Illumination Systems
First Claim
1. An illumination system for receiving first and second input light sources, the first and second input light sources comprising first and second colors, respectively, the illumination system comprising:
- a polarizing beam splitter operable to receive the first input light source at a first input and the second input light source at a second input, and to split the two input light sources into first and second mixed lights, and to output the first mixed light at a first output and the second mixed light at a second output; and
first and second optical filters adjacent to the first and second outputs, respectively, the first and second optical filters operable to convert polarization states of the two mixed lights.
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Abstract
Described are illumination systems whereby light spectra from multiple LEDs of various colors can be combined and polarized with minimal components, while substantially reducing the losses for the combining and polarizing. The described systems and methods use polarizing beam splitters (PBSs) with retarder stack filters to combine color and split polarization for mixed light beams in one step, and to ultimately align the polarizations of the several colored light beams.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. An illumination system for receiving first and second input light sources, the first and second input light sources comprising first and second colors, respectively, the illumination system comprising:
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a polarizing beam splitter operable to receive the first input light source at a first input and the second input light source at a second input, and to split the two input light sources into first and second mixed lights, and to output the first mixed light at a first output and the second mixed light at a second output; and
first and second optical filters adjacent to the first and second outputs, respectively, the first and second optical filters operable to convert polarization states of the two mixed lights. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. An illumination system for receiving first and second input light sources, the first and second input light sources comprising first and second colors, respectively, the illumination system comprising:
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first and second polarizing beam splitters, the first polarizing beam splitter operable to receive the first input light source at a first input and the second polarizing beam splitter operable to receive the second input light source at a second input, the two polarizing beam splitters operable to split the two input light sources into first and second mixed lights and to output the first mixed light at a first output and the second mixed light at a second output; and
first and second optical filters adjacent to the first and second outputs, respectively, the first and second optical filters operable to convert polarization states of the two mixed lights. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for splitting first and second input light sources in an illumination system, the first and second input light sources comprising first and second colors, respectively, the method comprising:
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providing first and second polarizing beam splitters;
receiving the first input light source at a first input with the first polarizing beam splitter;
receiving the second input light source at a second input with the second polarizing beam splitter;
splitting the first and second input light sources into first and second mixed lights with the first and second polarizing beam splitters;
outputting the first mixed light at a first output with the first polarizing beam splitter;
outputting the second mixed light at a second output with the second polarizing beam splitter;
providing first and second optical filters adjacent to the first and second outputs, respectively; and
converting polarization states of the first and second mixed lights with the first and second optical filters, respectively. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24)
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25. An X-cube architecture for receiving first, second, and third input light sources, the first, second, and third input light sources comprising first, second, and third colors, respectively, the X-cube architecture comprising:
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a dichroic splitter operable to receive the first input light source at a first input, the second input light source at a second input, and the third input light source at a third input, and to combine the three input light sources into a mixed light, and to output the mixed light at an output; and
an optical filter adjacent to the output, the optical filter operable to convert polarization states of the mixed light. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification