aspects of the present invention provide multi-focal electro-active lenses having one or more multi-focal electro-active inserts. The electro-active inserts can provide multiple optical power regions each capable of providing a desired optical power. An electro-active power region of the insert is capable of providing a variable optical power upon application of an electrical signal such as a time-varying voltage waveform. Electro-active inserts can be fabricated from any type of material and can be inserted into any type of bulk lens material. The electro-active inserts can be thin and flexible and can function independently of other optical components of the overall electro-active lens. Consequently, the electro-active inserts can be fabricated according to a uniform design using uniform materials, independent of the supplementing portions of the final lens. Index matching layers of the present invention can be used to reduce reflection losses between bulk lens material and electro-active insert interfaces. | 04-09-2009 |
| 20090231677 | Variable Focal Point Optical Assembly Using Zone Plate and Electro-Optic Material - An optical assembly includes a zone plate and electro-optic material disposed on one side of the zone plate. The electro-optic material's index of refraction is controlled to adjust the optical properties of the optical assembly. | 09-17-2009 |
| 20100220383 | VARIABLE LENS - A lens is provided, comprising a lens body. According to an embodiment, the lens body comprises at least one portion of electroactive material. | 09-02-2010 |
| 20110279886 | AUTOFOCUS IMAGING APPARATUS - An autofocus imaging apparatus ( | 11-17-2011 |
| 20100302625 | SUB-DIFFRACTION-LIMITED IMAGING SYSTEMS AND METHODS - Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to systems and methods for obtaining images of objects with higher resolution than the diffraction limit. In one aspect, a method for collecting evanescent waves scattered from an object comprises electronically configuring a reconfigurable device to operate as a grating for one or more lattice periods using a computing device. Propagating waves scattered from the object pass through the reconfigurable device and a portion of evanescent waves scattered from the object are projected into the far field of the object. The method includes detecting propagating waves and detecting the portion of evanescent waves projected into the far field for each lattice period using an imaging system. | 12-02-2010 |
| 20080316587 | Solution Flow Prevention in Fluid Focus Lenses - In a fluid focus lens (ffl) a structured hydrophobic layer ( | 12-25-2008 |
| 20090002807 | Fluid Focus Lens to Isolate or Trap Small Particulate Matter - Beam manipulation member for use in an optical tweezers system, the beam manipulation member comprising at least one optical element, being controllably deformable in order to act on a laser beam in response to signals coming from the optical tweezers system. The beam manipulation member may be used to change the focal distance of the optical tweezers system and also to deflect the laser beam. | 01-01-2009 |
| 20100253997 | Electronically reconfigurable planar crossbar array optical elements - Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to dynamically and electronically reconfigurable optical devices that can be operated as a lens or prism for incident beams of electromagnetic radiation. The optical devices include a phase-modulation layer ( | 10-07-2010 |
| 20100290104 | VARIABLE-FOCAL LENGTH LENS - To provide a variable-focal length lens capable of altering its focal length at high speed. The variable-focal length lens has an electrooptic material and electrodes formed on an incident surface of light and on an exit surface of the light of the electrooptic material. An optical axis is set so that the light is inputted into a gap where the electrodes of the incident surface are not formed and is outputted from a gap where the electrodes of the exit surface are not formed. A focus of the light that is transmitted through the electrooptic material becomes variable by varying an applied voltage between the electrodes of the incident surface and the electrodes of the exit surface. | 11-18-2010 |
| 20080225379 | HIGH SPEED PIEZOELECTRIC OPTICAL SYSTEM WITH TUNABLE FOCAL LENGTH - A varifocal optical system includes a substantially circular membrane deposited on a substrate, and a ring-shaped PZT thin film deposited on the outer portion of the circular membrane. The membrane may be a MEMS-micromachined membrane, made of thermal oxide, polysilicon, Z | 09-18-2008 |
| 20080225378 | DIELECTRIC COATINGS FOR ELECTROWETTING APPLICATIONS - A dielectric coating is provided which has both a dielectric constant greater than 2.5 and a hydrophobic surface. The dielectric coating may be provided by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of organosilane, organosiloxane, organosilazane, organometallic, and/or hydrocarbon precursors. Methods are also provided for altering the contact angle of a liquid in contact with the dielectric coating, e.g., for electrowetting applications. | 09-18-2008 |
| 20130100521 | FOCUSING MECHANISM - A focusing mechanism for focusing a lens module includes a base seat, a movable platform, a positioning assembly, a support bracket and a plurality of arms. The positioning assembly is fixed to the base seat and passes through a center of the movable platform, a lens of the lens module is detachably mounted on the positioning assembly. The support bracket is fixed to the movable platform. A sensor of the lens module is detachably mounted on the support bracket. Each of the plurality of arms rotatably interconnects the movable platform and the base seat, the movable platform drives the support bracket to rotate relative to the positioning assembly to enable the lens to rotate relative to the sensor via a drive of the arms. | 04-25-2013 |
| 20130114128 | MULTIFOCAL LENS WITH A DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL POWER REGION - A lens system is presented having a diffractive optical power region. The diffractive optical power region has a plurality of concentric surface relief diffractive structures. A greater portion of light incident on a diffractive structure near the center point contributes to the optical power than light incident on a diffractive structure peripherally spaced therefrom. | 05-09-2013 |
| 359320000 | Switching | 12 |
| 20120033290 | Light Generating System and Method - An optical system includes an electrically pumped laser light source and an optically pumped laser light source. An optical switch is located in a light path of the electrically pumped laser light source such that when the optical switch is in a first position light from the electrically pumped laser light source is directed toward the optically pumped laser light source and when the optical switch is in a second position light from the electrically pumped laser light source is directed away from the optically pumped laser light source. | 02-09-2012 |
| 20100208333 | DISPLAY-PROTECTIVE PLATE FOR ELECTRONIC APPARATUS AND ELECTRONIC APPARATUS THEREWITH - A display-protective plate for an electronic apparatus, is attached to a case of an electronic apparatus to be used, and protects a display surface of a display that is attached so as to be exposed from the case of the electronic apparatus. The protective plate is configured by a plate-shaped transparent base member, a color half mirror layer placed on a lower side of the transparent base member, a transparency-switching film formed on a lower face of the color half mirror layer, for switching between transmitting and non-transmitting modes, a reflection-increasing film layer placed on a lower face of the transparency-switching film, and a backing layer formed on a lower face of the reflection-increasing film layer and located on a portion except for an exposed portion of the display, which are successively laminated. | 08-19-2010 |
| 20090116099 | Tir light valve - An array of light valves switch light by enabling and disabling total internal reflection (TIR) on a surface of the light valve. The disabling of the TIR is accomplished by putting another optical element in contact with the surface and then diffusing or changing the direction of the light. The mechanical mechanism to move the optical element is a simple one in that it only moves the optical element a small distance to change the valve from a first position to a second position. | 05-07-2009 |
| 20100315697 | OPTICAL WAVELENGTH SWITCH - Various embodiments of an optical switch device are provided. In one embodiment, the optical switch device includes a substrate. A photonic crystal, having a dielectric material, is applied on the substrate. An optical gain layer, having an optical gain material, is disposed above the photonic crystal. The photonic crystal is formed with a second-order distributed feedback structure to emit laser light perpendicular to a plane of the photonic crystal and a first-order distributed feedback structure adapted for reflecting light in the plane of the photonic crystal back into the second-order distributed feedback structure. The first-order distributed feedback structure at least one of fully surrounds the second-order distributed feedback structure and is arranged on two opposing edges of the second-order distributed feedback structure. | 12-16-2010 |
| 20090027763 | MEMS DEVICE WITH NANOWIRE STANDOFF LAYER - A microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device and related methods are described. The MEMS device comprises a first member having a first surface and a second member having a second surface, the first and second surfaces being separated by a gap that is closable by a MEMS actuation force applied to at least one of the first and second members. A standoff layer is disposed on the first surface of the first member, the standoff layer providing standoff between the first and second surfaces upon a closing of the gap by the MEMS actuation force. The standoff layer comprises a plurality of nanowires that are anchored to the first surface of the first member and that extend outward therefrom. | 01-29-2009 |
| 20080204858 | ONE DIMENSIONAL SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR AND IMAGE OUTPUT DEVICE EMPLOYING THE SAME - A one-dimensional (1D) spatial light modulator (SLM) and an image output device employing the same are provided. The 1D SLM includes: a light deflector including a light guide that is formed of a photonic crystal material having a refractive index that can be varied according to an applied voltage and allows incident light to continue along an original propagation path or deflects the incident light from the original propagation path on a pixel-by-pixel basis, and an electrode portion individually applying a voltage to the light guide; and a light blocking member facing a light exiting surface of the light deflector and blocking a portion of light exiting the light deflector. | 08-28-2008 |
| 20110255148 | OPTICAL SWITCH - An optical switch changes the refractive index of an electro-optical crystal according to an electric field applied to the electro-optical crystal so as to switch depending on whether the electro-optical crystal enables incident light to pass through or whether the electro-optical crystal enables incident light to be totally reflected. The optical switch includes an electrode section including a plurality of electrodes and formed in the electro-optical crystal, a principal plane including the largest area of each electrode on a same plane of the electro-optical crystal; an insulator layer on at least one plane of the electro-optical crystal, the plane being parallel with the electrode section, the insulator layer made of an insulator with lower dielectric constant than the electro-optical crystal; and a temperature control device formed on and in contact with the insulator layer and controls a temperature of the electrode section or dissipates heat generated in the electrode section. | 10-20-2011 |
| 20120019901 | Dynamic Terahertz Switch Using Periodic Corrugated Structures - A subwavelength terahertz (THz) switch using an artificially designed conductor metamaterial is discussed in this invention. Theoretically, slow-light EM wave propagating at THz speed imitates the strongly localized surface plasmon modes and henceforth is called Spoof Surface Plasmon Polariton (SSPP) mode in this invention. The SSPP mode of slow-light EM propagation can be easily tailored by changing the refractive index of the dielectric materials inside the metallic gap structure engineered as a periodic array of grooves. Thus, the incorporation of electro-optical material which has birefringence such as a nematic liquid crystal (N-LC) or multiple-refractive indices into the metallic gap leads to a highly compact and efficient terahertz switch being controlled by a low-voltage signal. The optimal design of the SSPP switch enabled by this novel method shows many interesting properties including 1) strong subwavelength localization; 2) relatively high extinction (On/Off switching) ratio; and 3) small damping attenuation. The THz dynamic switches can be used to construct linear switches, Y junction switches and Mach-Zehnder interferometers by using micromachining and other fabrication techniques. | 01-26-2012 |
| 20110013262 | Method and System for Laser Amplification Using a Dual Crystal Pockels Cell - A system for laser amplification includes a dual-crystal Pockels cell which is used to control emission of laser pulses from an ultra-fast laser. The Pockels cell is constructed to enable adjustment of the rotational orientation of one crystal relative to the other crystal. The rotational orientation of one or both crystals in the Pockels cell is adjusted to control sidebands in the laser pulse. | 01-20-2011 |
| 20080297882 | Apparatus and method for controlling optics propagation based on a transparent metal stack - A device and method of optics propagation and signal control integrated with micro-electro-mechanical-switches (MEMS). This device modifies optical transmission properties of a transparent multilayer metal stack by mechanically varying the thickness of an air gap between layers in the stack This is accomplished by utilizing MEMS coupled with the stack to change the optical path in a given layer of the transparent multilayer metal stack. This can be accomplished by developing a hybrid combination of transparent multilayer stacks and MEMS, wherein an air gap is used as one of the dielectric layers. The air gap thickness can be controlled by the MEMS device thereby enabling dramatic control of the optical path. | 12-04-2008 |
| 20120250141 | TRANSMISSION MODE SWITCHING DEVICE AND 2D/3D SWITCHABLE DISPLAY APPARATUS - The present invention discloses a transmission mode switching device and a 2D/3D switchable display apparatus. The transmission mode switching device comprises a first substrate on which a first transparent electrode is configured, a second substrate on which a second transparent electrode is configured, and a transmission mode switching layer located between the first and second substrates and formed by materials with isotropic optical properties. The transmission mode switching layer is switched between a first transmission mode in which the direction of light propagation is not altered and a second transmission mode in which the direction of light propagation is altered in response to switching of the electric field applied between the first and second transparent electrodes. The transmission mode switching device of the present invention is suitable for multiple modes, with low power consumption. | 10-04-2012 |
| 20130120829 | HIGH SPEED SOLID STATE OPTICAL SWITCHING SYSTEM USING BICONTINUOUS STRUCTURES - A bicontinuous optical switching structure includes a predetermined number of tunnels coated with a reflective material or a very smooth. The tunnels provide pathways from one side of bicontinuous optical switching structure to another. Each tunnel represents an entry point having a multitude of entry angles. Since the angle of entry dictates the exit point, a single tunnel can represent multiple entry/exit point pairs. A three-dimensional circuit may include a hyperbolic bicontinuous structure forming a substrate; circuits formed on a first surface of the hyperbolic bicontinuous structure; and electrically conductive traces formed between the circuits. The electrically conductive traces are formed two-dimensionally on the first surface of the hyperbolic bicontinuous structure. The electrically conductive traces are effectively three-dimensional traces between the circuits. | 05-16-2013 |
