LENSES WITH ELECTRICALLY-TUNABLE POWER AND ALIGNMENT
First Claim
1. An optical device, comprising:
- an electro-optical layer, having a local effective index of refraction at any given location within an active area of the electro-optical layer that is determined by a voltage waveform applied across the electro-optical layer at the location;
a common electrode, positioned over the active area on a first side of the electro-optical layer;
an array of excitation electrodes, comprising parallel conductive stripes extending over the active area on a second side of the electro-optical layer, opposite the first side; and
control circuitry, which is coupled to apply respective control voltage waveforms to the excitation electrodes and is configured to concurrently modify the respective control voltage waveforms applied to a plurality of the excitation electrodes, thereby modifying a phase modulation profile of the electro-optical layer.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical device (24, 60) includes an electro-optical layer (40, 62), having an effective local index of refraction at any given location within an active area of the electro-optical layer that is determined by a voltage waveform applied across the electro-optical layer at the location. An array of excitation electrodes (46, 68, 72), including parallel conductive stripes extending over the active area is disposed over one or both sides of the electro-optical layer. Control circuitry (48, 70, 74) is coupled to apply respective control voltage waveforms to the excitation electrodes and is configured to concurrently modify the respective control voltage waveforms applied to excitation electrodes so as to generate a specified phase modulation profile in the electro-optical layer.
37 Citations
52 Claims
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1. An optical device, comprising:
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an electro-optical layer, having a local effective index of refraction at any given location within an active area of the electro-optical layer that is determined by a voltage waveform applied across the electro-optical layer at the location; a common electrode, positioned over the active area on a first side of the electro-optical layer; an array of excitation electrodes, comprising parallel conductive stripes extending over the active area on a second side of the electro-optical layer, opposite the first side; and control circuitry, which is coupled to apply respective control voltage waveforms to the excitation electrodes and is configured to concurrently modify the respective control voltage waveforms applied to a plurality of the excitation electrodes, thereby modifying a phase modulation profile of the electro-optical layer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15-30. -30. (canceled)
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31. An optical device, comprising:
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an electro-optical layer, having a local effective index of refraction at any given location within an active area of the electro-optical layer that is determined by a voltage applied across the electro-optical layer at the location, the electro-optical layer having first and second sides and a layer thickness equal to a distance between the first and second sides; conductive electrodes extending over the first and second sides of the electro-optical layer, the electrodes comprising at least one array of excitation electrodes having an inter-electrode pitch that is less than four times the layer thickness of the electro-optical layer; and control circuitry, which is coupled to apply control voltage waveforms to the excitation electrodes so as to modify a phase modulation profile of the electro-optical layer.
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32-37. -37. (canceled)
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38. A method for producing an optical device, the method comprising:
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providing an electro-optical layer, having a local effective index of refraction at any given location within an active area of the electro-optical layer that is determined by a voltage waveform applied across the electro-optical layer at the location; positioning on a first side of the electro-optical layer a common electrode, so as to cover the active area; positioning an array of excitation electrodes, comprising parallel conductive stripes, so as to extend over the active area on a second side of the electro-optical layer, opposite the first side; and coupling control circuitry to apply respective control voltage waveforms to the excitation electrodes and to concurrently modify the control voltage waveforms applied to a plurality of the excitation electrodes, thereby modifying a phase modulation profile of the electro-optical layer. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52-71. -71. (canceled)
Specification