Optical waveguide display system
First Claim
1. A visual optical switching element comprising:
- a first elongated transparent optical material,a second elongated optical material,said first and said second optical materials arranged alongside each other,a light source positioned in a light coupling relationship to said first elongated optical material,a means for causing some of the light traveling through said first optical material from said light source to exit selectively into said second optical material so light can be observed by a viewer,a means of altering the path taken by light traveling through said second optical material,said path altering means consisting of a plurality of abrupt discontinuities formed in said second optical material.
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Abstract
A thin-panel, large, high-definition television screen employs optical waveguides. Light (32) flows through waveguides (28) arranged, in parallel, across a substrate (64). Light from a source (44) is coupled into the waveguides using a Graded Index (GRIN) microlens array (56). Taps (37) direct light out and make it visible at different locations along the length of the waveguides. Long interaction length (8) taps with reflectors (10) are introduced which enable many waveguides to be staggered and placed side-by-side to maintain high screen resolutions. Polymers, both electro-optic and non-electro-optic, are used in the preferred embodiment as a waveguide building material. However, acousto-optic, thermo-optic (86) and magneto-optic effects may also be used with other materials such as glass and silicon dioxide. This display can be economically produced by forming a flexible waveguide ribbon (62) which integrates multiple waveguides (1), intensity modulators (40) and taps (38) into a single unit. Waveguide display manufacturing techniques based on thermo-poling (100), photolocking (114), extrusion (124), and preform fiber-drawing (132) are also presented.
247 Citations
23 Claims
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1. A visual optical switching element comprising:
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a first elongated transparent optical material, a second elongated optical material, said first and said second optical materials arranged alongside each other, a light source positioned in a light coupling relationship to said first elongated optical material, a means for causing some of the light traveling through said first optical material from said light source to exit selectively into said second optical material so light can be observed by a viewer, a means of altering the path taken by light traveling through said second optical material, said path altering means consisting of a plurality of abrupt discontinuities formed in said second optical material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A display system comprising:
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a plurality of parallel optical waveguides, a plurality of controllable light emitting regions of approximately uniform size and shape, said controllable light emitting regions spaced apart along the length of each individual waveguide in said plurality of optical waveguides, said controllable light emitting regions offset a distance oriented along the direction of light travel through said plurality of waveguides such that said light emitting regions associated with adjacent waveguides are not situated directly next to each other. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A display system comprising:
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a plurality of parallel optical waveguides, a plurality of controllable light emitting regions of approximately uniform size and shape, said controllable light emitting regions spaced apart along the length of each individual waveguide in said plurality of optical waveguides, in which said controllable light emitting regions are staggered on separate waveguides so high screen area pixel resolutions can be achieved while using long interaction length taps. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A display system comprising:
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a plurality of solid optical waveguides, a light source positioned in a light coupling relationship to said plurality of optical waveguides, and a thermo-optic light exiting means for causing a portion of light traveling through said plurality of solid optical waveguides to exit selectively so light can be viewed at selected locations oriented along the lengths of the waveguides in said plurality of waveguides. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A display system comprising:
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a plurality of regularly spaced parallel optical waveguides, a plurality of separate electrodes which control the amount of light flowing through said plurality of optical waveguides, each individual electrode in said plurality of separate electrodes configured to only control the amount of light flowing through a single waveguide in said plurality of optical waveguides, said plurality of separate electrode elements shaped so the electrode extends a distance normal to the direction of light flow through said plurality of optical waveguides, said electrode distance exceeding the closest distance separating two adjacent parallel waveguides in said plurality of regularly spaced optical waveguides. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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Specification