JP2007522520A - Apparatus, method and computer program product for a structured waveguide including a recursive zone - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus and method for a transport system supported by a substrate with a radiation baffle system. The transport includes a semiconductor substrate, the substrate includes an integrated waveguide structure including one guiding channel and one or more boundary regions for propagating radiation signals from input to output, and control An influencer system coupled to the waveguide structure to independently control an attribute that affects the amplitude of the radiation signal within the zone of influence, and affects the amplitude of the radiation signal And a recursive system for periodically returning the radiation signal into the affecting zone for periodically affecting the affecting attribute. The method of operation includes: a) directing a radiation signal through a waveguide structure that includes a single guiding channel supported within the substrate and one or more boundary regions for propagating the radiation signal from input to output. Propagating and b) recursing the radiation signal through an influencing zone to periodically affect attributes that affect the amplitude of the radiation signal.

Description

(Cross-reference of related applications)
This application claims the advantages of US Provisional Application No. 60 / 544,591, filed February 12, 2004, and the respective advantages of the following US patent applications: That is, 10 / 812,294, 10 / 811,782, and 10 / 812,295 (filed on March 29, 2004, respectively) and (each on December 14, 2004) U.S. Patent Application Nos. 11 / 011,761, 11 / 011,751, 11 / 011,496, 11 / 011,762, and 11 / 011,770, and U.S. Patent Application Nos. 10 / 906,220, 10 / 906,221, 10 / 906,222, 10 / 906,223, 10/906, each filed on Feb. 9, 2005, respectively. 906,224, 10 / 906,226, and 10 / 906,226, and U.S. Patent Application Nos. 10 / 906,255, 10 (filed on Feb. 11, 2005, respectively). 906, 256, 10/906, 257, 10/906, 258, 10/906, 259, 10/906, 260, 10/906, 261, 10/906 No. 262, and No. 10 / 906,263. That disclosure is incorporated by reference in its entirety for each and every purpose.
(Technical field)
The present invention relates generally to transport for propagating radiation, and more particularly to a guide channel that includes an optically active component that enhances the reactivity of the properties that affect the radiation of the waveguide to external influences. It is related with the waveguide which has.

The Faraday effect is a phenomenon in which the plane of polarization of linearly polarized light rotates when light propagates through a transparent medium placed in a magnetic field and parallel to the magnetic field. The effectiveness of the magnitude of polarization rotation varies with the strength of the magnetic field, the Verde constant inherent to the medium, and the optical path length. The rotation angle based on the experiment is shown by:
β = VBd
(Equation 1)
Where V is called the Verde constant (having the unit of angle min cm-1 gauss-1), B is the magnetic field, and d is the propagation distance exposed to the field. In the quantum mechanics description, Faraday rotation occurs because the pressing of the magnetic field modifies the energy level.

  Units as Faraday rotators that have high Verde constants or are used in optical isolators (for example, garnets containing iron) for measuring magnetic fields (such as those induced by current as a method of evaluating current intensity) It is known to use crystals). The optical isolator includes a Faraday rotator for rotating the plane of polarization by 45 °, a magnet for applying a magnetic field, a polarizer, and an analyzer. Conventional optical isolators are bulky types that do not use waveguides (eg, optical fibers).

  In conventional optics, magneto-optic modulators have been manufactured from separate crystals containing paramagnetic and ferromagnetic materials, in particular garnet (eg yttrium / iron garnet). Devices such as these require significant magnetic control fields. The magneto-optic effect has also been used to produce thin layer technology, particularly irreversible devices such as irreversible junctions. Devices such as these are based on mode conversion by the Faraday effect or by the Cotton-Mouton effect.

  An additional drawback of using paramagnetic and ferromagnetic materials in magneto-optical devices is that these materials can adversely affect the properties of radiation other than the polarization angle, eg, amplitude, phase, and / or frequency. It is a point.

  In the prior art, it has been known to use separate magneto-optic bulk devices (such as crystals) to collectively define display devices. These prior art displays have a relatively high cost per picture element (pixel), high operating costs for controlling individual pixels, and increased control complexity that does not scale well for relatively large display devices. It has several drawbacks including sex.

  Conventional imaging systems may be roughly classified into the following two categories. That is, (a) a flat panel display (FPD) and (b) a projection system (including a cathode ray tube (CRT) as a light emitting display). In general, the dominant technologies for the two systems are not the same, with exceptions. These two categories have clear challenges for future technologies, and existing technologies have not yet overcome these challenges in a satisfactory manner.

  A major challenge facing existing FPD technology compared to the dominant cathode ray tube (CRT) technology is cost ("flat panel" compared to CRT displays whose standard depth is approximately equal to the width of the display area. Meaning “flat” or “thin”).

  In order to achieve a set of predefined imaging standards including resolution, brightness, and contrast, FPD technology is almost 3 to 4 times more expensive than CRT technology. However, the bulkiness and weight of CRT technology, especially when the display area is enlarged, is a serious drawback. The desire for thin displays has driven the development of numerous technologies in the field of FPD activity.

  The high cost of FPD is mainly due to the use of sophisticated component materials in the dominant liquid crystal diode (LCD) technology or in the less common gas plasma technology. The unevenness of the nematic material used in LCDs results in a relatively high defect rate, and in many cases an array of LCD elements that are defective for individual cells results in the disposal of the entire display, or the cost of defective elements Leads to replacement.

  For both LCD and gas plasma display technologies, the inherent difficulty of controlling liquids or gases in the manufacture of such displays is a fundamental technical and cost limitation.

  A further cause of the high cost is the demand for relatively high operating overvoltages at each light valve / light emitting element in the existing technology. Fast switching speed on the imaging element, whether or not to rotate the nematic material of the LCD display, which in turn changes the polarization of the light transmitted through the liquid cell, or the excitation in the gas battery in the gas plasma display To achieve this, a relatively high voltage is required. In the case of LCDs, an “active matrix”, in which individual transistor elements are assigned to each imaging position, is a costly solution.

  As image quality standards for high definition television (HDTV) or higher products increase, existing FPD technologies cannot currently deliver image quality at a cost that is competitive with CRT. The cost difference at this end of the quality range is most noticeable. Delivering 35mm film quality resolution is technically feasible, but whether it is for television or computer display, it costs beyond the range of household appliances Is expected to involve.

  In the case of projection systems, there are two basic subclasses: television (or computer) displays and theatrical projection systems. Relative costs are an important issue in the context of competition with conventional 35 mm film projectors. However, in the case of HDTV, the projection system is a low cost solution when compared to conventional CRT, LCD FPD or gas plasma FPD.

  Current projection system technology also faces other challenges. HDTV projection systems face the dual challenge of minimizing the depth of the display while maintaining uniform image quality within the constraints of a relatively short projection distance to the display surface. This balance usually results in an unsatisfactory compromise at the expense of relatively low costs.

  However, an unstudied technical field for projection systems is in the cinema domain. Movie screen devices are an emerging application for projection systems, in which the issue of console depth versus uniform image quality is not usually true. Instead, the challenge is to be (at least) equal to the quality of a conventional 35 mm film projector at a competitive price. Existing technologies, including systems based on direct drive image light amplifiers (“D-ILA”), digital light processing (“DLP®”), and grating light valves (“GLV”) However, the quality of the conventional film projector is equal to that of the conventional film projector, but there is a considerable cost gap compared with the conventional film projector.

  The direct drive image light amplifier is a reflective liquid crystal light valve device developed by JVC Projectors. A driver integrated circuit (“IC”) writes an image directly onto a CMOS-based light valve. The liquid crystal changes the reflectance in proportion to the signal level. These vertically aligned crystals achieve very fast response times with rise times plus a fall time of less than 16 milliseconds. Light from a xenon or ultra-high performance (“UHP”) metal halide lamp moves from the polarizing beam splitter, is reflected from the D-ILA element, and is projected onto the screen.

At the heart of the DLP® projection system is an optical semiconductor known as a DMD chip, a digital micromirror device pioneered by Dr. Larry Hornbeck of Texas Instruments in 1987 . The DMD chip is an advanced optical switch. It contains a rectangular array of microscopic mirrors with up to 1.3 million hinges, each of these micromirrors measuring less than one-fifth the width of a human hair and one of the projected images Corresponds to a pixel. When the DMD chip is coordinated with a digital video signal or graphic signal, the light source and projection lens, or its mirror, reflects the entire digital image onto the screen or other surface. The DMD and the advanced electronic circuitry that surrounds it are called Digital Optical Processing ^TM technology.

  A process called GLV (Grating-Light-Valve) has been developed. Prototype devices based on the technology achieved a contrast ratio of 3000: 1 (a typical high-end projection display only achieves 1000: 1 today). The device uses three lasers selected at special wavelengths to deliver color. The three lasers are red (642 nm), green (532 nm), and blue (457 nm). The process uses MEMS technology (microelectromechanical) and consists of a microribbon array of 1,080 pixels in a row. Each pixel consists of six ribbons, three are fixed and three move up and down. When electrical energy is applied, the three movable ribbons form a kind of diffraction grating that “filters” away the light.

  Part of the cost gap is due to the inherent difficulties that these technologies face in achieving certain important image quality parameters at low cost. Contrast is difficult to achieve for the micromirror DLP, especially in “black” quality. GLV does not face this difficulty (achieving pixel zero or black through optical grating wave interference), but instead faces the difficulty of achieving an intermittent film-like image with a line array scan source instead. ing.

  Regardless of whether the technology is LCD-based or MEMS-based, the existing technology is also constrained by the economic aspects of manufacturing at least 1Kx1K array elements (micromirrors, reflective liquid crystal elements ("LCoS", etc.)). The chip-based system has a high defect rate when these numbers of elements are required to operate at the required technical standards.

  It is known to use graded index optical fibers in concert with the Faraday effect for a variety of telecommunications applications. To apply the Faraday effect to an optical fiber, the dispersion and other performance metrics are not optimized for the Faraday effect and may have been degraded by the optimization for the Faraday effect. Although there are inherent contradictions, the telecommunication characteristics of conventional optical fibers are well known for telecommunication applications of optical fibers. In some conventional optical fiber applications, ninety degrees of polarization rotation is achieved by applying a hundred oersted magnetic field with a path length of 54 meters. When the fiber is placed inside a solenoid and the desired magnetic field is generated by directing current through the solenoid, the desired field is applied. For telecommunications applications, the 54 meter path length is acceptable when considering that it is designed for use in a system having a total path length measured in kilometers.

  Another conventional application for the Faraday effect in the optical fiber context is as a system for overlaying low speed data transmission on top of conventional high speed transmission of data through the fiber. The Faraday effect is used to slowly modulate high speed data to provide out-of-band frequency signaling or control. Again, this application is realized in telecommunications applications as a potential study material.

  In these conventional applications, the fiber is designed for use in telecommunications, and modification of the fiber characteristics for participation in the Faraday effect typically results in attenuation and dispersion performance for kilometer-long fiber channels. It is not allowed to degrade the telecommunication characteristics, including the numerical indicators.

  Once acceptable levels are achieved for fiber optic performance metrics to enable use in telecommunications, fiber optic manufacturing techniques are efficient and cost effective for very long distance optically pure and uniform fibers. It has been developed and polished to enable highly effective manufacturing. A high level overview of the basic optical fiber manufacturing process involves the manufacture of a preform glass shell that pulls the fiber from the preform and tests the fiber. Typically, a preform blank is an improved chemical vapor deposition that bubbles oxygen through a silicon solution having the requisite chemical composition to produce the desired attributes (such as refractive index, expansion coefficient, melting point) of the final fiber. MCVD) process. The gas vapor is introduced into a synthetic quartz tube or quartz tube (cladding) in a special lathe. The lathe is rotated and the torch moves along the outside of the tube. The chemicals in the gas react with oxygen by the heat from the torch, forming silicon dioxide and germanium oxide, which deposits inside the tube and fuses together to form glass. When this process is complete, a blank preform is produced.

  After the blank preform is made, cooled and tested, it is placed inside a fiber pulling tower with the preform on top near the graphite furnace. The furnace melts the tip of the preform, resulting in the formation of molten “droplets” that begin to fall due to weight. The molten “droplet” cools as it falls, forming glass strands. The strand is passed through a series of processing stations to apply the desired coating and cure the coating, at a rate monitored by a computer so that the strand has the desired thickness. It is attached to the towing vehicle that pulls. The fiber is pulled at a speed of about 33 to 66 feet per second and the drawn strand is wound on a spool. It is not unusual for these spools to contain more than 1.4 miles of optical fiber.

  This finished fiber is tested, including tests for numerical indicators of performance. These performance metrics for telecommunications grade fibers are: tensile strength (above 100,000 pounds per square inch), refractive index profile (numerical aperture, and screen for optical defects), fiber geometry Shape (core diameter, cladding dimensions, and coating diameter), attenuation (degradation of light of various wavelengths over distance), bandwidth, chromatic dispersion, operating temperature / range, temperature dependence on attenuation, and conducting light in the ocean Including the ability to

  In 1996, a variation of the aforementioned optical fiber, subsequently named photonic crystal fiber (PCF), was demonstrated. PCF is an optical fiber / waveguide structure that uses a microstructured array of low index materials among higher index background materials. The background material is often undoped silica, and the low rate region is usually provided by air pores that run along the front length of the fiber. PCF is divided into two general categories: (1) high index guiding fiber and (2) low index guiding fiber.

  Similar to the conventional optical fiber described above, the high index guiding fiber guides light in the solid core according to the modified total reflection (MTIR) principle. Total reflection is caused by a low effective index in the area filled with finely structured air.

  Low index guiding fibers use the photonic band gap (PBG) effect to guide light. Since the PGB effect makes it impossible to propagate within the microstructure cladding region, light is limited to the low index core.

  Although the term “conventional waveguide structure” is used to encompass a wide range of waveguide structures and methods, the scope of these structures will be described herein to implement embodiments of the present invention. May be modified. The features of different fiber type assistants are adapted to many different applications in which they are used. Proper operation of fiber optic systems relies on knowing what type of fiber is being used and why it is being used.

  Conventional systems include single mode, multimode, and PCF waveguides and also include many subvariants. For example, multimode fibers include stepped fibers and graded fibers, and single mode fibers include stepped fibers, matched cladding structures, depressed cladding structures, and other non-standard structures. Multimode fibers are best designed for shorter transmission distances and are suitable for use in LAN systems and video surveillance. Single mode fibers are best designed for long transmission distances and are suitable for long distance telephone systems and multichannel television broadcast systems. “Air clad” or evanescent coupled waveguides include optical wires or optical nanowires.

  The step index usually refers to providing a sudden change in the refractive index for the waveguide—the core has a refractive index greater than that of the cladding. A graded index refers to a structure that provides a refractive index profile that gradually decreases away from the center of the core (eg, the core has a parabolic profile). Single mode fiber is a non-dispersion shifted fiber (NDSF), dispersion shifted fiber (DSF), non-zero dispersion shifted fiber (NZ-DSF), etc. length and radiation frequency (multiple cases etc.) specific application examples Has created many different profiles tailored for. A variety of important single mode fibers called polarization maintaining (PM) fibers have been developed. All other single mode fibers that have been described so far were able to propagate randomly polarized light. The PM fiber is intended to propagate only one polarization of input light. PM fibers contain features not found in other fiber types. In addition to the core, there are additional (two) longitudinal regions called stress rods. As the name implies, these stress rods cause stress in the fiber core so that transmission of only one polarization plane of light is preferred.

As previously mentioned, conventional magneto-optic systems, particularly Faraday rotators and isolators, are specialized magnetics including rare earth doped garnet crystals and other special materials, typically yttrium-iron-garnet (YIG) or bismuth-substituted YIG. We have used optical materials. YIG single crystals are grown using the floating zone (FZ) method. In this method, Y ₂ O ₃ and Fe ₂ O ₃ are mixed to suit the stoichiometric composition of YIG, and then the mixture is sintered. The YIG seed crystal is set on the remaining shaft, but the resulting sintered product is set as the mother stick on one shaft in the FZ furnace. A predetermined preparation of sintered material is placed in the central region between the mother stick and the seed crystal to generate the fluid necessary to promote the adhesion of the YIG single crystal. While the two shafts are rotated, the light from the halogen lamp is focused on the central area. The central region forms a melt zone when heated in an oxygen-containing atmosphere. Under this condition, the mother stick and the seed move at a constant speed, the melting zone moves along the mother stick, and a single crystal is grown from the YIG sintered product.

  Since the FZ method grows crystals from a mother stick suspended in the air, contamination is eliminated and high-purity crystals are grown. The FZ method produces an ingot that measures 012 x 120 mm.

Bi-substituted iron garnet thick films are grown by a liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) method involving an LPE furnace. The crystalline material and the PbO—B ₂ O ₃ flux are heated and melted in a platinum crucible. Single crystal wafers such as (GdCa) ₂ (GaMgZr) ₅ O ₁₂ are immersed on the melt surface during rotation and grow Bi-substituted iron garnet thick films on the wafer. Thick films that are measured as 3 inches in diameter can be grown.

  To obtain a 45 ° Faraday rotator, these films are polished to a specific thickness, coated with an anti-reflective coating, and then cut from 1 square millimeter to 2 square millimeters to fit the isolator. Since it has a larger Faraday rotation capacity than a YIG single crystal, the Bi-substituted iron garnet thick film must be thinned to the order of about 100 μm, thus requiring high precision processing.

  Further new systems address the production and synthesis of bismuth-substituted yttrium-iron-garnet (Bi-YIG) materials, thin films and nanopowders. 30341 nGimat, Inc., located in Peachtree Industrial Street, Atlanta, GA 5313, Atlanta, Georgia, uses a combustion chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) system for the production of thin film coatings. In the CCVD process, a precursor, which is a metal-containing chemical used to coat an object, is dissolved in a solution that is usually a combustible fuel. This solution is sprayed to form microscopic droplets by a special nozzle. The oxygen stream then carries these droplets to the flame where they are burned. The substrate (the material being coated) is coated simply by pulling it out before the flame. The heat of the flame evaporates the droplets and provides the energy necessary for the precursor to react and deposit (condense) on the substrate.

  Furthermore, epitaxial lift-off has been used to achieve heterogeneous integration of many III-V and elemental semiconductor systems. However, integrating many other important material-based devices has been difficult using several processes. A good example of this problem is the integration of single crystal transition metal oxides on a semiconductor platform, the system required for on-chip thin film optical isolators. Realization of epitaxial lift-off in magnetic garnet has been reported. Deep ion implantation is used to produce buried sacrificial layers in single crystal yttrium iron garnet (YIG) and bismuth-substituted YIG (Bi-YIG) epitaxial layers grown on gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG). Damage caused by the implantation induces a large etch selectivity between the sacrificial layer and the rest of the garnet. A 10 micron thick film is lifted off the original GGG substrate by etching with phosphoric acid. Millimeter-sized parts were transferred to silicon and gallium arsenide substrates.

  In addition, researchers have reported a multilayer structure called a magneto-optic photonic crystal that exhibits Faraday rotation at 748 nm, which is a hundred percent (140%) greater than a single layer bismuth iron garnet film of the same thickness. Current Faraday rotators are generally single crystal or epitaxial films. However, single crystal devices are rather large, making their use difficult in applications such as optical integrated circuits. And since the film also exhibits a thickness of about 500 μm, an alternative material system is desirable. The use of iron garnets, especially stacked films of bismuth garnet and yttrium iron garnet, was investigated. Designed for use with 750 nm light, four heteroepitaxial layers of yttrium iron garnet 81 nm thick, 70 nm thick bismuth iron garnet (BIG), BIG 279 nm thick central layer and YIG 4 layers of BIG. To manufacture the stack, pulsed laser deposition using an LPX305i 248 nm KrF excimer laser was used.

  As can be seen from the above description, the prior art utilizes special magneto-optic materials in most magneto-optic systems, but non-PCF optical fibers etc. by producing the required magnetic field strength unless the telecommunications measure is compromised It has also been known to use the Faraday effect together with a more conventional magneto-optical material. In some cases, post-manufacturing methods are used in conjunction with pre-made optical fibers to provide specific special coatings for use in specific magneto-optic applications. The same is true for special magneto-optic crystals and other bulk implementations in that post-manufacture processing of pre-made materials is sometimes required to achieve a variety of desired results. Such special processing increases the final cost of the special fiber and creates an additional situation where the fiber may not meet specifications. Many magnetic applications typically include a small number (usually one or two) of magneto-optic components, so that a relatively high cost per piece can be tolerated. However, as the number of magneto-optic components desired increases, the final cost (in dollars and hours) grows, and in applications using hundreds or thousands of such components, It is essential to significantly reduce unit costs.

  What is needed is a reduction in unit cost and increased manufacturability, reproducibility, uniformity, and reliability while enhancing the responsiveness of properties that affect waveguide radiation to external effects This is an alternative waveguide technology that provides advantages over the prior art.

  Disclosed is an apparatus and method for a transport system supported by a substrate with a radiation baffle system. The transport includes a semiconductor substrate, the substrate includes an integrated waveguide structure including one guiding channel and one or more boundary regions for propagating radiation signals from input to output, and control An influencer system coupled to the waveguide structure to independently control an attribute that affects the amplitude of the radiation signal within the zone of influence, and affects the amplitude of the radiation signal And a recursive system for periodically returning the radiation signal into the affecting zone for periodically affecting the affecting attribute. The method of operation comprises: a) a radiation signal through a waveguide structure comprising a single guiding channel supported in a substrate and one or more boundary regions for propagating the radiation signal from input to output. And b) recursing the radiation signal through an influencing zone for periodically affecting attributes that affect the amplitude of the radiation signal.

  It is also a preferred embodiment of the present invention for a manufacturing method, the method comprising: a) a wave guide comprising one guiding channel and one or more boundary regions for propagating radiation signals from input to output. Responsive to the control to place the tube structure in the substrate, and b) to the waveguide structure to independently control the attributes that affect the amplitude of the radiation signal within the zone of influence. A path of the waveguide structure to bring the influencer system into close proximity and c) to recurve the radiation signal through the influencing zone to periodically influence the attribute affecting the amplitude of the external radiation signal Arranging.

  The apparatus, method, computer program product and propagated signal of the present invention provide the advantage of using an improved and mature waveguide manufacturing process. In a preferred embodiment, the waveguide has an optical transport, preferably a short-range characteristic that affects the characteristics of the influencer by including an optically active component while maintaining the desired attributes of radiation. An optical fiber or waveguide channel adapted to strengthen. In a preferred embodiment, the characteristics of the affected radiation include the polarization state of the radiation, and the influencer controls the polarization rotation angle using a controllable variable magnetic field that propagates parallel to the transmission axis of the optical transport. Use the Faraday effect to do that. The optical transport is constructed so that the polarization can be quickly controlled using a low magnetic field strength over a very short optical path. The radiation is initially controlled to generate a wave component having one specific polarization. The polarization of the wave component is affected such that the second polarizing filter modulates the amplitude of the radiation emitted in response to the effect. In a preferred embodiment, this modulation includes extinguishing the emitted radiation. The incorporated patent applications, priority applications, and related applications disclose Faraday structured waveguides, Faraday structured waveguide modulators, displays, and other waveguide structures and methods that cooperate with the present invention. .

  Leveraging a mature and efficient fiber optic waveguide manufacturing process as disclosed herein as part of the present invention for use in the manufacture of low cost, uniform and efficient magneto-optic system elements In order to reduce the unit cost and increase manufacturability, reproducibility, uniformity and reliability, while enhancing the responsiveness of the properties affecting the radiation of the waveguide to external influences An alternative waveguide technology is provided that offers superior advantages.

  The present invention has been developed in the past to reduce the unit cost and increase manufacturability, reproducibility, uniformity and reliability while enhancing the reactivity of the properties affecting the radiation of the waveguide to external influences. The present invention relates to an alternative waveguide technology that provides advantages over this technology. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment and the general principles and features described herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.

  In the following description, the terms (1) optical transport, (2) property influencer, and (3) erasure have a specific meaning in the context of the present invention. For the purposes of the present invention, an optical transport is a waveguide that is specifically adapted to enhance the properties that affect the features of the influencer while preserving the desired attributes of radiation. In a preferred embodiment, the properties of the affected radiation include its polarization rotation state, and the influencer controls the polarization angle using a controllable variable magnetic field that propagates parallel to the transmission axis of the optical transport. To use the Faraday effect. The optical transport is constructed so that the polarization can be quickly controlled using a low magnetic field strength over a very short optical path. In some specific implementations, the optical transport keeps the fiber's guided properties at the same time, otherwise the property influencer effectively builds and collaborates the radiation characteristics (s). It includes an optical fiber that exhibits a high Verde constant due to the waveguide of transmitted radiation while addressing spurious appearances.

  A property influencer is a structure for realizing characteristic control of radiation transmitted by an optical transport. In a preferred embodiment, the property influencer is preferably an influencer of the optical transport, in one implementation for an optical transport formed by an optical fiber having a core and one or more cladding layers. It is operably coupled to an optical transport that is integrated into or onto one or more of the cladding layers without significantly adversely altering the waveguiding attributes. In preferred embodiments using the polarization characteristics of the transmitted radiation, the preferred implementation of the property influencer is a coil, coil form or one or more magnetic fields (one or more of which are controllable). Is the structure in which the polarization affects, such as other structures that can be integrated to support / produce the Faraday effect field in the optical transport (and thus affect the transmitted radiation).

  The structured waveguide of the present invention may in some embodiments serve as a transport in a modulator that controls the amplitude of the propagated radiation. The radiation emitted by the modulator has a maximum radiation amplitude and a minimum radiation amplitude that are controlled by the interaction of property influencers on the optical transport. Erasing simply refers to the minimum radiation amplitude being at a sufficiently low level (appropriate for certain embodiments) characterized as “off” or “dark” or other classification indicating the absence of radiation. In other words, in some applications, the sufficiently low but detectable / recognizable radiation amplitude is properly identified as “extinguished” when its level meets the parameters for the implementation or embodiment. May be. The present invention improves the response of the waveguide to the influencer by using an optically active component that is placed in the guiding region during waveguide fabrication.

  FIG. 1 is a general schematic plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention for a Faraday waveguide modulator 100. Modulator 100 includes an optical transport 105, a property influencer 110 operably coupled to transport 105, a first property element 120, and a second property element 125.

  The transport 105 may be implemented based on many well-known optical waveguide structures in the art. For example, the transport 105 is a specially adapted light having a guide channel that includes a guide region and one or more boundary regions (eg, a core and one or more cladding layers for the core). It may be a fiber (conventional or PCF) or the transport 105 may be a bulk device or substrate waveguide channel having one or more such inductive channels. Conventional waveguide structures are modified based on the type of radiation characteristics affected and the nature of the influencer 110.

  Influencer 110 is a structure for characterizing characteristics (directly or indirectly, such as through disclosed effects) on radiation transmitted through and / or on transport 105. . Many different types of radiation characteristics can be affected. And in many cases, the specific structure used to affect a given property may vary from implementation to implementation. In a preferred embodiment, a property that may also be used to control the output amplitude of radiation is a desirable property for influence. For example, the radiation polarization angle is one property that can be affected and may be used to control the transmitted amplitude of the radiation. Using another element, such as a fixed polarizer, the radiation amplitude is controlled based on the polarization angle of the radiation compared to the transmission axis of the polarizer. In this example, the transmitted radiation changes when the polarization angle is controlled.

  However, it is understood that other types of characteristics may also be affected and may be used to control output amplitude, such as radiation phase or radiation frequency. Other factors are typically used with modulator 100 to control the output amplitude based on the nature of the characteristic and the type and degree of influence on the characteristic. In some embodiments, other characteristics of the radiation may desirably be controlled, rather than the output amplitude, which may be desired for attributes whose characteristics other than those identified are controlled or for which the characteristics are desired. It may be required to be controlled differently to achieve control.

  The Faraday effect is just one example of one way to achieve polarization control within transport 105. A preferred embodiment of influencer 110 for Faraday polarization rotation effects uses a combination of a variable and fixed magnetic field that is proximate to or integrated into / on transport 105. These magnetic fields are preferably generated such that the controlling magnetic field is oriented parallel to the direction of propagation of the radiation transmitted through the transport 105. By appropriately controlling the direction and magnitude of the magnetic field with respect to the transport, the desired degree of influence on the radiation polarization angle is achieved.

  It is preferred in this particular example that the transport 105 is constructed to improve / maximize the “influency” of the property selected by the influencer 110. In the case of polarization rotation characteristics using the Faraday effect, the transport 105 is doped, formed, processed, and / or handled to increase / maximize the Verde constant. As the Verde constant increases, the influencer 110 can more easily affect the polarization rotation angle with a predetermined electric field strength and transport length. In the preferred embodiment of this implementation, attention to the Verde constant is a primary task using other features / attributes / features of the transport 105 secondary waveguide aspect. Although some implementations may be provided otherwise, in a preferred embodiment, influencer 110 is integrated with transport 105 through a waveguide manufacturing process (such as a preform manufacturing and / or pulling process). Or otherwise “strongly associated”.

  Elements 120 and 125 are property elements for selecting / filtering / acting on the desired radiation characteristics affected by influencer 110. Element 120 may be a filter used as a “gating” element to pass a wave component of the input radiation having the desired state of the appropriate characteristics, or it may be in the desired state of the appropriate characteristics. It may be a “processing” element for adapting one or more wave components of the input radiation. The gated / processed wave component from element 120 is provided to optical transport 105, and property influencer 110 controllably affects the transported wave component as described above.

  The element 125 is a cooperative structure with respect to the element 120 and acts on the affected wave component. The element 125 has a structure for passing WAVE_OUT based on the characteristic state of the wave component and controlling the amplitude of WAVE OUT. The nature and details of the control are related to the characteristics affected and the state of the characteristics from element 120 and the details of how the initial state was affected by influencer 110.

  For example, the element 120 and the element 125 may be polarization filters if the affected characteristic is the polarization characteristic / polarization rotation angle of the wave component. Element 120 selects one particular type of polarization of the wave component, eg, right-handed polarized light. The influencer 110 controls the polarization rotation angle of the radiation as it passes through the transport 105. Element 125 filters the affected wave component based on the final polarization rotation angle compared to the transmission angle of element 125. In other words, WAVE_OUT has a high amplitude when the polarization rotation angle of the affected wave component coincides with the transmission axis of element 125. WAVE_OUT has a low amplitude when the polarization rotation angle of the affected wave component “crosses” the transmission axis of element 125. Crossing in this context refers to a rotation angle that is approximately ninety degrees off the transmission axis of a conventional polarizing filter.

  Furthermore, the relative orientation of element 120 and element 125 can be established such that the default state results in a maximum amplitude of WAVE_OUT, a minimum amplitude of WAVE_OUT, or some value in between. The default state refers to the magnitude of the output amplitude that is not affected by the influencer 110. For example, by setting the transmission axis of element 125 in a ninety degree relationship with respect to the transmission axis of element 120, the default state would be the minimum amplitude of the preferred embodiment.

  Element 120 and element 125 may be separate components, or one or more structures may be integrated on or in transport 105. In other embodiments, these elements may be distributed within a particular region of transport 105 or across transport 105, but in some cases, the elements may be transport 105 as in the preferred embodiment. May be localized with "input" and "output".

  In operation, radiation (shown as WAVE_IN) is incident on the element 120 and appropriate characteristics (eg, right-handed polarization (RCP) rotation component) are gated to pass the RCP wave component to the transport 105. /It is processed. The transport W105 is normally (e.g., right rotated polarization (RCP) and left rotated) until it interacts with the element 125 and passes the wave component (denoted as WAVE_OUT) passing the RCP wave component. A plurality of orthogonal states with respect to polarization characteristics (polarized light (LCP), etc.). Element 120 produces a particular state of polarization rotation characteristics (eg, passing one of the orthogonal states, blocking / shifting the other so that only one state is passed, etc.). The influencer 110 may affect that particular polarization rotation of the passed wave component in response to a control signal and modify it as specified by the control signal. The influencer 110 of the present embodiment can affect the polarization rotation characteristics within a range of about 90 degrees. Element 125 then interacts with the wave component as it is affected, from the maximum when the wave component polarization rotation coincides with the transmission axis of element 125, and the wave component polarization "crosses" the transmission axis. When “Yes”, the radiation amplitude of WAVE_IN can be modulated from the minimum value. By using element 120, the amplitude of the preferred implementation WAVE_OUT is variable from a maximum level to a level that is extinguished.

  FIG. 2 is a detailed schematic plan view of a particular implementation of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. Although the present invention is not limited to this particular example, the implementation is specifically described to simplify the description. The Faraday structured wave modulator 100 shown in FIG. 1 is the Faraday light modulator 200 shown in FIG.

  The modulator 200 includes a core 205, a first cladding layer 210, a second cladding layer 215, and a coil or coil form 220 (coil 220 having a first control node 225 and a second control node 230). And an input element 235 and an output element 240. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2 taken between element 235 and element 240, with like numbers indicating the same or corresponding structure.

  The core 205 may include one or more of the following dopants added by standard fiber manufacturing techniques, such as variations in vacuum deposition methods. That is, (a) a color dye dopant (which effectively makes the modulator 200 a shining color filter from the light source system), (b) an efficient Faraday in the presence of YIG / Bi-YIG or Tb or TGG or an activating magnetic field. An optically active dopant, like other dopants, to increase the Verde constant of the core 205 to achieve rotation. Holes or irregularities are added in the core 205 by heating or stressing the fiber during manufacturing, further increasing the Verde constant and / or realizing a non-linear effect. To further simplify the description here, the description will mainly focus on non-PCF waveguides. However, in the context of this description, PCF variants may be substituted for non-PCF wavelength embodiments, unless the context clearly violates such alternatives. In the case of PCF waveguides, rather than using a color dye dopant, color filtering may be achieved using wavelength selective bandgap coupling or longitudinal structure / air gaps may be filled and doped. Thus, whenever color filtering / dye doping is described in the context of non-PCF waveguides, the use of wavelength selective bandgap coupling and / or filling and doping of PCF waveguides may be substituted when appropriate. Good.

  Many silica optical fibers are manufactured with a high level of dopant based on silica percentage (this level can be as high as fifty percent dopant). Current dopant concentrations in the silica structure of other types of fibers achieve about ninety degrees of rotation at distances of tens of microns. Conventional fiber manufacturers have increased the dopant concentration (eg, fibers available from JDS Uniphase) and dopant profiles (eg, fibers available from Corning Incorporated) ) Continue to achieve improvements in controlling. The core 205 achieves a sufficiently high and controlled concentration of optically active dopants to provide the necessary rapid rotation of low power at micron scale distances, and these power / distance values are It continues to decrease as further improvements are made.

  The first cladding layer 210 (optional in the preferred embodiment) is doped with a ferromagnetic monomolecular magnet that is permanently magnetized when exposed to a strong magnetic field. The magnetization of the first cladding layer 210 is extracted prior to addition to the core 205 or preform or from the modulator 200 (complete with core, cladding, coating (s) and / or elements). Can happen after. During this process, the preform or drawn fiber passes through a strong permanent magnetic field that is displaced ninety degrees from the transmission axis of the core 205. In a preferred embodiment, this magnetization is achieved by an electromagnet arranged as an element of the fiber tensioner. A first cladding layer 210 (with permanent magnetic properties) is provided to saturate the magnetic region of the optically active core 205, but the direction of the magnetic field from the layer 210 is perpendicular to the direction of propagation. Therefore, the angle of rotation of the radiation passing through the fiber 200 is not changed. The incorporated provisional application describes a method for optimizing the orientation of the ferromagnetic cladding doped by atomic atomization that is not optimal in crystal structure.

  The use of these SMMs is preferred as a dopant since single molecule magnets (SMMs) are discovered that can be magnetized at relatively high temperatures. The use of these SMMs allows for the generation of excellent doping concentrations and control of the dopant profile. Examples and methods of commercially available single molecule magnets are available from ZettaCore, Inc. of Denver, Colorado.

  The second cladding layer 215 is doped with a ferrimagnetic or ferromagnetic material and is characterized by an appropriate hysteresis curve. The preferred embodiment uses a “short” curve that is also “wide” and “flat” when producing the required field. When the second cladding layer 215 is saturated by a magnetic field generated by an adjacent electric field generating element (eg, coil 220), which is itself driven by a signal (eg, control pulse) from a controller such as a switching matrix drive circuit (not shown). The second cladding layer 215 immediately reaches a degree of magnetization appropriate to the degree of rotation desired for the modulator 200. In addition, the second cladding layer 215 may cause a subsequent pulse to increase the magnetization level (current in the same direction), refresh (no current or +/− maintenance current), or reduce (current in the opposite direction). It remains magnetized at that level or remains close enough to that level. This residual magnetic flux in the doped second cladding layer 215 maintains an appropriate degree of rotation over time even if the field is not constantly applied by the influencer 110 (eg, coil 220).

  Appropriate modification / optimization of the doped ferrimagnet / ferromagnet may further be achieved by ion bombardment of the cladding with appropriate process steps. “METHOD OF DEPOSITING A FERROMAGNETIC FILM ON A WAVEGUIDE AND A MAGNETO-OPTIC COMPONING COMPROMING AROM FILM DEPOSITED BY THE METHOD), which is assigned to Alcatel in Paris, France, and the ferromagnetic thin films deposited on the waveguide by the vapor phase method are ordered within the preferred crystal structure. Reference is made to US Pat. No. 6,103,010, which is bombarded by an ion beam at an angle of incidence that crushes no nuclei. Modification of the crystal structure is a method known in the art and may be utilized on silica cladding doped either in the manufactured fiber or on a doped preform material. The '010 patent is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

  Similar to the first cladding layer 210, a suitable single molecule magnet (SMM) that can be made and magnetized at a relatively high temperature can allow the second cladding layer 215 to have an excellent doping concentration. Therefore, it is preferable as a dopant in a preferred embodiment.

  The coil 220 of the preferred embodiment is manufactured integrally on or in the fiber 200 to generate an initial magnetic field. This magnetic field from the coil 220 rotates the angle of polarization of the radiation transmitted through the core 205 and magnetizes the ferrimagnetic / ferromagnetic dopant in the second cladding layer 215. A combination of these magnetic fields is desired (such as the time of one video frame when the matrix of fibers 200 collectively forms a display as described in one of the related patent applications incorporated herein). The desired rotation angle is maintained for a given period. For purposes of this description, a “coil form” is defined as a structure similar to a coil in which a plurality of conductive segments are disposed parallel to each other and perpendicular to the axis of the fiber. As the performance of the material increases—that is, the effective Verde constant of the doped core increases (or as a reinforced structural variant, including one that produces non-linear effects) —because of higher Verde constant dopants. The need for a “coil foam” surrounding a coil or fiber element may be reduced or obviated, and a simpler single band or Gaussian cylinder structure will be practical. These structures (including cylinder structures and coils and other similar structures) are included in the definition of a coil form when performing the functions of the coil form described herein. The terms coil and coil form may be used interchangeably when the context allows.

  When considering the variables in the equation that specify the Faraday effect, ie the magnetic field strength, the distance to which the magnetic field is applied, and the Verde constant of the rotating medium, one result is that the structure, components and / or apparatus using the modulator 200 is It can compensate for a coil or coil form formed from a material that produces a less powerful magnetic field. Compensation may be achieved by making the modulator 200 longer or by further increasing / improving the effective Verde constant. For example, in some implementations, the coil 220 uses a conductor that is a conductive polymer that is less efficient than a metal wire. In other implementations, the coil 220 uses wider but fewer windings that would otherwise be used with more efficient materials. In still other examples, such as when creating a coil 220 that has a less efficient operation, although the coil 220 is manufactured by a conventional process, other parameters may be necessary to achieve proper overall operation. Compensate accordingly.

  There is a trade-off between design parameters—fiber length, core Verde constant, and field generating element peak field power and efficiency. Taking these trade-offs into account, four preferred embodiments of integrally formed coil foams result including: (1) a twisted fiber for realizing a coil / coil form, (2) a fiber epitaxially wound with a thin film printed with a conductive pattern to achieve a plurality of layers of windings, (3) a coil / Printed by dipping pen nanolithography on the fiber to produce a coil foam, and (4) a coil / coil foam that is coated with coated / doped glass fiber, or alternatively coated with metal, or An uncoated conductive polymer, that is, a metallic wire. Additional details of these embodiments are set forth in the related and incorporated provisional patent applications referenced above.

  Nodes 225 and 230 receive signals to include the necessary magnetic field generation within the core 205, the cladding layer 215, and the coil 220. This signal in a simple embodiment is a DC (direct current) signal of appropriate magnitude and duration to create the desired magnetic field and rotate the polarization angle of the WAVE_IN radiation propagating through the modulator 200. . A controller (not shown) may provide this control signal when the modulator 200 is used.

  Input element 235 and output element 240 are polarization filters that are provided as separate components or integrated in / on core 205 in the preferred embodiment. Input element 235 may be implemented in many different ways as a polarizer. A variety of polarization mechanisms that allow the passage of a single polarization type (special circular or linear) light into the core 205 may be utilized. That is, the preferred embodiment uses a thin film that is epitaxially deposited at the “input” end of the core 205. Alternative preferred embodiments are commercially available on the waveguide 200 to achieve polarization filtering (such as modifications to the silica in the core 205 or cladding layer as described in the incorporated provisional patent application). Use nanoscale microstructure structuring techniques. In some implementations for efficient input of light from one or more light sources (s), the preferred illumination system allows repeated reflections of “wrong” initially polarized light A cavity may be included. Thereby, all the light is ultimately accepted, ie it decomposes into “correct” polarized light. If desired, polarization maintaining waveguides (fibers, semiconductors) may be utilized, particularly depending on the distance from the illumination source to the modulator 200.

  The output element 240 of the preferred embodiment is a “polarizing filter” element that is deflected ninety degrees from the orientation of the input element 235 for the default “off” modulator 200. (In some embodiments, the default may be turned “on” by aligning the axes of the input and output elements. Similarly, other defaults such as fifty percent amplitude may be input and output elements. The element 240 is preferably a thin film that is epitaxially deposited on the output end of the core 205. Input element 235 and output element 240 may be configured differently from those described herein using other polarizing filter / control systems. If the affected radiation properties include properties other than the radiation polarization angle (eg, phase or frequency), other input and output functions may be used as described above to modulate the amplitude of WAVE_OUT in response to the influencer. Used to properly gate / process / filter desired characteristics.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment of display assembly 400. The assembly 400 includes a collection of picture elements (pixels) each produced by a waveguide modulator 200 _{i, j} as shown in FIG. A control signal for control of each influencer of the modulator 200 _{i, j} is provided by the controller 405. The radiation source 410 provides source radiation for input / control by the modulators 200 _{i, j} , and the front panel arranges the modulators 200 _{i, j} in the desired pattern and / or optionally one or more. May be used to provide post-output processing of a number of pixels.

The radiation source 410 may be a single balanced white or separate RGB / CMY tuned source or sources, or other suitable radiation frequency. The source (s) 410 may be remote from the inputs of the modulators 200 _{i, j} , may be adjacent to these inputs, or on / in the modulators 200 _{i, j.} May be integrated. Other implementations may use multiple or even more (possibly one source per modulator 200 _{i, j} ), but some implementations use a single source The

As described above, the preferred embodiment for the optical transport of modulators 200 _{i, j} includes an optical channel in the form of a special optical fiber. However, semiconductor waveguides, waveguide holes, or other optical waveguide channels that include channels or regions formed "deep" through the material are also encompassed within the scope of the present invention. These waveguide elements are the underlying imaging structure of the display and integrate and incorporate an amplitude modulation mechanism and a color selection mechanism. In a preferred embodiment for an FPD implementation, the length of each of the optical channels is preferably on the order of tens of microns (although the length may vary as described herein).

  It is a feature of the preferred embodiment that the length of the optical transport is short (about 20 mm or less), the effective verde value increases and / or can be constantly shortened as the magnetic field strength increases. The actual depth of the display is a function of the channel length, but since the optical transport is a waveguide, the path need not be linear from source to output (path length). In other words, in some implementations the actual path may be bent to provide a shallower effective depth. The path length is a function of the Verde constant and the magnetic field strength as described above, and the preferred embodiment addresses very short path lengths of a few millimeters or less, although longer lengths are also used in some implementations. It's okay. The required length is determined by the influencer to achieve the desired degree of influence / control on the input radiation. In the preferred embodiment of polarized radiation, this control can achieve about ninety degrees of rotation. In some applications, higher levels of erasing (eg, brighter) may use fewer rotations that reduce the required path length. Accordingly, the path length is also affected by the desired degree of influence on the wave component.

The controller 405 includes many alternatives for the construction and assembly of a suitable switching system. The preferred implementation not only includes a point-to-point controller, but it also includes a “matrix” that structurally couples and holds the modulators 200 _{i, j} and electronically addresses each pixel. In the fiber optic case, inherent to the nature of the fiber component is the potential for an all-fiber textile structure and proper addressing of the fiber element. A flexible mesh or solid matrix is an alternative structure with an accompanying assembly method.

It is a feature of the preferred embodiment that the output of one or more modulators 200 _{i, j} may be processed to improve its application. For example, the output end of the waveguide structure is heat treated and pulled, particularly when implemented as an optical fiber, to form a tapered end, or otherwise worn out, twisted, or It may be shaped to enhance light scattering at the output end, thereby improving the viewing angle at the display surface. Some and / or all of the modulator outputs may be processed in a similar or different manner to collectively produce the desired output structure that achieves the desired result. For example, the various focus, attenuation, color, or other attribute (s) of WAVE_OUT from one or more pixels may be one or more output edges / corresponding panel positions (may be multiple). ) May be controlled or influenced by the process.

The front panel 415 may simply be a piece of optical glass or other transparent optical material that faces the polarizing component, or it may include additional functional and structural features. For example, the panel 415 may include a guide or other structure to _align the output ends of the modulators 200 _{i, j} in the desired relative orientation with the adjacent modulators 200 _{i, j} . FIG. 5 is a diagram of one arrangement for the output ports 500x, y of the front panel 415 shown in FIG. Other arrangements are also contemplated depending on the display desired (eg, circular, oval, or other regular or irregular geometry). When an application requires it, the active display area need not be adjacent pixels, as is possible when a ring or “donut” display is appropriate. In other implementations, the output port may focus on other types of output post-processing on one or more pixels, may be distributed, may be filtered, or may be performed.

  A waveguide end is desired (such as a curved surface) that allows additional focusing capability in order with additional optical elements and lenses (some of which may be included as part of panel 415). The optical geometry of the display or projector surface that terminates in a three-dimensional surface changes itself. Some applications require multiple regions of concave surface area, flat surface area and / or protruding surface area, each having a different curvature and orientation according to the present invention and providing an appropriate output shape. Good. In some applications, special geometric shapes need not be fixed, but may be dynamically modifiable to change shape / orientation / dimensions as desired. Implementations of the present invention may also create various types of haptic display systems.

In a projection system implementation, the radiation source 410, the “switching assembly” with the controller 405 coupled to the modulators 200 _{i, j} , and the front panel 415 may be separated from each other by a separate module or device. You may benefit from being housed inside. With respect to radiation source 410, in some embodiments, the illumination source (s) are switched and assembled due to the heat generated by the type of high amplitude light normally required to illuminate a large theater screen. It is advantageous to separate from the product. Even if multiple illumination sources are used, for example, if the otherwise concentrated heat output is distributed within a single xenon lamp, the heat output may still be desired to be separated from the switching and display elements. It can be big enough. In this way the illumination source (s) will be housed in an insulated case with heat sink and cooling element. The fiber will then transmit light from a separate or single source to the switching assembly and then projected onto the screen. The screen may include some features of the front panel 415, or the panel 415 may be used before illuminating a suitable surface.

  There are unique advantages to the projection / separation of the switching assembly from the display surface. Placing the lighting and switching assembly at the base of the projection system (which would be true for FPD) can reduce the depth of the projection TV cabinet. Alternatively, the projection surface may be housed in a compact ball at the top of a thin lamp-like column, or suspended from the ceiling and cable in front of a shadowing system that utilizes a reflective fabric screen.

  In the case of theatrical projection, the waveguide structure from the device on the floor to the compact final optical device in the projection window area has the potential to convey the image formed by the switching assembly. Among other advantages and configurations, it suggests a space utilization strategy for accommodating both a conventional film projector and a new preferred embodiment projector in the same projection room.

  A monolithic structure of waveguide strips arranged side by side or glued, each comprising thousands of waveguides on the strip, may achieve high definition imaging. However, the construction of “bulk” fiber optic components may also achieve the small protruding surfaces required in the preferred embodiment. Single mode fibers (especially without the durability performance requirements of external telecommunications cables) have a sufficiently small diameter that the fiber cross-sectional area is very small and suitable as a display pixel or subpixel.

  In addition, integrated optical fabrication techniques are expected to be able to achieve the attenuator array of the present invention in the manufacture of large monolithic or superficial single semiconductor substrates or chips.

  In the molten fiber projection surface, the molten fiber surface may then be polished to achieve the desired curvature to focus the image on the optical array. Alternatively, the fiber ends that are glued or otherwise tied together may have a shaped tip and, if necessary, arranged at its end in a shaped matrix to achieve a curved surface. May be.

  In the case of projection television or other non-theater projection applications, the option of separating the lighting module and switching module from the projector surface allows a new way of achieving a less bulky projection television cabinet structure.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention of a portion 600 of the structured waveguide 205 shown in FIG. Portion 600 is a radiation propagation channel of waveguide 205, typically a guiding channel (eg, a core for a fiber waveguide), but one or more boundary regions (eg, a cladding for a fiber waveguide). ). Other waveguiding structures have a variety of specific mechanisms for enhancing the waveguiding properties of radiation propagating along the transmission axis of the channel region of the waveguide. Waveguides include photonic crystal fibers, special thin film stacks of structural materials, and other materials. Although the specific features of waveguiding may vary from waveguide to waveguide, the present invention may be adapted for use with a variety of structures.

  For the purposes of the present invention, the term guiding region or guiding channel and boundary region refers to a cooperative structure for enhancing the propagation of radiation along the channel's transmission axis. These structures are different from the post-fabrication processing of various buffers or coatings or waveguides. The difference in principle is that the other components of the waveguide do not propagate, but the boundary region can propagate wave components that normally propagate through the guiding region. For example, in multimode fiber optic waveguides, significant energy in higher order modes propagates through the boundary region. One difference is that the other support structure is thus substantially opaque while the guide / boundary region (s) are substantially transparent to the propagating radiation.

  As previously described, influencer 110 operates in concert with waveguide 205 to affect the properties of wave components that propagate as it is transmitted along the transmission axis. Thus, portion 600 is said to have an influencer response attribute, which in a preferred embodiment is specifically structured to enhance the response of the propagating wave characteristic to influencer 110. Portion 600 may include a plurality of components (eg, rare earth dopants 605, holes 610, structural irregularities 615) disposed as desired for a particular implementation within the guiding region and / or one or more boundary regions. , Ultrafine bubbles 620, and / or other elements 625). In preferred embodiments, portion 600 often has a very short length of less than about 25 millimeters, and sometimes has a much shorter length, as described above. The influencer response attributes enhanced by these constituents are short (eg, as opposed to telecommunications fibers optimized for very long lengths of about several kilometers or more including attenuation and chromatic dispersion) Optimized for length waveguides. The components of portion 600 that are optimized for another application will significantly exacerbate the use of waveguide telecommunications. Although the presence of constituents is not intended to hurt telecommunications applications, the preferred embodiment concentrates on enhancing the influencer reaction attribute over the telecommunications attribute (s). Such degradation may occur and is not a disadvantage of the preferred embodiment.

  The present invention considers that there are many different wave characteristics that can be affected by different structures of influencer 110. The preferred embodiment targets the Faraday effect related properties of portion 600. As described above, the Faraday effect induces a change in polarization rotation in response to a magnetic field parallel to the propagation direction. In the preferred embodiment, when influencer 110 generates a magnetic field parallel to the transmission axis, in portion 600, the amount of rotation depends on the strength of the magnetic field, the length of portion 600, and the Verde constant of portion 600. The constituent material increases the reactivity of the portion 600 to this magnetic field, for example by increasing the effective Verde constant of the portion 600.

  One significance of the waveguide fabrication and feature paradigm shift according to the present invention is that the modification of the fabrication techniques used to fabricate kilometer-length optically pure telecommunications grade waveguides potentially It is possible to produce optically impure (but optically active) influencer-reactive waveguides. As previously mentioned, some implementations of the preferred embodiment may use a myriad of very short length waveguides modified as disclosed herein. Cost savings and other efficiencies / advantages are that these assemblies are formed from short length waveguides that are created (eg, split) from longer waveguides manufactured as described herein. It is realized by. These cost savings and other efficiencies and advantages use mature manufacturing techniques and equipment that have the potential to overcome many of the shortcomings of magneto-optical systems that utilize separate magneto-optical crystals conventionally manufactured as system elements. Including advantages to For example, these drawbacks include high manufacturing costs, lack of uniformity across multiple magneto-optic crystals, and the relatively large size of the individual components that limit the size of the collection of individual components.

  Preferred embodiments include modifications to the fiber waveguide and fiber waveguide manufacturing methodology. In its most common, an optical fiber is a transparent (at a critical wavelength) dielectric (usually glass or plastic) filament, usually with a circular cross-section for guiding light. In the case of early optical fibers, the cylindrical core was surrounded by a similar geometric cladding and was in intimate contact. These optical fibers guided the light by giving the core a refractive index that is slightly larger than the refractive index of the cladding layer. Other fiber types provide different guidance mechanisms-important in the context of the present invention include photonic crystal fibers (PCF) as described above.

Silica (silicon dioxide (SiO ₂ )) is the basic material from which the most common communication grade optical fibers are made. Silica may occur in crystalline or amorphous forms and occurs naturally in impure forms such as quartz and sand. The Verde constant is an optical constant that describes the strength of the Faraday effect of a particular material. Most materials, including silica, have very small Verde constants and are wavelength dependent. It is a substance that contains paramagnetic ions such as terbium (Tb) and is very powerful. High Verde constants are found in terbium-doped high density flint glasses or in crystals of terbium gallium garnet (TGG). This material generally has excellent transparency properties and is very resistant to laser loss. The Faraday effect is not colored (ie it is wavelength independent), but the Verde constant is a very powerful function of wavelength. At 632.8 nm, the TGG Verde constant is reported to be 134 rad T-1, whereas at 1064 nm it has dropped to -40 rad T-1. This operation means that a device manufactured with a particular degree of rotation at one wavelength will produce much less rotation at longer wavelengths.

  Constituent materials are in some ways YIG / Bi-YIG or Tb or TGG or other best to increase the Verde constant of the waveguide to achieve efficient Faraday rotation in the presence of an activating magnetic field. Optically activated dopants such as dopants that function in When heated or stressed during the fiber manufacturing process as described below, the Verde constant may be further increased by adding additional constituents (holes or irregularities) to the portion 600. Rare earths, such as those used in conventional waveguides, are utilized as passive enhancements for transmission attribute elements and are not utilized in optically active applications.

  Silica optical fiber is manufactured with a high level of dopant, such as at least 50% dopant, compared to the silica percentage itself, and other dopant concentrations required to achieve 90 ° rotation at tens of microns or less. Proven improvements with proven dopant concentrations (eg, fibers available from JDS Uniphase) and improvements are known (eg, Corning Incorporated), with proven silica structures. To achieve sufficiently high and controlled concentrations of optically active dopants to induce rotation at low power at micron scale distances, as demonstrated by controlled dopant profiles be able to.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary waveguide manufacturing system 700 for performing the preferred embodiment of the waveguide preform of the present invention. System 700 represents a modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) process to produce a glass rod called a preform. The preform from the conventional process is a solid rod of ultra high purity glass that accurately reproduces the desired optical properties of the fiber, but increases the line dimensions by more than two orders of magnitude. However, the system 700 does not emphasize optimal purity, but produces a preform that optimizes short distance optimization of the influencer reaction. The preform is typically made using one of the following chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods. That is, 1. Improved chemical vapor deposition (MCVD), 2. 2. plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PMCVD); 3. plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PCVD); 4. External deposition (OVD), Gas phase shafting (AVD). All these methods are based on a thermal chemical vapor deposition reaction that forms an oxide deposited as a layer of glass particles, called soot, outside the rotating rod or inside the glass tube. The same chemical reaction occurs in these ways.

Various liquids that provide sources for Si and dopants (eg, starting materials are solutions of SiCl ₄ , GeCl ₄ , POCl ₃ and gaseous BCl ₃ ) are oxygen gas, each liquid in heated bubbler 705. And when there is gas from the source 710, it is heated. These liquids evaporate in the oxygen stream controlled by the mass flow meter 715 and the gas forms silica and other oxides from the combustion of the halide that produces the glass in the silica lathe 720. Chemical reactions called oxidation reactions occur in the gas phase as listed below. That is, GeCl ₄ + O ₂ → GeO ₂ + 2Cl ₂ SiCl ₄ + O ₂ → SiO ₂ + 2Cl ₂ 4POCl ₃ + 3O ₂ → 2P ₂ O ₅ + 6Cl ₂ 4BCl ₃ + 3O ₂ → 2B ₂ O ₃ + 6Cl ₂

  Germanium oxide and phosphorus pentoxide increase the refractive index of the glass, and boron oxide decreases it. These oxides are known as dopants. Other bubblers 705 that contain suitable components to enhance the influencer reaction attributes of the preform may be used in addition to those shown.

  Changing the composition of the mixture during the process affects the refractive index profile and the component profile of the preform. The flow rate of oxygen is controlled by a mixing valve 715 and the reactant gas 725 is blown into a silica pipe 730 that includes a heated tube 735 where oxidation occurs. Chlorine gas 740 is blown out of tube 735, while the oxidized compound is deposited in the tube in the form of soot 745. The concentration of iron and copper impurities is reduced from about 10 ppb in the unprocessed liquid to less than 1 ppb in soot 745.

    The tube 735 is heated using a transverse H 2 O 2 burner 750 and is continuously rotated to glass the soot 745 into the glass 755. By adjusting the relative flow of the various vapors 725, multiple layers of different refractive indices such as core-to-cladding or variable core index profiles for GI fibers can be obtained. After stratification is complete, tube 735 is heated and collapses into a round solid cross-section rod called a preform rod. In this step, it is essential that the center of the rod is completely filled with material and not hollow. The preform rod is then placed in a drawing furnace as described in conjunction with FIG.

The main advantage of MCVD is that reaction and deposition occur in a closed space, making it more difficult for unwanted impurities to enter. The index profile of the fiber is easy to control and the accuracy required for the SM fiber can be achieved relatively easily. The device is simple to build and control. A potentially significant limitation of the method is that the tube dimensions inherently limit the rod size. Thus, this technique typically forms a fiber of 35 km length, or at most 20 km to 40 km. In addition, impurities in the silica tube, mainly H ₂ and OH—, tend to diffuse into the fiber. Also, the process of melting deposits to eliminate the hollow center of the preform rod sometimes causes a decrease in the refractive index of the core, making the fiber usually unsuitable for telecommunications applications, but generally in the context of the present invention It does not matter. In terms of cost and expense, the main disadvantage of the process is that it initiates the oxidation reaction and heats the tube 735 to make the soot vitreous, that is, not directly steam. Since indirect heating is used, the adhesion rate is relatively slow. The adhesion rate is usually 0.5 to 2 g per minute.

  A variation of the process described above handles fibers doped with rare earths. In order to produce rare earth doped fibers, the process begins with a rare earth doped preform—typically produced using a solution doping process. First, an optical cladding, mainly made of fused silica, is deposited inside the substrate tube. Next, the core material, which may also contain germanium, is deposited at a reduced temperature to form a diffused water permeable layer known as a “glass raw material”. After deposition of the glass raw material, this partially completed preform is sealed at one end and removed from the lathe and introduced with the appropriate salt solution of the desired rare earth dopant (eg, neodymium, erbium, ytterbium, etc.) Is done. During the fixed period, the solution is left to permeate the glass material. After discarding excess solution, the preform is returned to the lathe, dried and hardened. While solid, the cracks in the glass material collapse and encapsulate the rare earth. Finally, the preform is subjected to controlled collapse at high temperatures, forming a solid rod of glass—rare earth is incorporated into the core. In general, including rare earths in fiber cables is not optically active. That is, it responds to electrical, magnetic, or other perturbations or fields to affect the characteristics of light propagating through the doped medium. Conventional systems are the result of ongoing search to increase the percentage of rare earth dopants driven by the goal of improving the “passive” transmission characteristics of the waveguide (including telecommunications attributes). However, increasing the percentage of dopant in the waveguide core / boundary is advantageous because it affects the optical activity of the composite media / structure for the preferred embodiment. As mentioned above, in a preferred embodiment, the dopant to silica percentage is at least fifty percent.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary fiber pulling system 800 for making a preferred embodiment of the present invention from a preform 805, such as that produced from the system 700 shown in FIG. The system 800 converts the preform 805 into thin filaments, such as hair that is normally shaped by drawing. The preform 805 is mounted in a feed mechanism 810 that is mounted near the top of the tower 815. The mechanism 810 lowers the preform 805 until the tip enters the high purity graphite furnace 820. Pure gas is injected into the furnace to provide a clean and conductive atmosphere. Within the furnace 820, a tightly controlled temperature approaching 1900 ° C. softens the tip of the preform 805. Once the softening point at the preform tip is reached, gravity prevails and the molten mass “spontaneously falls” until it is stretched into thin strands.

  In order for an operator to produce a transport 835 that is wound on a spool by a tow wheel 840, this strand of fiber is passed through a laser micrometer 825 and a series of processing stations 830x (eg, for coating and buffering), and the drawing process is performed. Start. The fiber is pulled by a towing vehicle 840 located at the bottom of the drawing tower 815 and then wound around a winding drum. During drawing, the preform 805 is heated at an optimum temperature to achieve an ideal drawing tension. Drawing speeds of 10 to 20 meters per second are not uncommon in the industry.

  During the drawing process, the diameter of the drawn fiber is controlled to 125 microns within a tolerance of only 1 micron. A laser-based diameter gauge 825 monitors the fiber diameter. Gauge 825 samples the fiber diameter at a rate in excess of 750 times per second. The actual value of the diameter is compared to a 125 micron target. A slight deviation from the target is converted into a change in drawing speed and sent to the towing vehicle 840 for correction.

  Processing station 830x typically includes a mold for applying two layer protective coatings on the fiber—a soft inner coating and a hard outer coating. This two-part protective coating provides mechanical protection for processing while also protecting the unblemished surface of the fiber from harsh environments. These coatings are cured by an ultraviolet lamp as part of the same or other processing station 830x. Other stations 830x may provide an apparatus / system for enhancing the influencer response attributes of transport 835 as it passes through the station (s). For example, other mechanisms for introducing a variety of mechanical stressors, ion bombardment, or influencer reaction attributes enhance the constituent materials at the draw stage.

  After being wound on a reel, the drawn fiber is tested for appropriate optical and geometric parameters. For transmission fibers, typically the tensile strength is first tested to ensure that the minimum tensile strength for the fiber has been achieved. After the initial test, many different tests are performed, in the case of transmission fibers, attenuation (decrease in signal strength with distance), bandwidth (information propagation capacity, important measurement of multimode fiber), aperture Number (measurement of fiber acceptance angle), cutoff wavelength (wavelength that only single mode propagates in single mode fiber), mode field diameter (in single mode fiber, width of deformation direction of optical pulse in fiber, interconnection Important for), and chromatic dispersion (spreading of light for different wavelength rays traveling through different velocity cores, in single-mode fiber, this is a limiting factor for the amount of information propagation Test for transmission attributes including

As described herein, the preferred embodiment of the present invention uses an optical fiber as the transport, and primarily achieves amplitude control by using the “linear” Faraday effect.
The Faraday effect is directly related to the magnitude of the magnetic field applied in the direction of propagation based on the length to which the field is applied and the Verde constant of the material through which the radiation is propagated. Although the linear effect that is used, the materials used in the transport may not have a linear response to an induced magnetic field, such as from an influencer, in establishing the desired magnetic field strength. In this sense, the actual output amplitude of the propagated radiation is a function of the applied signal from the controller and / or influencer field, and / or polarization, and / or other attributes or features of the modulator or WAVE_IN. It may be non-linear. For purposes of this description, the characterization of a modulator (or element thereof) in terms of one or more system variables is referred to as the modulator (or element) attenuation profile.

  The fiber manufacturing process continues to advance, particularly with respect to improving doping concentration as well as manipulating dopant profiles, periodic doping during production runs, and related processing activities. US Pat. No. 6,532,774, Method of Providing High Level of Rare Earth Concentrations in Glass Fiber Preforms, Co-Doping of Multiple Dopants An improved process for showing. Successful increase of the dopant concentration directly improves not only the performance of the doped core to facilitate non-linear effects, but also the linear Verde constant of the doped core.

  The predetermined attenuation profile may be tailored to a particular embodiment, for example, by controlling the composition, orientation and / or ordering of the modulator or its elements. For example, changing the material that makes up the transport may change the “influency” of the transport, or alter the degree to which an influencer “influences” a particular propagation wave_component. This is just one example of a composition decay profile. The modulator of the preferred embodiment allows attenuation smoothing where different waveguide channels have different attenuation profiles. For example, in some implementations having an attenuation profile that depends on polarization palmarity, a modulator is used in the complementary transport channel of the second transport for right-handed polarized wave_components. A different attenuation profile may be provided to the transport for left-handed polarized wave_components.

  In addition to the above description describing the provision of different material compositions for the transport, there are additional mechanisms for adjusting the attenuation profile. In some embodiments, wave_component generation / modification may not be strictly “exchangeable” in response to the order of the elements of the modulator where the propagating radiation traverses from WAVE_IN to WAVE_OUT. In these examples, the attenuation profile can be modified by providing another ordering of the non-commutative elements. This is just one example of a configured attenuation profile. In other embodiments, different attenuation profiles are created when different “rotational biases” are established for each waveguide channel. As previously mentioned, some transports are configured with a predetermined orientation between the input polarizer and the output polarizer / analyzer. For example, this angle may be zero degrees (typically defining a “normally on” channel) or it is ninety degrees (typically defining a “normally off” channel) Good. A given channel may have different responses in various angular displacement regions (ie, zero to thirty degrees, thirty degrees to sixty degrees, and sixty degrees to ninety degrees). Different channels may be deflected into different displacement regions (eg, with a default “DC” influencer signal), which influences the propagation wave_component around this deflected rotation. This is just one example of an operational decay profile. There are multiple reasons to support having multiple waveguide channels and adjusting / adapting / complementing the attenuation profile for the channels. These reasons include labor savings, efficiency, and uniformity in WAVE_OUT.

  When bundled by opposing polarization (selector) elements, a variable Faraday rotator or Faraday “attenuator” applies a field that changes in the direction of the optical path, and such a device reduces the polarization vector (eg, from 0 degrees). 90 degrees) so that an increasing portion of incident light that has passed through the first polarizer can pass through the second polarizer. When the field is not applied, the light passing through the first polarizer is completely blocked by the second polarizer. When the appropriate “maximum” field is applied, 100% of the light is rotated to the appropriate polarization angle and 100% of the light passes through the second polarizing element.

  These preferred embodiments of the present invention disclosed above are either rigid or flexible with a system, its components, methods of manufacture and assembly, and a very thin and compact, very low manufacturing cost structure, Thanks to an advantageous driving mode possessing excellent viewing angle, resolution, brightness, contrast and generally excellent performance characteristics.

  The described structure and method can be used as a three-dimensional fabric (woven) as needed to assemble components of a fiber optic-based magneto-optic display that incorporates Faraday attenuation and color selection integrated with fiber optic elements. It should be clear to those skilled in the precision textile art that it does not fill the scope of this embodiment of the present invention, including all variations in switching matrix textile manufacturing.

  The structures, components and techniques disclosed herein and in the incorporated patent applications have been primarily described in the context of preferred embodiments of the present invention in providing systems and processes for displays and the like. However, the structure, components, and techniques have other applicability, some of which have been identified in the incorporated patent applications. In order to further elaborate the above observations made regarding the significance of the present invention of the integrated fiber optic optoelectronic component device disclosed by the present invention, such a three-dimensional textile assembly of integrated components was integrated. It is important to propose an alternative paradigm for optoelectronic computing or electrophotonic computing. This can be done directly as a switching matrix for wave division multiplexing (WDM) systems and, more broadly, as an alternative IC paradigm for LSI and VLSI scaling that optimally combines photonic and semiconductor electronic components. There are various application examples.

  In this way, the disclosure of the preferred embodiment apparatus and the same manufacturing method are inherently widely applicable. In fact, this preferred embodiment may be restated in a different way with a powerful outreach. Another way to consider the woven waveguide structure of the incorporated provisional patent is as “a three-dimensional fiber optic textile structured integrated circuit element configured to form a display display output surface array”. . An example of applying the present invention outside the exact field of a display would be a text-to-fiber matrix configured as a field programmable gate array. Combined advantages of 3D textile geometry for integrating elements, that is, an optimized combination of photonics and electronics, each realized according to its advantages, multilayer cladding and coating are closely "monolithic" structures , Electro-optics of fiber as a high tensile strength self-substrate for both semiconductor and photonic elements wound around a photonic core and forming a continuous surface around the photonic core All of these efficiencies, along with the cost advantage of textile weaving to form textile blocks and the cost advantage of large batch production of fibers, provide an important alternative to the planar semiconductor wafer paradigm.

  This new paradigm, introduced by the preferred flexible waveguide channel (e.g. optical fiber) embodiment of the present invention, combines optical fibers with other conductive IC structured fibers and filaments in a three-dimensional microtextile matrix. enable. Larger diameter fibers as disclosed elsewhere herein may have a fully microprocessor device between and within the integrally manufactured cladding. Smaller fibers may have smaller IC devices. And since photonic crystal fibers and other optical fiber structures, particularly single mode fibers, approach nanoscale diameters, individual fibers may integrate several IC functions / elements along their cylindrical length. Only. Complex microtextile matrices are thus woven with optical fibers of varying diameter, including nanofibers that are conductive or structural, combined with other filaments, and periodic IC element intercladding Or it may be manufactured with internal cladding. The fiber can be an element of a larger photonic circulator structure and can be fused or re-wired into a micro-optical network.

  Such microtextile matrix fibers may be manufactured with equal refractive index cores and claddings, including transparent IC structures, including coil forms / field generating elements, electrodes, transistors, capacitors, etc. The woven textile structure may be injected with a sol that possesses the required differential index of refraction during UV curing so that the interfiber / interfilament sol replaces the individual cladding during solidification.

  This procedure may be further developed by continuously saturating the microtextile structure with a bath of electrostatic self-assembly of nanoparticles. In some embodiments, patterning is more flexible before weaving, or when the fibers or filaments are in a semi-parallel combination, but the rooming operation to separate filament strands can be performed while the fibers are being woven. And facilitates the desired patterning of the filament. Through these methods and other methods known in the art of material processing, the structure of the inter-fiber sol is controlled, so that photonic band gap switching between optical tapping and fiber coupling (filed on Jan. 25, 1999) Which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes, “Transistor Utilizing Photonic Bandgap Materials and Integrated Circuit Devices Comprising the Same” The potential to be greatly encouraged is substantially widespread (see US Pat. No. 6,278,105) entitled “Integrated Circuit Devices Compiling Same)”. It is important for cache implementation in LSI scale structures and VLSI scale structures that the integrated Faraday attenuator optical fiber also functions as a memory element in such an IC structure. Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) further represent an imaginative area of implementation for this IC structure paradigm.

  The complexity of microtextile structures woven with optical fibers and other microfilaments increases as the maximum angle of bending improves without destroying the waveguide properties of the optical fiber. A recently reported study on the properties of thin capillary optical fibers grown by deep-sea organisms has revealed optical guiding structures that could be twisted and bent to double-return points. The three-dimensional weaving of the microtextile IC system type disclosed in the incorporated provisional patent application is thereby non-non-functional such as a compound curve three-dimensional weaving as evidenced by complex fabric turbine structures known in the art. In general, the microtextile device classes and methods of manufacture disclosed therein encompass a full range of precision three-dimensional weaving geometries known and developed, including linear weaving.

  Further development of the microtextile paradigm using small diameter fibers and filaments, for example, to provide a “nanoroom” system for weaving flexible waveguide channels whose nanomanipulator technology is described herein By using a nanoassembly method commercially available from Zyvex Corporation of Richardson, TX, 1321 North Plano Road, Richardson, Texas, which may be adapted using the present invention. Expected to progress. In addition to Zyvex Corporation, its nanoscale optical weeter is well suited for microweaving manufacturing processes as described herein, Chicago, Illinois, Sweet CL20, North Michigan Avenue 316 (316, North) Aryx, Inc. of Michigan Avenue, Suite CL20, Chicago, Illinois is an optional and efficient mechanical / optical roaming paradigm that operates in Airport Drive 112, 112, Rochester, New Hampshire. , New Hampshire) Albany International Technology Corporation (Albany International) combined with a Zyvex nanomanipulator that is patterned with several microscale or nanoscale implementations of the method and apparatus illustrated by Titional Technology, Inc.).

  The known 1000: 1 speed difference between the light traveling in the optically transparent medium and the electrons in the conductive medium structures the electronic and photonic elements, reducing the size of the semiconductor feature. Improves the freedom to loosen any restraint on concentrating only on, and is made possible by this microtextile IC architecture-ultimately the electronic and photonic elements and circuit path elements Allows for an optimal mixture. In this way, other fibers may be very small in diameter and incorporate only a few electronic components, while some fibers have larger diameters to support a greater number of semiconductor elements and internal cladding. Some fibers are only “all-optical” components. Maximizing the many “path elements” that are photonics, and thus enabling smaller microprocessor structures made with optimal-scale fibers connected by photonic paths, is a logical possibility of optimization. It is a result.

  The implied microtextile IC “cube” (or other three-dimensional microtextile structure) thus combines any number of combinations of larger and smaller optical fibers and other filaments, conductive microcapillaries. May be included, filled with a circulating fluid to provide cooling to the structure, purely structural (structured by a fiber microstructured with semiconductor elements) and conductive (or microstructured internal cladding). Conductive coatings with padding, electrons and photonics).

  FIG. 9 is a general schematic diagram of a transversely integrated modular switch / junction system 900 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. System 900 uses a set of lateral ports (port 915 in channel 905 and port 920 in channel 910) in a waveguide, as described in more detail below, for radiation in a waveguide channel 905. A mechanism is provided for redirecting propagation to another lateral waveguide channel 910. The first channel 905 includes an influencer segment 925 (eg, an integrated coil form) and an optional first optional boundary region 930 and second as described above and in the incorporated patent applications. An optional boundary region 935 is configured. Further, the first channel 905 includes a polarizer 940 and a corresponding analyzer 945 (and may include an optional secondary influencer (not shown for clarity)). The first channel includes a lateral polarization analyzer port 950 in a portion of the first boundary region 930 proximate to a port 915 provided in the second boundary region 930. An optional material 955 is provided surrounding the channel 905 and channel 910 at the junction to improve the lossiness through the junction. The material 955 not only helps to ensure the desired alignment of the ports 915 and 920, but also reduces the signal loss by curing sols, nano self-assembled special materials or desired refraction. It may be an equivalent having a rate. Influencer 925 controls the amount of radiation that passes through port 915 based on the polarization of the radiation propagating through first channel 905 and the relative polarization angle relative to the transmission port of analyzer port 905. Additional structures and operations of system 900 are described below.

  Ports 915 and 920 are guiding structures in the boundary region (s) that are realized through the molten fiber starter method or equivalent described below, and may include a GRIN lens structure. These ports may be placed at precise locations within the border region, or the ports may be placed periodically along the length (or part of the length) of the channel. In some embodiments, one overall portion of the boundary region is associated with a desired attribute (polarization or port) structure and one or more correspondences in other boundary regions at the junction location. May have a structure.

  Polarizer 940 and analyzer 945 are optional structures that control the amplitude of the radiation that propagates further down channel 905. A polarizer 940 and analyzer, including an optional influencer element for this segment, works with influencer 925 to control the radiation between channels 905 and 910.

  Switching between fibers in such a microtextile architecture is due to the “transverse” (vs. “in-line”) deformation of the integrated microfaraday attenuator fiber optic element disclosed elsewhere in this document as follows: Can be easily done. The junction / contact point between fibers arranged at right angles in the textile matrix is the center of a new type of “light tap” between fibers. In the first cladding of a fiber optic micro-Faraday attenuator according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cladding (on the axis of the fiber external to the Faraday attenuator section of the fiber) is polarization-filtered (as described herein above). Fiber integrated polarization filtering and New Jersey, Somerset, Cotton Tail Lane 1600 (see 1600 Cotton Lane, Somerset, New Jersey), sub-wavelength nanogrid (see NanoOpto Corporation) or (incorporated) Have been microstructured with periodic refractive index changes to be polarization asymmetric (see and disclosed in a patent application). In these sections, the refractive index was modified (by electrical, heating, photoreactive ion implantation, or by other means known in the art) to be equal to the refractive index of the core. (Instead, the entire first cladding is very microstructured and has an equal refractive index). In addition to the guidance and polarization boundaries achieved by the differential refractive index, structural-geometric shapes (eg, photon coupling and subwavelength holes-use of cavities / grid systems) are also within the scope of the present invention. . To simplify the description of this document, guidance and boundaries are described using a differential index of refraction—however, in those examples, structurally (unless the context clearly indicates otherwise) — Geometric shapes may also be used.

  This variation of the integrated Faraday-attenuator disclosed in this document is based on the 1220 Page Avenue, Fremont, California, California, Fremont, Page Avenue 1220 where the waveguide itself is folded to couple the semiconductor optical waveguide. ) Fundamentally different from all other conventional "light taps", including those from Gemfire Corporation. Folding of the waveguide structure in a Gemfire implementation means the destruction of the effective components of the photon or electron photon switching paradigm or network, ensuring efficient transmission of optical signals between channels . As required by other conventional types of “light taps”, additional “light taps” that do not require complex compensation to control signals that are not induced between the core regions are simpler by definition and Even more efficient.

  In this way, in contrast to other “light taps” in the prior art, the switching mechanism of the preferred embodiment is the activation of the polarized region, ie the activation of the array of electrodes, in order to achieve a lattice structure. It's not a change. Rather in the preferred embodiment, it rotates the polarization angle of the light propagating through the core and couples the switch with a section of the cladding, which is effectively a polarizing filter, thanks to the output fiber and input fiber cladding crossing. An inline Faraday attenuator switch in which the precisely controlled portion of the signal through the direction guiding structure (i.e., the waveguide) is deflected aside. The speed of the switch is that of a Faraday attenuator as opposed to a measure that changes the chemical characteristics of a relatively wide area covered by the cathode and anode.

  In a second cladding with a refractive index sufficiently different from the core (and the first cladding, if necessary) to achieve total internal reflection in the core (and, if necessary, the first cladding) (integrated Either one of the two structures is fabricated (on the fiber axis outside the Faraday attenuator section).

  First: There is an optical axis in the second cladding perpendicular to or near the fiber axis, elsewhere in this document, and in the incorporated patent applications Gradient index (GRIN) lens structure manufactured according to the referenced method. Light passing through the GRIN lens from the first channel 905 is coupled to the second channel 910 at the contact point and is also incident at right angles to the axis of the second channel 910 or into the second channel 910 in a preferred direction. A focal path that is either directed at a right angle to the axis of the optical fiber, or slightly deflected, so that it is incident obliquely.

  Second: a core manufactured by ion implantation, by application of voltage between electrodes in the manufacturing process, by heating, photoreactively, or by other means known in the art (and the first if necessary) A simpler optical channel with the same index of refraction as cladding. The axis of this simple waveguide channel may be perpendicular or slightly offset as in the other options described above.

  The operation of this micro-Faraday attenuator-based “light tap”, or more precisely defined “cross-fiber-to-fiber (or waveguide-to-waveguide) Faraday attenuator switch”, is an integrated micro-Faraday with the polarization angle activated. In order to be rotated by passing through the attenuator section and to be defined as “leakage” or more precisely (due to the known operation of the fiber “light tap”), through the first cladding, the second cladding. It is derived from either output channel and couples into the second channel 910 into the GRIN lens structure in the ring or even a simpler optical channel.

  The second channel 910 polarization-filters or asymmetrics the first cladding light received from the first channel 905 by a parallel structure (GRIN lens or cladding waveguide channel in the second cladding). Manufactured to optimally couple into and from the core of the second channel 910. Surrounding the inter-fiber matrix as indicated above is the differential refraction that impregnates the textile structure, confines the light guided between the fibers (or waveguides) and ensures coupling efficiency Cured sol with a rate.

  An advantageous alternative novel method of microstructuring the cladding may be achieved by designating a new modification of the MCVD / PMCVD / PCVD / OVD preform manufacturing method whose preferred examples are described below.

  FIG. 10 is a general schematic diagram of a series of manufacturing steps for the transverse integrated modulator switch / junction 900 shown in FIG. The manufacturing system 1000 includes a material 1005 with many waveguide channels (such as a fused fiber faceplate as described in the incorporated provisional patent application and the equivalent), with the thin section 1010 of the block 1005 removed. Including the formation of blocks. Section 1010 is softened and made to form an activator wall sheet 1015. Sheet 1015 is rolled to form a silica initiator tube 1020 for producing the desired preform for drawing.

  In accordance with this novel method, the silica tube deposited on the soot to enlarge the preform takes the form of a cylinder made from a rolled and melted thin film of a molten fiber cross section. I.e., alternating differently optimized fibers in this way to achieve a grid of thin fiber sections with different refractive indices and different electro-optic properties, if necessary for proper cladding and core doping features The optical fibers of different characteristics selected for are melted and the section of the molten fiber matrix is cut into thin sheets.

  The sheet is then heated evenly, softened and bent around a heated heating pin to achieve a thin wall cylinder suitable as a starter to produce a thin preform according to known preform manufacturing processes. .

  The dimensions of the fiber utilized in the molten fiber sheet are chosen to produce the optimum dimensions of the resulting transverse structure in the cladding for the fiber drawn therefrom. In general, however, the fiber for this purpose will have the smallest possible manufacturing dimensions (core and cladding) because the structural diameter effectively increases during drawing from the preform produced thereby. is there. Such fiber dimensions may in fact be too small in cross section for single mode use as individual fibers. However, the dimensions of the continuously patterned transverse waveguide structure in the resulting drawn fiber cladding combined with an appropriate choice of thickness for the molten fiber section or slice is the transverse structure May be controlled to have the desired “core” and “cladding” dimensions (single mode, multimode).

  To further ensure proper dimensions to the microstructure, the smaller combination of fibers is melted, softened, drawn, and then the final array of fibers is melted in length before forming into a cylinder To be melted again with other fibers before being separated into sheets.

  To facilitate flexibility in the implementation of the inter-fiber deformation of the integrated Faraday attenuator device of the present invention, the core and the polarization section in the first cladding of the first channel are both Or on the cladding according to the methods referenced and disclosed in the incorporated patent applications, both at the relative “input” end (which may be invertible) and the relative “output” end. Depending on the type and method disclosed and referred to by UV excitation, i.e. elsewhere in the incorporated patent application, by electrode structures produced between / into the cladding, or in known manner, It may be switchably guided by such a UV signal that may be generated by a device manufactured within. When due to the electrode structure, polarization filtering or switching of the asymmetric state may be described as electrical engineering, or “all-optical” when due to UV signals.

  As implied by the new comparison of the integrated Faraday attenuator and the previous comparison of the “light tap” according to the prior art, the UV activation variant is the preferred implementation.

  As a result, such polarization filtering or asymmetric sections of the core and cladding may be referred to as “transient” so that the filter or asymmetric element works with the integrated Faraday attenuator as a variable brightness switching element. It may be activated or deactivated, ie it may be switched “on” or “off” and is disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,126,874, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. "Method and apparatus for creating transient elements and circuits" filed Nov. 7, 1990, which is expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety. "Method and apparatus for creating transient elements and circuits" ) .

  The first cladding may be the same index as the core as shown, and the second cladding has a differential index of refraction, resulting in a “wrong” polarization confinement to the core. Is achieved by polarization-only polarization filtering or asymmetric structures. Thus, the default setting for the first cladding is “on” to confine light in the core by polarization filters / asymmetric, or induce light in the core and the first cladding, and the second cladding It can be either “off” allowing it to be confined only by cladding, so that it can be switched to the default opposite setting, where the electrode or UV activation element is structured. May be in a section.

  One way to characterize the operation of microtextile three-dimensional ICs is to structure the transverse direction with micro-inductive structures within and between claddings, and IC elements and transistors within these channels and between claddings and between claddings. Waveguide channels integrated in and integrated inline and transverse Faraday attenuator devices are manufactured as periodic elements of the structure are switched inline or transversely by the integrated Faraday attenuator means in the core as a bus A wave division multiplexing (WDM) type multimode pulsed signal may be carried, and some or all of any signal pulse passes through a transverse guidance structure in the cladding to the semiconductor and photon structures in the cladding, and Even between fibers, as a bus or other electro-photon It acts as a growth element.

  Some channels may be nanoscale and single mode where a single element is fabricated within or between claddings, or may be of larger diameter and multimode or single mode, during cladding. It can be effectively manufactured with a very large number (similar to a microprocessor) of semiconductor (electronic or photon) devices in, or on the cladding. A channel may serve as a bus or individual switching element or memory element in any number of sizes and combinations with microstructured IC elements in the fiber itself combined with the overall microtextile architecture. Switching or the like thus occurs in the fiber core, between the core and the cladding, between the elements in the cladding, and between the fibers.

  A simple process that has surface smoothness at the atomic level and twice to five times the tensile strength of spider silk, wraps glass fiber around a sapphire tape, heats it, and then pulls it at a relatively high speed Evidence by Eric Mazur, Limin Tong and others at Harvard University of 50 nm “optical nanowires” manufactured by is very well suited for the implementation of microtextile structures. Visible to near-infrared was induced with this subwavelength diameter variation of the fiber optic waveguide type, but instead of confining it in the core, almost half of the guided light is internal and half along the surface. It is transported temporarily. Importantly, light may be coupled with low loss by optical evanescent coupling between the fibers.

  Sandwiched between such optical nanowires and then integrated Faraday attenuation by injected sol or polarization boundary / filter cladding and coating, or by other means, as disclosed in the incorporated patent application Manipulating by transversal deformation of the device provides a further simplified switching / junction element between the paths. Microtextile IC structures are particularly facilitated by the properties of optical nanowires, especially because of the flexibility of the wires, so that they can be bent at right angles and effectively twisted or tied to a knot.

  California Institute of Technology with the manufacture of "optical wires" with diameters of tens of microns, as well as related work under Vahara, which demonstrates ultra-compact ultra-low threshold Raman lasers composed of silica microbeads and micron-scale optical wires The complementary work by Kerry Vahala at The California Institute of Technology is also very useful for microtextile structures. Microbeads interspersed within the microtextile structure may be held in place by the microtextile structure element and coupled to the optical wire to provide additional options for signal generation and manipulation within the three-dimensional IC architecture.

  The nature of inline and transverse Faraday attenuator switches / junctions combined with an optimal mixture of photon and electronic switching elements, fiber-to-fiber, cladding-to-cladding, etc. depends on the optical signal, but for the type of optical pulse We suggest a new method to realize binary logic only by changing polarization state. This binary logic system thereby incorporates an “always-on” optical path where the logic state is manipulated and detected only by the polarization angle of the signal, which may change very rapidly. The disclosed variant of an integrated Faraday attenuator device deployed in a mixed electro-photon microtextile IC architecture implements such a binary logic scheme and is numerous in increasing the speed and efficiency of microprocessors and optical communication operations. The possibility of

  These exemplary descriptions establish the wide applicability of the novel textile structure and switching architecture of the present display invention, including wave division multiplexed switching matrices, and LSI and VLSI IC designs that optimize photon and semiconductor electronic devices. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the novel methods, components, systems and architectures are not limited to the examples disclosed in detail.

  The description has focused primarily on the preferred implementation of the present invention using separate waveguide channels such as optical fibers. The description included periodic references regarding the use of “bulk” waveguides formed in other waveguide channels, particularly substrates or other structures, or resulting from thin film assemblies. The following description reveals some of the preferred embodiments for semiconductor waveguide channels.

  Not only the hybrid fiber optic silicon wafer embodiments described in this document and the incorporated patent applications, but also fiber optic embodiments are new cost-effective, new applications called video “displays” or projectors, And addressing the possibility of improving the overall quality of the displayed image compared to other display types. Some of its properties include, for example, innovative manufacturing such as fiber optic textiles and processes derived from the semiconductor-manufacturing that is characteristic of LCD, gas plasma, and other emerging technologies. Some of the features that are the result of the production paradigm.

  The present invention includes an implementation of precise control over the path and characteristics of one or more radiation signals to produce these different magneto-optic displays and projectors. An important element of these devices is that they are based on guided wave-based magnetics in all those embodiments and aspects of manufacturing as described herein, regardless of the specific implementation. For use in providing optical displays, this includes the general use of waveguides and the use of influencer structures (eg, Faraday attenuators) that are manufactured integrally with the waveguide structure. These principles have been described above and in the incorporated patent applications, particularly for separate waveguide channels. These principles also apply to other types of waveguide channels, such as semiconductor and thin film waveguide channels.

  Among the semiconductor wafer manufacturing paradigms, semiconductor waveguide-based magneto-optic displays are not only projector embodiments and specialized embodiments referred to herein as ultra-thin display “applique” systems and methods. It is also particularly suitable for small displays including “on-chip HDTV displays”. As a solid-state semiconductor structure that does not require components sealed in liquid or pressure in vacuum in its manufacture, the semiconductor waveguide embodiment of the present invention is significantly less expensive and superior to LCD or gas plasma displays There is a possibility of performance.

  Needless to say, choosing an FPD based on a semiconductor waveguide for a non-small display, especially in virtually every case, due to the well-known cost limitations of manufacturing semiconductor wafers for very large displays. The choice of fiber-based magneto-optic based FPD can be significantly inferior. However, it may not always be the case, and semiconductor waveguide-based systems are not necessarily more compact, especially when some of the componentization principles from the incorporated provisional application and other incorporated applications are considered. And is not limited to thin applications and implementations.

  There are significant advantages of the semiconductor waveguide-based embodiments of the present invention for specific applications, including small display and projector applications described in detail below. Semiconductor waveguide-based embodiments are generally classified into two broad ranges, depending on the waveguide channel axis relative to the surface of the waveguide structure that supports the particular embodiment. . In general, the waveguide channel transmission axis may be parallel to the surface or it may be perpendicular to the surface.

  First, US Pat. No. 5,598,492 entitled “Metal-Ferromagnetic Optical Waveguide Isolator” issued to Hammer on January 28, 1997, and August 15, 2000, Issued to Belouet, “Method of depositing a ferromagnetic film on a waveguide and magneto--a method for depositing a ferromagnetic film on a magneto-optic component comprising a thin ferromagnetic film deposited by this method. Reference is made to examples including US Pat. No. 6,103,010 entitled “Optical component compiling a thin ferromagnetic film deposited by the method”. Both examples describe a planar semiconductor optical waveguide Faraday rotator and are expressly incorporated herein in its entirety by reference for all purposes.

  Using two groups of semiconductor wafer systems, there are two basic variations of the display / projector system in the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 1) An array of “vertically formed” semiconductor waveguides and Faraday attenuator structures fabricated on a substrate that is switched by either a passive matrix or an active matrix, and 2) incident plane light into the display system. Combined with a “deflection mechanism” for deflecting (the example shown is a forty-five degree reflective surface or a photonic crystal defect that produces a 90 degree bend) and each waveguide output is a pixel or sub A planar semiconductor waveguide that incorporates a Faraday attenuator structure as an integrated planar component with a waveguide structure that creates a pixel. However, the two examples do not use up the range of possibilities caused by the semiconductor waveguide embodiment of the present invention, and the invention and its variations in this embodiment are not limited by the examples shown.

  Both “vertical” and planar have utility for efficient fabrication of semiconductor waveguide devices, Westbreaker Lane 1807-C, Austin, Texas (1807-C West Braker Lane, Austin, Texas) ), Commercially available from Molecular Imprints Corporation, "Step and Flash" micro-mold imprint method, photon subwavelength embossing-etch sourcing from nanooptics (limitation, color filtering, polarization filtering, And a method commercially available from NanoSonic Corporation, referred to above, to realize a nanoscale self-assembly manufacturing method.These and similar commercially available “nanotechnology” fabrication methods are suitable for the preferred semiconductor embodiments of the present invention.

  To Petrov on November 18, 2003 disclosing a multi-stage annealed proton exchange (APE) manufacturing methodology that addresses the optimization of different semiconductor waveguide components that are separately configured on a single substrate in terms of manufacturing process US Pat. No. 6,50, entitled “Methods for forming separately optimized waveguide structures in optical materials” issued to Note that the issue is also referenced. This disclosure is useful in the manufacture of vertical and planar waveguide structures described below, and unless otherwise indicated, the preferred manufacturing method in the masking / etching process is a commercially available multi-stage annealed proton exchange process. is there. The '819 patent is hereby expressly incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.

  FIG. 11 is a general schematic diagram of a “vertical” display system 1100. Display system 1100 includes a plurality of wafer strips 1105 that are vertically stacked to produce a collective display surface 1110 from a pixel / subpixel matrix that originates from the edge of each strip 1105. Each pixel / subpixel results from a plurality of structured and ordered modulators coupled to a transport channel segment, and the transport and modulator are integrated into each strip 1105, with each transport and modulator Has functionality and sequencing possibilities as described herein and in the incorporated patent applications. Display system 1100 is formed in that each strip 1105 is formed from a wafer having waveguide channels embedded parallel to the wafer surface, and these strips are stacked vertically to produce a display system. It is a kind of hybrid.

  The system 1100 is accomplished by fabricating stacked strips of planar waveguides in parallel arrays of approximately several thousand Faraday attenuator waveguide channels, each strip being a “vertical” display structure. It is doped with R, G, or B dyes or color filtered to form a laminated strip sheet with a waveguide core therein and laminated on both the top and bottom. Stacked strips of such planar Faraday damped air waveguide channels that do not use deflection means thus form a display array through their output ends, with the display surface facing "outwardly" Formed by looking at the waveguide structure on the end, the thin substrate and the surrounding matrix are all their separate individual Faraday attenuator waveguide channels. The system 1100 utilizes the opposite illumination source for the display surface 1110 or is integrated into the transport segment of each pixel / subpixel element.

  FIG. 12 is a detailed schematic view of a portion of one strip 1105 shown in FIG. The enlarged view of FIG. 12 depicts a plurality of transport segments 1205 (shown as cylindrical elements) that run laterally from the input edge 1210 to the output edge 1215. Influencer elements 1225 (shown as linear elements) are coupled to each segment 1205 to produce modulators that respectively respond to XY addressing grids (single elements shown as X1230 and Y1235). The portion of strip 1105 shown in FIG. 12 is two with three sub-pixels each generating radiation signals of the preferred color model (in this case, R sub-channel, G sub-channel and B sub-channel). Of pixels.

  FIG. 13 is an alternative preferred embodiment of a display system 1300 that implements a semiconductor waveguide display / projector using vertical waveguide channels in a semiconductor structure as a vertical solution. Display system 1300 includes a molten fiber transparent substrate 1305 on which a plurality of vertical waveguide channels 1310 are disposed. Each channel 1310 includes one or more boundary regions, specifically optional first boundary region 1315 and second boundary region 1320, when similarly implemented in a conventional optical fiber. The boundary region 1315 is a material that has a differential refraction in a differential guide train and is doped with a permanent magnetic material. The second boundary region 1320 is a material with differential refraction, as in the differential index induction example, and is doped with a ferrimagnetic / ferromagnetic dopant. An assembled influencer element 1325 (eg, coil foam or other suitable magnetic field generating structure) is created from the coil foam layers interconnected by the layer coupler 1330. An XY addressing grid 1335 is arranged for independent connection / control of each influencer element 1325. Additional details for the structure, function and operation of waveguide channels, boundary regions, coil forms and X / Y grids are described above and in the incorporated patent applications.

  A preferred fabrication of the structure by standard semiconductor deposition, masking, and etching is as follows. A doped silica material is deposited on the transparent fused fiber substrate. A first deposition of a transparent material is made and doped with a dye that is one of the RGB primary colors and an optically active dopant similar to the optical fiber embodiment of the present invention. Next, a mask is made so that circular column rows remain. For every row that remains, there are two rows in between that are etched down to the substrate. Each column of doped material is precisely placed on the optical fiber in the fused fiber faceplate so that the fiber itself is also doped with the dye and the core is the same size as the silica column. The process of forming the column of columns is repeated so that a set of RGB columns is formed by the deposition and etching sequence.

  Next, another set of deposition and etching is performed to produce a column of doped material surrounding each column that has a refractive index that is distinct from the refractive index of the original column, resulting in a waveguide structure. Is manufactured thereby to confine light passing from the molten fiber substrate into a transparent column. This "cladding" or boundary region is also doped with a ferromagnet that can be permanently magnetized, preferably a single molecule magnet that is exposed to a strong magnetic field set perpendicular to the axis of the waveguide channel after formation. May be. If not, it is preferably doped with a ferrimagnet / ferromagnet that retains a remanent flux when magnetized by a nearby influencer (eg, surrounding coil form), as disclosed above in the fiber optic embodiment. Is done.

  If the “cladding” structure is doped with a material that can be permanently magnetized, a second “cladding” cylinder is produced according to the instructions provided for the first “cladding” cylinder, “Cladding” is ferrimagnetic / ferromagnetic and doped as described above.

  A series of alternating depositions and etches are then performed to produce a “coil foam” that surrounds the doped waveguide structure. FIG. 14 shows a continuous “coil foam” pattern, ie a partial circle forming a cylindrical wall on the first layer, and a very thin second layer deposited on the same conductive material. It is explanatory drawing which shows two layers (1st layer 1400 and 2nd layer 1405) which comprise the boundary connected perpendicularly | vertically. In that second layer, only a very minimal segment of the circle of conductive material (very small arc of the cylindrical wall) is masked and remains after etching, so that a very thin insulating layer is deposited around it.

  The process is repeated, attaching a circle, a partial circle that is substantially identical to the “cylindrical slice” of the bottom layer, to the next layer. This new partial circle, or “cylinder-wall slice”, is otherwise connected perpendicularly to the underlying layer through a very small arc of common conductive material of the cylindrical wall on the insulating layer. And by repeating this process, alternating layers, that is, almost complete conductive rings in one layer, are around the waveguide-columns, and another layer goes to a very thin very small segment on the next layer. , And up to the layer above, there is only a very small connecting segment of the same conductive material that maintains current flow around the waveguide-column, and again a nearly perfect circle is around the waveguide column. It is in.

  As many "color" layers as needed to generate a field that is strong enough to rotate the deflection angle of light passing upward through the molten fiber substrate at full power, ie 90 degrees Are interspersed with thin insulating layers, and only “spots” of conductive material carry current between the layers. Due to the established performance of current good optically active dopants, this may be achieved with only a few “windings” or color layers.

  Next, a newer, such as immersion pen nanolithography, on the substrate to address each "base" of the Faraday attenuator waveguide structure that touches the bottom circle at the partial circle input point The conductive grid is formed by standard methods including methods.

  Next, a black matrix is deposited in the thin gap between the Faraday attenuator structures made of semiconductor. When photonic crystal residence is utilized, the difference is that the bandgap structure carries light and can be permanently magnetized (if necessary, a ferrimagnetic / ferromagnetic doped cylinder around the optical channel, and if necessary The only difference is that no differential refractive index “cladding” is required to confine light (although only as the first doped cylinder of material).

  Finally, in the preferred embodiment, an “upper” addressing grid is deposited over the black matrix between the waveguide structures, including when needed or desired by the performance of the material. When necessary, the black matrix is only deposited very high relative to the top of the vertical waveguide structure, so that the transistors addressed by the conductive addressing grid are aligned vertically along the waveguide structure. Formed as a semiconducting component and advantageously manufactured between the alternating layers required for the coil foam structure. Next, an additional black (opaque) matrix is deposited over the addressing grid and optional vertically deposited transistors so that the semiconductor wafer structure is coplanar. In some examples, an optical scattering structure is formed and attached and attached directly to the “output” point of the vertical waveguide structure, improving the already excellent dispersion angle from the waveguide structure.

  FIG. 15 is an alternative preferred embodiment for a display system 1500 that implements a semiconductor waveguide display / projector as a planar solution using planar waveguide channels in a semiconductor structure. The system 1500 includes one or more illumination sources at the edges of the system 1500 that provides a number of very narrow waveguide channels to provide uniform illumination to each subpixel. System 1500 includes a number of functional layers including an input layer, a rotor layer, and a display layer. In the bottom layer, each subpixel column (from the X and Y axes) provides a number of very narrow waveguide channels to provide uniform illumination to each subpixel. Thus, in the preferred embodiment, from the Y axis, each column (if 3000 wide) has 1500 waveguide channels, each channel terminating in a subpixel on that column. The X and Y axes address alternating subpixels. From the X axis, each row contains about 1350 channels, with the X and Y axes on separate layers. In a preferred embodiment, the waveguide channel is a photonic crystal structured waveguide manufactured at 0.02 microns or less. Each waveguide terminates at a subpixel location (in some implementations, multiple channels illuminate a single subpixel location) and positions the output location at the desired location for the subpixel. Therefore, a complicated path may be defined. A deflection mechanism is provided at the output location to redirect radiation signals that are propagated and controlled in amplitude from within the propagation plane into the display plane. As shown, the display plane is perpendicular to the propagation plane. Along each waveguide channel, one or more influencer / modulator portions / layers are provided to produce the desired amplitude control of the propagated radiation signal. Since the waveguide channel is much smaller than the sub-pixel diameter, it is preferred that the output of the waveguide channel includes dispersion or optical elements to increase the effective size.

  A semiconductor waveguide on a continuous wafer parallel to the surface of the display. For each subpixel waveguide rotator element, light is deflected from parallel to the display surface to emerge from the 45 ° mirror end, ie, outward from the surface, thus forming a subpixel (10 micron diameter). There is a photonic crystal bend).

  One advantage of transport / influencer combination planar semiconductor optical waveguide embodiments combined in a display array is that the illumination source is provided “parallel” from the “side” to the planar optical waveguide, It is to produce a very thin artificial semiconductor process display structure. The illumination source provided in this way may take a very compact form such as an RGB semiconductor laser, a VCSEL or a parallel row of edge emission. Thus, in principle, the structure may be manufactured as a thick film on a rigid or flexible substrate comprising a polymer sealed textile. As a display embodying a thick film, the display may be applied as an “applique”, effectively tiling a curved geometric surface with a thin display material.

  The layer made of the primary semiconductor emits light from the side illumination source (for illumination from the entire back cavity illumination source parallel to the display surface, as in the flat panel display embodiments disclosed above). Consists of a plurality of planar waveguides to carry. FIG. 16 is integrated into a semiconductor structure for propagating a radiation signal 1605 in combination with a deflection mechanism 1610 that redirects light “valve-tuned” by a waveguide / influencer from a horizontal plane to a vertical plane. 2 is a cross section of a transport / influencer system 1600.

  A typical manufacturing process for the preferred embodiment includes: Thick film material is deposited on the substrate, so that the thin film is sufficiently strong in tensile strength that it can serve as a base by itself, and will retain its integrity when removed from the working substrate. . Through a semiconductor lithographic process (immersion pen nanolithography, such as material deposition or printing, masking and etching), an optically transparent but dye-doped material is deposited on the thick film substrate. This first deposition is also doped with an optically active material such as YIG, Bi-YIB or Tb, or with current good dopants. All materials are preferably flexible according to the same Young's modulus as the thick film substrate.

  The channel is masked as depicted and most of the deposited material is removed, leaving a line of material. Immersion pen nanolithography stereophonizes the 45 ° deflection element out of the same or other material of the appropriate refractive index appropriate to achieve reflection (ie, QWI for producing photonic crystal bends). Used for printing. Alternatively, the molecular imprint “step and flash” stereo imprint method may be utilized. Other methods that are relatively more complex are also known in the art.

  Next, a channel dye and a step of optically active doped material are deposited and actually switched by a modulator device along the optical channel adjacent to the 45 degree deflection element, the 45 degree deflection element Is etched to leave a step directly on the 45 degree deflection element, forming an exit point from the plane of the display surface for the light deflected by.

  The material is then deposited with the same differential refractive index, surrounding and covering the original line and other manufactured elements. This is called “cladding material”. On top of the segment of the waveguide channel adjacent to the 45 degree changing element or photonic crystal bend, parallel to address the horizontal band that would be manufactured perpendicular to its axis on the optical channel. And the space is etched from previously deposited material to allow conductive lines on the optical channel. The space for depositing the conductive material of the band as well as the underlying material layer doped with ferrimagnet / ferromagnet is also etched. The space under the material is optional and is left for deposition of a material doped with a permanently magnetizable material as detailed in this document and in the incorporated patent applications.

  Similarly, the following materials (continuous masking and etching and / or immersion pen nanolithography, conductive material in the line parallel to the optical channel for addressing the field generation band, "cladding" material left on the optical channel: An optional layer of material that is permanently magnetizable (and subsequently magnetized) above, a ferrimagnet / ferromagnet that is temporarily magnetized by a field generating element and maintains rotation by residual magnetic flux, and an optical channel Deposited in a field band that produces a conductive material placed perpendicular to the axis, only a few bands based on current dopant performance may be required.

  Finally, more of the “cladding” material is deposited so that the surface of the structure made of multi-thick film semi-conductors is sealed and flattened. Optionally, the transistor may be fabricated in-line with the conductive addressing line just prior to addressing the field generating structure of the Faraday attenuator. By appropriate selection of thick film material, the entire thick film display structure may be formed on or removed from the substrate that is sealed with a robust polymer sealed textile substrate, and another (probably geometric) by thick film epitaxy. It may be glued to the final supporting display surface.

  FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of the display system 1500 shown in FIG. 15 further depicting three sub-pixel channels that yield a single pixel. Each channel is independently controlled and deflected to be merged at the surface of the system 100.

  FIG. 18 is a preferred embodiment for an optional implementation of a waveguide path structure in system 1800. A novel “switchback” strategy is utilized for the waveguide 1810 to compensate for the limited dimensions of the planar modulator scheme that must be achieved across the diameter of the pixel 1805. Given that the photonic crystal structure by the creation of defects (removal of periodic holes or other structures) achieves almost 90 degrees of bending in the optical path, it “collapses” the sub-micron wide optical path of a series of switchbacks. The “d” dimension of Equation 1 is expanded in terms of the distance traveled by the light beam that is exposed to an effect (eg, a magnetic field) that does not produce an element that is too long. In effect, it would be practical to deploy the rotor / attenuator elements in succession along the switchback of the preferred embodiment, formed through a standard semiconductor manufacturing process, otherwise. A much lower “d” dimension results in a device with very low power consumption. Given the very small dimensions of the channel, the overall dimensions of the rotor / attenuator will be significantly smaller than the prior art waveguide examples and much smaller than the maximum subpixel dimensions. Let's go.

  The preferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 11-18 describes a substrateized waveguide channel that implements the transport, modulation, display structure, functionality and operation included in the incorporated patent application. . These embodiments highlight the possibility of substituting between substrates such as optical fibers and photonic crystal fibers and waveguide channels formed / attached / arranged in independent / separate waveguide channels is doing. One of those alternatives is the use of a transverse switch as shown in FIGS. Although the preferred embodiment includes switching between fibers, the principle of FIG. 9 applies to switching between waveguides, specifically appropriately structured and arranged waveguides placed on a common substrate. May be. In some implementations, the switching is between the various substrate waveguides arranged in the proper relationship.

  In general, the performance attributes of transports, modulators and systems embodying aspects of the present invention include: Subpixel diameter (including electric field generating elements adjacent to optically active material): preferably <100 microns, more preferably <50 microns. (In the alternative embodiment described above, multiple light channels doped with dye are realized in one composite waveguide structure to achieve a net reduction in RGB pixel dimensions). The length of the subpixel element is preferably <100 microns, more preferably <50 microns. For a single subpixel, drive current to achieve effective 90 ° rotation: 0 to 50 m. Amps. Response time: Generally very fast for a Faraday rotator (ie 1 ns is proven).

  Note that as a basic understanding of the overall display power requirement, the actual power requirement of the preferred embodiment is not necessarily calculated based on a linear multiplication of the maximum current required for 90 ° rotation over the total number of subpixels. is important. The actual average and peak power requirements must be calculated taking into account the following factors: That is, gamma and average color subpixel usage, both well below 100%. The average rotation is therefore significantly below 90 °. Gamma: Even computer monitors that use all subpixels to display a white background do not need a maximum gamma per subpixel, and for that matter, no subpixels. Because of space, a detailed review of the science of human visual cognition is not possible. However, what is essential for proper image display is the relative intensity, pixels and subpixels across the display (considering the basic display brightness required for viewing at varying ambient light levels). Maximum gamma (or close to it), and 360 ° rotation (whatever the operating range is, 90 ° or some fraction thereof is, for example, a direct shot into a bright light source, such as when shooting directly into the sun, etc. It will be needed only in certain cases, including those that require the most extreme contrasts, thus the average gamma for the display will be some portion of the maximum possible gamma statistically That's why the Faraday rotation is not the maximum for a comfortable display of a stable “white” background on a computer monitor.In summary, the default Faraday attenuator that drives the default sub-pixel is at full rotation. There is rarely a need, and therefore rarely requires full power.Color: Only pure white is equal to the RGB sub-pixel in the cluster. It must be noted that, for either color or grayscale images, it is some part of the display's sub-pixels that are processed at one time, as either a color image or a grayscale image. The additively formed colors imply the following: Some color pixels require only one (either R, G or B) (with varying brightness) sub-pixels to be “on” And some pixels require two sub-pixels (with varying brightness) to be “on”, and some pixels have three sub-pixels (with varying brightness) “on” Pure white pixels require that all three subpixels be “on” and their Faraday attenuators are of equal brightness Rotated to achieve (color and white pixels can be paralleled to reduce color saturation. In an alternative embodiment of the invention, additional sub-pixels in the “cluster” are more efficient for saturation. It can be a balanced white light to achieve proper control.

  Considering the requirements for color and grayscale imaging sub-pixel clusters, in the case of an average frame, there is some part of every display sub-pixel that actually needs to be addressed, although it is “on” to some extent. If so, it is clear that the average brightness is significantly below the maximum. This is simply a function of the subpixel in the RGB additive color scheme and is a factor added to the consideration of absolute gamma.

  Statistical analysis can determine the power desire profile of the FLAT active matrix / continuous addressing device for these considerations. In any case, it is well below the virtual maximum of each subpixel of the display in full Faraday rotation at the same time. Not all subpixels are “on” for a given frame, and their “on” brightness is usually some fraction of the largest relative size for various reasons. Current requirements, ie 0 to 50 m. Of rotation from 0 ° to 90 °. For amps, the minimum specification is considered. The current range of the example of rotation from 0 ° to 90 ° was the default (0 to 50 m.amps) from the performance specification of the existing Faraday attenuator device, but this performance specification is provided as a minimum, for optical communication It is also important to note that it has already been clearly replaced and overtaken by the highest standards of reference equipment. Most importantly, it does not reflect the novel embodiments specified in the present invention, including the benefits from improved methods and material technology. Performance improvements have continued since the achievement of the quoted specification, and if something has accelerated and continues to accelerate, this range will be further reduced.

  The systems, methods, computer program products and propagated signals described herein are, of course, eg central processing units (“CPU”), microprocessors, microcontrollers, system on chip (“SOL”), or It may be embodied in hardware in or coupled to any other programmable device. Further, the system, method, computer program product, and propagated signal may be configured to store software, eg, software (eg, computer readable code, disposed in a computer usable (eg, readable) medium). The program code, the source language, the object language, and / or instructions and / or data arranged in an arbitrary format such as a machine language may be realized. Such software allows for the functionality, manufacturing, modeling, simulation, description and / or testing of the devices and processes described herein. For example, this may be a general purpose programming language (eg, C, C ++, etc.), a GDSII database, a hardware description language (HDL) including Verilog HDL, VHDL, AHDL (Altera HDL), or other usable program, database , Nanoprocessing, and / or using circuit (ie, schematic) capture tools. Such software can be used in known computer usable media including semiconductors, magnetic disks, optical disks (eg, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.), and computer usable (eg, readable) transmission media (eg, carrier waves). Or a computer data signal embodied on a digital-based medium, an optical-based medium, or other medium including an analog-based medium). In this way, the software can be transmitted over communication networks including the Internet and intranets. Systems, methods and computer program products and propagation signals embodied in system hardware may be included in an intellectual property core (e.g., embodied in HDL) and converted to hardware in the manufacture of integrated circuits. Further, systems, methods, computer program products and propagated signals as disclosed herein may be embodied as a combination of hardware and software.

  For example, one preferred implementation of the present invention for switching control is as a routine in an operating system that consists of programming steps or instructions that reside in the memory of the computing system during computer operation. Until required by the computer system, the program instructions are stored on another readable medium, such as in a disk drive, or on an optical disk or floppy disk drive computer input for use with CD ROM computer input. It may be stored in a removable memory such as a (registered trademark) disk. Further, the program instructions may be stored in the memory of another computer prior to use in the system of the present invention and transmitted over a LAN or WAN such as the Internet when requested by a user of the present invention. Those skilled in the art need to understand that the process controlling the present invention can be distributed in the form of various types of computer readable media.

  Any suitable programming language can be used to implement the routines of the present invention, including C, C ++, Java, assembly language, and the like. Various programming techniques such as procedural or object-oriented can be used. The routine can be executed on a single processing unit or on multiple processors. The steps, operations or calculations may be presented in a special order, but this order may be changed in different embodiments. In some embodiments, multiple steps shown herein as sequential can be performed simultaneously. The sequence of operations described herein can be interrupted, suspended, or otherwise controlled by another process such as an operating system, kernel, or the like. The routines can operate within the operating system environment or as stand-alone routines that occupy all or a significant portion of system processing.

  In the description herein, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples of components and / or methods, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. However, one of ordinary skill in the relevant arts may be practiced without using one or more of the specific details, or with other devices, systems, assemblies, methods, components, materials, parts and / or the like. Will be recognized. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not specifically shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of embodiments of the present invention.

  A “computer-readable medium” for embodiments of the present invention stores, stores, communicates, propagates a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, system or device. It can be any medium that performs or transports. The computer readable medium is by way of example only and not limitation and is an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, system, device, propagation medium, or computer memory There is.

  A “processor” or “process” includes any human, hardware and / or software system, mechanism or component that processes data, signals or other information. A processor may include a general-purpose central processing unit, multiple processing units, a dedicated network for achieving functionality, or a system with other systems. The process need not be restricted to a geographical location or have time restrictions. For example, the processor may perform its function “in real time”, “offline”, “in batch mode”, and the like. The portions of processing can be performed at different locations and at different locations by different (or the same) processing systems.

  Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment", "embodiment", "preferred embodiment" or "specific embodiment" refers to a particular feature, structure described in connection with the embodiment. Or means that a feature is included in at least one embodiment of the invention and not necessarily in all embodiments. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, or “in a specific embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular functions, structures or features of the invention may be suitably combined with one or more other embodiments. It is understood that other variations and modifications of the embodiments of the invention described and illustrated herein are possible in light of the teaching herein and should be considered as part of the spirit and scope of the invention. It should be.

  Embodiments of the present invention provide application-specific integrated circuits, programmable logic devices, field programmable gate arrays, optical, chemical, biological, quantum or nanofabricated systems, components by using programmed general purpose digital computers. And by using a mechanism. In general, the functions of the present invention can be achieved by any means as is known in the art. Distributed or networked systems, components and circuits can be used. Data communication or transfer may be wired, wireless, or any other means.

  Also, one or more of the elements depicted in the drawings / drawings may be implemented in a separate or integrated manner, or deleted in certain cases to be valid in accordance with a particular application. It will also be understood that it may be impossible to implement. It is also within the spirit and scope of the present invention to implement a program or code that can be stored in a machine-readable medium to enable a computer to perform any of the methods described above.

  Further, the signal arrows in the drawings / drawings are to be considered as illustrative only and unless otherwise noted, and should not be considered limiting. Furthermore, the term “or” as used herein is generally intended to mean “and / or” unless stated otherwise. A combination of components or steps is also considered annotated if the technology expected to represent the ability to separate or combine is not clear.

  As used herein in the description and throughout the claims that follow, “a”, “an”, and “the” refer to the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. including. Also, in the description and throughout the following claims, the meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

  The above description of illustrated embodiments of the invention, including what is described in the abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed herein. . While particular embodiments and examples of the present invention have been described herein for purposes of illustration only, various equivalent variations will be within the spirit and scope of the present invention, as will be appreciated and understood by those skilled in the art. Is possible. As indicated, these variations may be made to the invention in light of the foregoing description of the illustrated embodiments of the invention and should be within the spirit and scope of the invention.

  Thus, although the invention has been described herein with reference to specific embodiments thereof, the scope of the variations, various variations and substitutions are intended in the disclosure, and in some examples, embodiments of the invention It will be understood that some features may be utilized without the corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as described. Accordingly, many variations may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the essential scope and spirit of the invention. The invention is not limited to the specific terms used in the following claims, and / or to the specific embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention. The invention is intended to cover all and all embodiments and equivalents contained in the appended claims. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined only by the appended claims.

1 is a general schematic plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a detailed schematic plan view of a particular implementation of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an end view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a display assembly. FIG. 5 is a diagram of one arrangement of the front panel output ports shown in FIG. 4. 3 is a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention for a portion of the structured waveguide shown in FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary waveguide manufacturing system for manufacturing a preferred embodiment of the waveguide preform of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary fiber pulling system for making a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a general schematic diagram of a transversely integrated modulator switch / junction element according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 10 is a general schematic of a series of manufacturing steps for the transversely integrated modulator switch / junction shown in FIG. 1 is a general schematic diagram of a “vertical” display system. FIG. FIG. 12 is a detailed schematic view of a portion of one strip shown in FIG. 11. FIG. 5 is an alternative preferred embodiment for a display system that implements a semiconductor waveguide display / projector as a vertical solution using vertical waveguide channels within a semiconductor structure. It is explanatory drawing which shows two layers (1st layer and 2nd layer) which comprise a "coil form" pattern continuously. FIG. 6 is an alternative preferred embodiment for a display system that implements a semiconductor waveguide display / projector as a planar solution using planar waveguide channels within a semiconductor structure. Transport / integrated in a semiconductor structure for propagating radiation signal 1605 coupled with a deflection mechanism 1610 that redirects light “valve-tuned” by a waveguide / influencer from a horizontal plane to a vertical plane 1 is a cross-sectional view of an influencer system 1600. FIG. FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of the display system shown in FIG. 15 further depicting three sub-pixel channels that create a single pixel. 1 depicts a preferred embodiment for an optional implementation of a waveguide path structure in a system.

Claims (28)

An integrated waveguide structure including one guiding channel and one or more boundary regions for propagating radiation signals from input to output;
An influencer system coupled to autonomously control attributes affecting the amplitude of the radiation signal within the zone of influence in response to the control;
A recursive system for periodically returning the radiation signal into the affecting zone to periodically affect an attribute affecting the amplitude of the radiation signal;
Transport equipped with a semiconductor substrate that supports   The transport of claim 1 wherein the recursive system includes a series of generally 90 degree waveguide integrity output redirects between the extended lengths of the affected portion of the waveguide.   The transport of claim 1, wherein the influencing zone comprises a controllable magnetic field disposed parallel to the propagation axis of the waveguide.   Each of the influencing portions of the waveguide includes a parallel propagation axis, and the influencing zone includes a controllable magnetic field disposed parallel to the propagation axis of the portion of the waveguide. Item 3. The transport according to Item 2.   The transport of claim 1, wherein the waveguide includes a photonic crystal element.   The transport of claim 1, wherein the output is coupled to a display pixel, and the zone of influence includes a length and width approximately equal to a region of the display pixel.   The transport of claim 1, wherein the influencer system includes elements that are integrated into a portion of the waveguide structure.   The substrate supports a plurality of additional waveguide structures arranged with respect to the waveguide structure, all of the waveguide structures from one waveguide structure to the next waveguide structure. Including a waveguide-to-waveguide switching system for switchably redirecting signals, wherein the recursive system periodically propagates the radiation signal through a segment of the waveguide structure within the zone of effect The transport of claim 1 comprising a recursive loop. A manufacturing method comprising:
a) disposing a waveguide structure in a substrate that includes one guiding channel and one or more boundary regions for propagating radiation signals from input to output;
b) bringing an influencer system in proximity to the waveguide structure for self-controlling the attributes affecting the amplitude of the radiation signal in the zone of influence in response to the control;
c) arranging a path of the waveguide structure to recursively pass the radiation signal through the affecting zone to periodically affect the attribute affecting the amplitude of the radiation signal;
A method comprising:   The method of claim 9, wherein the recursive system includes a series of generally ninety degrees of waveguide integrity output redirection between extended lengths of the affected portion of the waveguide.   The method of claim 9, wherein the influencing zone comprises a controllable magnetic field disposed parallel to the propagation axis of the waveguide.   11. The influencing portion of the waveguide includes a parallel propagation axis, and the influencing zone includes a controllable magnetic field disposed parallel to the propagation axis of the portion of the waveguide. The method described in 1.   The method of claim 9, wherein the waveguide comprises a photonic crystal element.   The method of claim 9, wherein the output is coupled to a display pixel, and the zone of influence comprises a length and width approximately equal to a region of the display pixel.   The method of claim 9, wherein the influencer system includes elements integrated into a portion of the waveguide structure.   The substrate supports a plurality of additional waveguide structures arranged with respect to the waveguide structure, all of the waveguide structures from one waveguide structure to the next waveguide structure. Including a waveguide-to-waveguide switching system for switchably redirecting signals, wherein the recursive system periodically propagates the radiation signal through a segment of the waveguide structure within the zone of effect The method of claim 9, comprising a recursive loop. A propagated signal carrying computer-executable instructions for performing the method when executed by a computing system, the method comprising:
a) placing a waveguide structure in the substrate that includes one guiding channel and one or more boundary regions for propagating radiation signals from input to output;
b) bringing an influencer system in proximity to the waveguide structure for self-controlling the attributes affecting the amplitude of the radiation signal in the zone of influence in response to the control;
c) arranging a path of the waveguide structure to recursively pass the radiation signal through the affecting zone to periodically affect the attribute affecting the amplitude of the radiation signal;
A method comprising:   18. A signal according to claim 17, wherein the recursive system comprises a series of generally ninety degree waveguide integrity output redirects between the extended lengths of the affected portion of the waveguide.   18. A signal according to claim 17, wherein the influencing zone comprises a controllable magnetic field arranged parallel to the propagation axis of the waveguide.   Each of the influencing portions of the waveguide includes a parallel propagation axis, and the influencing zone includes a controllable magnetic field disposed parallel to the propagation axis of the portion of the waveguide. Item 19. The signal according to Item 18.   The signal of claim 17, wherein the waveguide includes a photonic crystal element.   The signal of claim 17, wherein the output is coupled to a display pixel, and the zone of influence includes a length and width approximately equal to a region of the display pixel.   The signal of claim 17, wherein the influencer system includes elements integrated into a portion of the waveguide structure.   The substrate supports a plurality of additional waveguide structures arranged with respect to the waveguide structure, all of the waveguide structures from one waveguide structure to the next waveguide structure. Including a waveguide-to-waveguide switching system for switchably redirecting signals, wherein the recursive system periodically propagates the radiation signal through a segment of the waveguide structure within the zone of effect The signal of claim 17 comprising a recursive loop. An operation method,
a) Propagating a radiation signal through a waveguide structure supported in a substrate, the waveguide structure having one guiding channel and one or more boundaries for propagating the radiation signal from input to output Including an area,
b) recurring the radiation signal through zones that affect to periodically affect attributes that affect the amplitude of the radiation signal;
A method comprising: A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium carrying program instructions for manufacturing a device when executed using a computing system, the program instructions being executed performing the method, The method is
a) disposing a waveguide structure in a substrate that includes one guiding channel and one or more boundary regions for propagating radiation signals from input to output;
b) bringing an influencer system in proximity to the waveguide structure in response to the control to independently control the attribute affecting the amplitude of the radiation signal within the zone of influence;
c) arranging a path of the waveguide structure to recursively pass the radiation signal through the affecting zone to periodically affect the attribute affecting the amplitude of the radiation signal;
A computer program product comprising: A computer program product comprising a computer readable medium carrying program instructions for operating a device when executed using a computing system, the executed program instructions performing the method, and the method But,
a) propagating a radiation signal through a waveguide structure supported in a substrate, wherein the waveguide structure has one guiding channel and one or more boundary regions for propagating the radiation signal from input to output; Including
b) recurring the radiation signal through zones that affect to periodically affect attributes that affect the amplitude of the radiation signal;
A method comprising: Means for propagating a radiation signal through a waveguide structure supported in a substrate, including one guiding channel and one or more boundary regions for propagating said radiation signal from input to output; ,
Means for recurring the radiation signal through zones that affect to periodically affect attributes that affect the amplitude of the radiation signal;
A device comprising:

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