Binary beam steering device

Abstract

An element for steering electromagnetic beams. The element includes a phase change material in combination with dielectric and other layers in a multilayer optical stack. The phase change material that is reversibly transformable between two or more structural states, where different structural states differ with respect to refractive index and / or extinction coefficient. The structural state of the phase change material establishes a phase angle state for the element that dictates the direction of propagation of an output beam produced from an incident electromagnetic beam. Depending on the structural state, the element adopts one of two principal phase angle states and a binary beam steering capability is achieved in which an incident electromagnetic beam can be redirected in either of two directions. In a preferred embodiment, the output beam is a reflected beam and the element includes a phase change material sandwiched between two dielectric materials and supported by a metal layer.

Description

[0001] Related application information [0002] This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application No. 10 / 226,828, filed August 23, 2002, and entitled "Phase Angle Controlled Stationary Elements for Wavefront Engineering of Electromagnetic Radiation" (published as US-2004-0036944-A1) , the disclosure of this application is hereby incorporated by reference. technical field [0003] The invention relates to a fixation element for controlling the phase angle characteristic of electromagnetic radiation. More specifically, the invention provides an optical element for controlling the direction of propagation of electromagnetic radiation. Most particularly, the present invention provides reconfigurable optical elements that can be used to reversibly switch the direction of propagation of incident electromagnetic radiation from one direction to another. Background technique [0004] The ability to route, redirect and control the flow of electromagnetic radiatio...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

These devices have of course proven to be very reliable and effective in directing light in a predetermined manner, but have the following drawback: once manufactured and positioned, their ability to control the propagation of electromagnetic radiation is fixed

Second, MEMS systems are delicate and susceptible to damage caused by external disturbances such as vibration

So complex feedback systems may be required to ensure robust operation in typical application environments

Third, MEMS systems are currently very expensive

High costs are associated with manufacturing the small components typically required for the application, the intricacies of the large number of components, and the precise assembly of the components together with the actuators into the three-dimensional arrays required for many applications

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