Lenslet array systems and methods
First Claim
1. In a method of manufacturing a microlenslet array of the type having a plurality of lenslets formed within a optical substrate having a first planar surface, a second planar surface, and a normal vector that is substantially perpendicular to each surface, the improvement comprising the steps of forming a first lenslet array within the first surface, forming a second lenslet array within the second surface, forming a plurality of lenslet channels between the lenslet arrays wherein each channel includes one lenslet from each of the arrays, the lenslet channels between at least two adjacent arrays having a channel axis vector relative to the normal vector such that the cross product between the channel axis vector and the optical axis vector is greater for lenslet channels further away from a line extending along a center of the substrate and parallel to the normal vector.
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Abstract
A stacked array magnifier (SAM) forms a magnified, demagnified or unit image of an object. The SAM includes one or more non-refractive lenslet arrays and one or more refractive lenslet arrays to form a plurality of lenslet channels. Each lenslet channel has at least one refractive lenslet and at least one non-refractive lenslet. SAMs are combined and tiled to form a scaleable display of flat panel displays. Multiple SAMs are used to increase magnification selectively. Hybrid lenslet arrays of the invention are also useable for optical processing and non-imaging applications.
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Citations
27 Claims
- 1. In a method of manufacturing a microlenslet array of the type having a plurality of lenslets formed within a optical substrate having a first planar surface, a second planar surface, and a normal vector that is substantially perpendicular to each surface, the improvement comprising the steps of forming a first lenslet array within the first surface, forming a second lenslet array within the second surface, forming a plurality of lenslet channels between the lenslet arrays wherein each channel includes one lenslet from each of the arrays, the lenslet channels between at least two adjacent arrays having a channel axis vector relative to the normal vector such that the cross product between the channel axis vector and the optical axis vector is greater for lenslet channels further away from a line extending along a center of the substrate and parallel to the normal vector.
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3. A method of manufacturing a microlens stack having an optical magnification for producing an image of an object along an optical axis, comprising the steps of:
- combining at least two refractive lenslet arrays with at least one diffractive lenslet array to form a lenslet array stack with a plurality of lenslet channels, each of the channels having a sloped axis between at least two of the arrays, and arranging the channels such that the cross product between the sloped axis and the optical axis is greater for lenslet channels further from the optical axis as compared to lenslet channels closer to the optical axis, thereby achieving the magnification selectively.
- View Dependent Claims (4, 5)
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6. A method of manufacturing a scaleable large screen display from an electronic display of the type having a center and a substantially planar surface with a surface normal perpendicular to the surface, the display of the type selected from the group consisting essentially of an LCD display, a cathode ray tube, and one or more laser diodes, comprising:
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selecting a desired magnification of the display; forming a tiled array of stacked lenslet arrays, the tiled array corresponding to magnification of the display, the stacked arrays within each tiled array operating in concert with every other stacked array within the tiled array so as to operate substantially as a single lenslet array, each stacked lenslet array being formed through the following steps; forming at least one array of refractive lenslets into a first optical substrate and at least one other array of non-refractive lenslets into a second optical substrate, the non-refractive lenslets being selected from the group consisting essentially of diffractive lenslets, holographic lenslets, phase modulating lenslets, and index modulating lenslets, arranging the arrays into a stack having a plurality of lenslet channels, each of the channels having at least one refractive lenslet and one non-refractive lenslet, and wherein the step of arranging the arrays includes the step of creating a sloped channel axis between at least two arrays and relative to the surface normal, arranging the tiled arrays to operate in concert such that the sloped channel axis is larger for channels further from the center as compared to channels closer to the center wherein the desired magnification of the display is achieved.
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7. A method of manufacturing a stack of lenslet arrays for imaging an object to an image, comprising the steps of:
- forming one or more non-refractive lenslet arrays and one or more refractive lenslet arrays, forming a plurality of lenslet channels and arranging the channels such that each lenslet channel has at least one refractive lenslet and at least one non-refractive lenslet, and arranging the lenslets within a channel to achieve a selected magnification between the object and image.
- View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
Specification