Integrated optical device with phosphor in substrate pit

• US 6,118,908 A
• Filed: 06/15/1999
• Issued: 09/12/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Gemfire Corp. (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Gemfire Corp. (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Bischel, William K., Field, Simon J., Dyer, Mark J., Brinkman, Michael J., Deacon, David A. G., DeWath, Edward J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Healy, Brian
• Application Number:
  US09/333,335
• Time in Patent Office: 455 Days
• Field of Search: 385/1, 385/2, 385/3, 385/4, 385/5, 385/7, 385/8, 385/10, 385/14, 385/15, 385/17, 385/18, 385/39, 385/40, 385/41, 385/42, 385/49, 385/50, 385/130, 385/131, 385/132, 385/11, 385/12, 385/13, 385/16, 385/19 , 385/20, 385/21, 385/22, 385/147, 385/33, 385/116, 385/901
• US Class Current: 385/14
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/011 in optical waveguides, not otherwise provided for in this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/3558 Poled materials, e.g. with periodic poling; Fabrication of domain inverted structures, e.g. for quasi-phase-matching [QPM]
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/377 in an optical waveguide structure
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/30 grating
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/305 diffraction grating
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/307 Reflective grating, i.e. Bragg grating
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 9/305 being the ends of optical fibres G09F9/302 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 385/901 Illuminating or display apparatus

Abstract

A flat panel display is based on a new switching technology for routing laser light among a set of optical waveguides and coupling that light toward the viewer. The switching technology is based on poled electro-optical structures. The display technology is versatile enough to cover application areas spanning the range from miniature high resolution computer displays to large screen displays for high definition television formats. The invention combines the high brightness and power efficiency inherent in visible semiconductor diode laser sources with a new waveguide electro-optical switching technology to form a dense two-dimensional addressable array of high brightness light emissive pixels.

Claims

1. Apparatus comprising:

a substrate carrying a passive integrated optical waveguide segment and further having a pit disposed to receive optical energy from said waveguide segment; and

a phosphor disposed in said pit, said phosphor re-radiating optical energy in response to optical energy received from said waveguide segment.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reflector disposed to reflect out of a plane of said waveguide, optical energy re-radiated by said phosphor.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reflector disposed to reflect out of said substrate, optical energy re-radiated by said phosphor.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reflector disposed to reflect toward a viewer, optical energy re-radiated by said phosphor.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a reflector disposed on a surface of said pit.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said phosphor comprises an upconversion phosphor.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an optical energy absorber at least partially surrounding said phosphor.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an optical energy absorber at least partially surrounding said pit.

9. Apparatus comprising, in combination:

a passive integrated optical waveguide segment;

a phosphor disposed to receive optical energy from said waveguide segment, at least a portion of said phosphor being located in a common plane with said waveguide segment and re-radiating optical energy in response to optical energy received from said waveguide segment; and

a reflector disposed to reflect away from said common plane, optical energy re-radiated by said phosphor.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said reflector reflects toward a viewer, optical energy re-radiated by said phosphor.

11. Apparatus comprising, in combination:

a passive integrated optical waveguide segment;

an upconversion phosphor disposed to receive optical energy from said waveguide segment, at least a portion of said phosphor being located in a common plane with said waveguide segment and re-radiating optical energy in response to optical energy received from said waveguide segment.

12. Apparatus comprising, in combination:

a passive integrated optical waveguide segment;

a phosphor disposed to receive optical energy from said waveguide segment, at least a portion of said phosphor being located in a common plane with said waveguide segment and re-radiating optical energy in response to optical energy received from said waveguide segment; and

an optical energy absorber at least partially surrounding said phosphor.

13. A substrate supporting:

an integrated optical waveguide segment confining optical energy in at least one dimension, said waveguide segment having a core and said optical energy having a propagation axis;

a pit disposed in said substrate to receive optical energy from said waveguide segment; and

an upconversion optical re-radiator disposed in said pit, said re-radiator having a maximum size, in a first dimension perpendicular to said propagation axis, which is larger than the size of said core in said first dimension.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a reflector disposed to reflect out of a plane of said waveguide, optical energy re-radiated by said re-radiator.

15. Apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a reflector disposed to reflect out of said substrate, optical energy re-radiated by said re-radiator.

16. Apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a reflector disposed to reflect toward a viewer, optical energy re-radiated by said re-radiator.

17. Apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a reflector disposed on a surface of said pit.