2947 results about "Polarization beam splitter" patented technology

A projection display system. The projection system includes a light source, illumination optics that are capable of splitting the light from the source into individual color bands, and folding mirrors. The folding mirrors operate to direct the color bands to a reflective element that has a contoured surface. The contoured surface of the reflective element causes the light to form into scanning rasters that are recombined and sent to a spatial light modulator. The spatial light modulator is typically made up of a panel of individually addressable elements. If the spatial light modulator requires polarized light, a polarizing beam splitter and quarter-wave plate are included as part of the illumination optics.

The present invention discloses simple and yet highly efficient configurations of optical coherence domain reflectometry systems. The combined use of a polarizing beam splitter with one or two polarization manipulator(s) that rotate the returned light wave polarization to an orthogonal direction, enables one to achieve high optical power delivery efficiency as well as fixed or predetermined output polarization state of the interfering light waves reaching a detector or detector array, which is especially beneficial for spectral domain optical coherence tomography. In addition, the system can be made insensitive to polarization fading resulting from the birefringence change in the sample and reference arms. Dispersion matching can also be easily achieved between the sample and the reference arm for high resolution longitudinal scanning.

A head up display (HUD) includes an image source, a first lens, a second lens, a focusing mirror, a polarizing beam splitter, a second beam splitter and a combiner. The first lens is disposed between the image source and polarizing beam splitter. The second lens is disposed between the polarizing beam splitter and the second beam splitter. The polarizing beam splitter is disposed between the first lens, the mirror, and the second lens. The optical system for the HUD forms an intermediate image between the second lens and the second beam splitter. The intermediate image is located at the focal point of the curved combiner, and therefore the curved combiner collimates the display light upon reflection. The HUD can be compact and have a wide field of view.

An apparatus (10) for obtaining an image of a tooth (20) includes an image sensor and a white light source (12) providing broadband polychromatic light and an ultraviolet light source providing narrow-band light. A combiner (15) directs broadband polychromatic light and narrow band light along a common illumination path to illuminate the tooth. A polarization beamsplitter (18) directs polarized light from the illumination path along an optical axis (216). An optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging apparatus (70) splits the low coherence light into a sample path and a reference path and a dichroic element (78) directs the polarized illumination and the sample path low coherence light along the optical axis. An image processor (100) identifies a region of interest according to either a white light image (124), a fluorescent light image (120), or both and the OCT imaging apparatus obtains an OCT image over the region of interest.

An eyepiece includes an eyepiece frame, an in-coupling polarization beam splitter (“PBS”), an end reflector, and an out-coupling PBS. The eyepiece frame defines an air cavity and includes an illumination region for receiving computer generated image (“CGI”) light into the eyepiece frame and a viewing region to be aligned with an eye of a user. The in-coupling PBS is supported within the eyepiece frame at the illumination region to re-direct the CGI light to a forward propagation path extending along the air cavity towards the viewing region. The end reflector is disposed to reflect the CGI light back along a reverse propagation path within the eyepiece frame. The out-coupling PBS is supported at the viewing region to pass the CGI light traveling along the forward propagation path and to redirect the CGI light traveling along the reverse propagation path out of an eye-ward side of the eyepiece frame.

An apparatus and method for performing optical coherence domain reflectometry. The apparatus preferably includes a single output light source to illuminate a sample with a probe beam and to provide a reference beam. The reference beam is routed into a long arm of an interferometer by a polarizing beamsplitter. A reflected beam is collected from the sample. A 90.degree. double pass polarization rotation element located between the light source and the sample renders the polarizations of the probe beam and reflected beam orthogonal. The polarizing beamsplitter routes the reflected beam into a short arm of the interferometer. The interferometer combines the reference beam and the reflected beam such that coherent interference occurs between the beams. The apparatus ensures that all of the reflected beam contributes to the interference, resulting in a high signal to noise ratio.

A system and method for quantum key delivery in a single-photon, free-space cryptography scheme including a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter includes two pairs of photon sources, each of which represents a specific photon polarization direction. The first pair of photon sources represents a first polarization basis while the remaining pair of photon sources represents a second polarization basis. The first and second polarization basis are rotated with respect to each other so as to produce non-orthogonal polarization eigenstates. A transmitter polarizing beamsplitter corresponding to each of the pairs of the photon sources is provided whereby the polarizations of each of the photon sources of each pair of photon sources are recombined. A transmitter non-polarizing beamsplitter is provided whereby the recombined polarizations are combined for output to the receiver. The receiver includes a set of optics inversely disposed with respect to the optics of the transmitter and two pairs of photon detectors.

There is provided a light-guide, compact collimating optical device, including a light-guide having a light-waves entrance surface, a light-waves exit surface and a plurality of external surfaces, a light-waves reflecting surface carried by the light-guide at one of the external surfaces, two retardation plates carried by light-guides on a portion of the external surfaces, a light-waves polarizing beamsplitter disposed at an angle to one of the light-waves entrance or exit surfaces, and a light-waves collimating component covering a portion of one of the retardation plates. A system including the optical device and a substrate, is also provided.

A head up display can use a catadioptric collimating system. The head up display includes an image source. The head up display also includes a collimating mirror, and a polarizing beam splitter. The light from the image source enters the beam splitter and is reflected toward the collimating mirror. The light striking the collimating mirror is reflected through the beam splitter toward a combiner. A field lens can include a diffractive surface. A corrector lens can be disposed after the beam splitter.

A catadioptric projection optical system is provided, which can use a beam splitting optical system smaller in size than a conventional polarizing beam splitter, can set a long optical path from a concave reflecting mirror to an image plane, allows easy adjustment of the optical system, and has excellent imaging performance. A light beam from an object surface forms a first intermediate image through a refracting lens group. A light beam from the first intermediate image passes through a polarizing beam splitter and is reflected by a concave reflecting mirror to form a second intermediate image in the polarizing beam splitter. A light beam from the second intermediate image is reflected by the polarizing beam splitter means to form a final image on the image plane via a refracting lens group. The polarizing beam splitter means is arranged near the positions at which the intermediate images are formed.

A color laser printer producing a color image using a single laser scanning unit includes a lighting unit including first and second laser diodes emitting beams of one polarization, a polarization prism transmitting or reflecting incident beams depending on a direction of polarization, and third and fourth laser diodes disposed in a different direction from the first and second laser diodes with respect to the polarization prism, a rotary polygon mirror that reflects the beam emitted along the same path from the lighting unit, an f-θ lens that focuses the beam reflected by the rotary polygon mirror, first and second polarization beam splitters, each of which transmits or reflects the beam passing through the f-θ lens depending on the direction of the polarization, and first through fourth photoconductive units on which the beams reflected and transmitted through the first and second polarization beam splitters are incident. In the color laser printer, lengths of optical paths between the f-θ lens and each of the first through fourth photoconductive units are equal. The color laser printer is constructed such that a plurality of light sources emitting the beams of one polarization are arranged separately and the beams emitted from the light sources are combined by the polarization prism to enter the f-θ lens, thereby reducing a thickness of the f-θ lens.

An optical mixer that, in one embodiment, has a single optical hybrid optically coupled to a single polarization beam splitter. The optical hybrid mixes a polarization-multiplexed optical communication signal and a local-oscillator signal to generate four mixed signals, each corresponding to a different relative phase shift between the communication and local-oscillator signals. The polarization beam splitter separates each of the mixed signals into two polarization components, subsequent processing of which enables an optical receiver employing the optical mixer to recover the data carried by the communication signal.

A cube wire-grid polarizing beam splitter includes a pair of prisms secured together to form a cube. An array of parallel conductive wires is disposed between the pair of prisms. A pair of continuous film layers is disposed on one side of the wires between the wires and one of the pair of prisms with an intermediate film layer adjacent the prism having a refractive index greater than both i) a refractive index of a rear film layer adjacent the plate wire grid polarizer, and ii) a refractive index of an adjacent prism. A layer of ribs is disposed on another side of the wires between the wires and another of the pair of prisms, the ribs being aligned with and supporting the array of parallel conductive wires.

A projection apparatus has a first light beam having a first state of polarization and containing a first set of primary colors, a first light modulator arrangement for spatially modulating the polarization state of the first light beam to encode a first image thereon in the first set of primary colors, a second light beam having a second state of polarization and containing a second set of primary colors, and a second light modulator arrangement for spatially modulating the polarization state of the second light beam to encode a second image thereon. A polarizing beam splitter having first and second input ports to admit the first and second encoded light beams. Light of one polarization state incident on the first port is transmitted to the output port and light of another polarization state incident on the second port is reflected to said output port so that said transmitted and reflected light is combined into a common output beam at said output port. The first and second images having different polarizations contained in the output beam projected onto a display screen can be viewed with the aid of glasses with selective color filters responsive to the first and second sets of primary colors. By using different sets of primary colors considerable efficiencies and economies can be realized relative to a pure polarization-based system.

An image display system including an illumination source configured to emit a light beam, a polarizing beam splitter, and an image-forming device. The polarizing beam splitter includes a reflective polarizer and an absorptive polarizer disposed adjacent to the reflective polarizer, where the absorptive polarizer is configured to receive a first portion of the light beam that has transmitted through the reflective polarizer. The image-forming device is disposed to receive a second portion of the light beam that has been reflected by the reflective polarizer.

The present invention provide an optical circuit device having: an optical circuit; a polarization beam splitter/combiner for splitting an incoming light beam into two polarization beams and combining the two polarization beams into an outgoing light beam; a first optical waveguide and a second optical waveguide for connecting the optical circuit and the polarization beam splitter/combiner and receiving the two polarization beams independently; and a polarization rotator, arranged on the first optical waveguide, for rotating a polarization plane of one of the two polarization beams split by the polarization beam splitter/combiner so as to match a polarization plane of the other of the two polarization beams, the optical circuit, the polarization beam splitter/combiner, the first optical waveguide, the second optical waveguide and the polarization rotator being integrated on a planar substrate.