WO2005076720A2 - Systeme, procede et progiciel pour afficheur et memoire a guides d'ondes formant une structure textile - Google Patents

Systeme, procede et progiciel pour afficheur et memoire a guides d'ondes formant une structure textile Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2005076720A2
WO2005076720A2 PCT/IB2005/050556 IB2005050556W WO2005076720A2 WO 2005076720 A2 WO2005076720 A2 WO 2005076720A2 IB 2005050556 W IB2005050556 W IB 2005050556W WO 2005076720 A2 WO2005076720 A2 WO 2005076720A2
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Prior art keywords
fiber
optical
textile
fibers
display
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PCT/IB2005/050556
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English (en)
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WO2005076720A3 (fr
Inventor
Sutherland Ellwood
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Panorama Flat Ltd.
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Publication date
Priority claimed from US10/812,295 external-priority patent/US20050180674A1/en
Priority claimed from US11/011,761 external-priority patent/US20050180722A1/en
Priority claimed from US11/011,751 external-priority patent/US20050185877A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/906,220 external-priority patent/US20050201651A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/906,224 external-priority patent/US20060056792A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/906,226 external-priority patent/US20060056794A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/906,262 external-priority patent/US20050201674A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/906,260 external-priority patent/US20050213864A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/906,255 external-priority patent/US20050201673A1/en
Priority claimed from US10/906,258 external-priority patent/US7254287B2/en
Priority to EP05702969A priority Critical patent/EP1730581A2/fr
Priority to JP2006552769A priority patent/JP2007528507A/ja
Priority to AU2005213228A priority patent/AU2005213228A1/en
Application filed by Panorama Flat Ltd. filed Critical Panorama Flat Ltd.
Priority to CN2005800110250A priority patent/CN1973226B/zh
Publication of WO2005076720A2 publication Critical patent/WO2005076720A2/fr
Publication of WO2005076720A3 publication Critical patent/WO2005076720A3/fr

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/0136—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  for the control of polarisation, e.g. state of polarisation [SOP] control, polarisation scrambling, TE-TM mode conversion or separation
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B82—NANOTECHNOLOGY
    • B82Y—SPECIFIC USES OR APPLICATIONS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MEASUREMENT OR ANALYSIS OF NANOSTRUCTURES; MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF NANOSTRUCTURES
    • B82Y20/00—Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02F—OPTICAL DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF LIGHT BY MODIFICATION OF THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIA OF THE ELEMENTS INVOLVED THEREIN; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; FREQUENCY-CHANGING OF LIGHT; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS
    • G02F1/00—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics
    • G02F1/01—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour 
    • G02F1/09—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on magneto-optical elements, e.g. exhibiting Faraday effect
    • G02F1/095—Devices or arrangements for the control of the intensity, colour, phase, polarisation or direction of light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. switching, gating or modulating; Non-linear optics for the control of the intensity, phase, polarisation or colour  based on magneto-optical elements, e.g. exhibiting Faraday effect in an optical waveguide structure
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G02—OPTICS
    • G02B—OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B6/00—Light guides; Structural details of arrangements comprising light guides and other optical elements, e.g. couplings
    • G02B6/24—Coupling light guides
    • G02B6/36—Mechanical coupling means
    • G02B6/3608—Fibre wiring boards, i.e. where fibres are embedded or attached in a pattern on or to a substrate, e.g. flexible sheets

Definitions

  • the Faraday Effect is a phenomenon wherein a plane of polarization of linearly polarized light rotates when the light is propagated through a transparent medium placed in a magnetic field and in parallel with the magnetic field.
  • An effectiveness of the magnitude of polarization rotation varies with the strength of the magnetic field, the Verdet constant inherent to the medium and the light path length.
  • V is called the Verdet constant (and has units of arc minutes cm-1 Gauss-1)
  • B is the magnetic field
  • d is the propagation distance subject to the field.
  • Faraday rotation occurs because imposition of a magnetic field alters the energy levels.
  • An optical isolator includes a Faraday rotator to rotate by 45° the plane of polarization, a magnet for application of magnetic field, a polarizer, and an analyzer.
  • Conventional optical isolators have been of the bulk type wherein no waveguide (e.g., optical fiber) is used.
  • magneto-optical modulators have been produced from discrete crystals containing paramagnetic and ferromagnetic materials, particularly garnets (yttrium/iron garnet for example). Devices such as these require considerable magnetic control fields.
  • the magneto-optical effects are also used in thin-layer technology, particularly for producing non-reciprocal devices, such as non-reciprocal junctions. Devices such as these are based on a conversion of modes by Faraday Effect or by Cotton-Moutton effect.
  • a further drawback to using paramagnetic and ferromagnetic materials in magneto- optic devices is that these materials may adversely affect properties of the radiation other than polarization angle, such as for example amplitude, phase, and/or frequency.
  • FPDs flat panel displays
  • CRTs cathode ray tubes
  • a main challenge confronting existing FPD technology is cost, as compared with the dominant cathode ray tube (CRT) technology ("flat panel” means “flat” or “thin” compared to a CRT display, whose standard depth is nearly equal to the width of the display area).
  • CRT cathode ray tube
  • a technically-demanding frontier for projection systems is in the domain of the movie theater.
  • Motion-picture screen installations are an emerging application area for projection systems, and in this application, issues regarding console depth versus uniform image quality typically do not apply. Instead, the challenge is in equaling (at minimum) the quality of traditional 35 mm film projectors, at a competitive cost.
  • Existing technologies including direct Drive Image Light Amplifier (“D-ILA”), digital light processing (“DLP”), and grating-light- valve (“GLV”)-based systems, while recently equaling the quality of traditional film projection equipment, have significant cost disparities as compared to traditional film projectors.
  • D-ILA direct Drive Image Light Amplifier
  • DLP digital light processing
  • GLV grating-light- valve
  • Direct Drive Image Light Amplifier is a reflective liquid crystal light valve device developed by JVC Projectors.
  • a driving integrated circuit (“IC") writes an image directly onto a CMOS based light valve.
  • Liquid crystals change the reflectivity in proportion to a signal level.
  • These vertically aligned (homeoptropic) crystals achieve very fast response times with a rise plus fall time less than 16 milliseconds.
  • Light from a xenon or ultra high performance (“UHP”) metal halide lamp travels through a polarized beam splitter, reflects off the D-ILA device, and is projected onto a screen.
  • UHP ultra high performance
  • DMD chip At the heart of a DLPTM projection system is an optical semiconductor known as a Digital Micromirror Device, or DMD chip, which was pioneered by Dr. Larry Hornbeck of Texas Instruments in 1987.
  • the DMD chip is a sophisticated light switch. It contains a rectangular array of up to 1.3 million hinge-mounted microscopic mirrors; each of these micromirrors measures less than one-fifth the width of a human hair, and corresponds to one pixel in a projected image.
  • a DMD chip When a DMD chip is coordinated with a digital video or graphic signal, a light source, and a projection lens, its mirrors reflect an all-digital image onto a screen or other surface.
  • the DMD and the sophisticated electronics that surround it are called Digital Light ProcessingTM technology.
  • Another conventional use for the Faraday Effect in the context of optical fibers is as a system to overlay a low-rate data transmission on top of conventional high-speed transmission of data through the fiber.
  • the Faraday Effect is used to slowly modulate the high-speed data to provide out-of-band signaling or control. Again, this use is implemented with the telecommunications use as the predominate consideration.
  • the fiber is designed for telecommunications usage and any modification of the fiber properties for participation in the Faraday Effect is not permitted to degrade the telecommunications properties that typically include attenuation and dispersion performance metrics for kilometer+-length fiber channels.
  • optical fiber manufacturing techniques were developed and refined to permit efficient and cost-effective manufacturing of extremely long-lengths of optically pure and uniform fibers.
  • a high-level overview of the basic manufacturing process for optical fibers includes manufacture of a perform glass cylinder, drawing fibers from the preform, and testing the fibers.
  • a perform blank is made using a modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) process that bubbles oxygen through silicon solutions having a requisite chemical composition necessary to produce the desired attributes (e.g., index of refraction, coefficient of expansion, melting point, etc.) of the final fiber.
  • MCVD modified chemical vapor deposition
  • the gas vapors are conducted to an inside of a synthetic silica or quartz tube (cladding) in a special lathe.
  • the lathe is turned and a torch moves along an outside of the tube. Heat from the torch causes the chemicals in the gases to react with oxygen and form silicon dioxide and germanium dioxide and these dioxides deposit on the inside of the tube and fuse together to form glass. The conclusion of this process produces the blank preform.
  • the blank preform is made, cooled, and tested, it is placed inside a fiber drawing tower having the preform at a top near a graphite furnace.
  • the furnace melts a tip of the preform resulting in a molten "glob" that begins to fall due to gravity. As it falls, it cools and forms a strand of glass.
  • This strand is threaded through a series of processing stations for applying desired coatings and curing the coatings and attached to a tractor that pulls the strand at a computer-monitored rate so that the strand has the desired thickness. Fibers are pulled at about a rate of thirty-three to sixty-six feet/ second with the drawn strand wound onto a spool. It is not uncommon for these spools to contain more than one point four (1.4) miles of optical fiber.
  • PCFs photonic crystal fibers
  • a PCF is an optical fiber/ waveguiding structure that uses a microstructured arrangement of low-index material in a background material of higher refractive index.
  • the background material is often undoped silica and the low index region is typically provided by air voids running along the length of the fiber.
  • PCFs are divided into two general categories: (1) high index guiding fibers, and (2) low index guiding fibers.
  • high index guiding fibers are guiding light in a solid core by the Modified Total Internal Reflection (MTIR) principle. Total internal reflection is caused by the lower effective index in the microstructured air-filled region.
  • MTIR Modified Total Internal Reflection
  • Low index guiding fibers guide light using a photonic bandgap (PBG) effect.
  • PBG photonic bandgap
  • inventions are used to include the wide range of waveguiding structures and methods, the range of these structures may be modified as described herein to implement embodiments of the present invention.
  • the characteristics of different fiber types aides are adapted for the many different applications for which they are used. Operating a fiber optic system properly relies on knowing what type of fiber is being used and why.
  • Multimode fibers include step- index and graded-index fibers
  • single-mode fibers include step-index, matched clad, depressed clad and other exotic structures.
  • Multimode fiber is best designed for shorter transmission distances, and is suited for use in LAN systems and video surveillance.
  • Single-mode fiber are best designed for longer transmission distances, making it suitable for long-distance telephony and multichannel television broadcast systems.
  • "Air-clad" or evanescently-coupled waveguides include optical wire and optical nano-wire.
  • Stepped-index generally refers to provision of an abrupt change of an index of refraction for the waveguide - a core has an index of refraction greater than that of a cladding.
  • Graded-index refers to structures providing a refractive index profile that gradually decreases farther from a center of the core (for example the core has a parabolic profile).
  • Single-mode fibers have developed many different profiles tailored for particular applications (e.g., length and radiation frequency(ies) such as non dispersion-shifted fiber (NDSF), dispersion-shifted fiber (DSF) and nonzero-dispersion-shifted fiber (NZ-DSF)).
  • NDSF non dispersion-shifted fiber
  • DSF dispersion-shifted fiber
  • NZ-DSF nonzero-dispersion-shifted fiber
  • An important variety of single-mode fiber has been developed referred to as polarization-maintaining (PM) fiber.
  • PM fiber is designed to propagate only one polarization of the input light.
  • PM fiber contains a feature not seen in other fiber types.
  • stress rods there are additional (2) longitudinal regions called stress rods. As their name implies, these stress rods create stress in the core of the fiber such that the transmission of only one polarization plane of light is favored.
  • YIG yttrium- iron-garnet
  • FZ floating zone
  • the sintered material of a prescribed formulation is placed in the central area between the mother stick and the seed crystal in order to create the fluid needed to promote the deposition of YIG single crystal.
  • Light from halogen lamps is focused on the central area, while the two shafts are rotated.
  • the central area when heated in an oxygenic atmosphere, forms a molten zone. Under this condition, the mother stick and the seed are moved at a constant speed and result in the movement of the molten zone along the mother stick, thus growing single crystals from the YIG sinter.
  • the FZ method grows crystal from a mother stick that is suspended in the air, contamination is precluded and a high-purity crystal is cultivated.
  • the FZ method produces ingots measuring 012 x 120 mm.
  • Newer systems provide for the production and synthesis of Bismuth-substituted yttrium-iron-garnet (Bi-YIG) materials, thin-films and nanopowders.
  • Bi-YIG Bismuth-substituted yttrium-iron-garnet
  • nGimat Co. at 5313 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Atlanta, GA 30341 uses a combustion chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) system for production of thin film coatings.
  • CCVD combustion chemical vapor deposition
  • precursors which are the metal-bearing chemicals used to coat an object, are dissolved in a solution that typically is a combustible fuel. This solution is atomized to form microscopic droplets by means of a special nozzle. An oxygen stream then carries these droplets to a flame where they are combusted.
  • a substrate (a material being coated) is coated by simply drawing it in front of the flame. Heat from the flame provides energy that is required to vaporize the droplets and
  • epitaxial liftoff has been used for achieving heterogeneous integration of many III-V and elemental semiconductor systems.
  • it has been difficult using some processes to integrate devices of many other important material systems.
  • a good example of this problem has been the integration of single-crystal transition metal oxides on semiconductor platforms, a system needed for on-chip thin film optical isolators.
  • An implementation of epitaxial liftoff in magnetic garnets has been reported. Deep ion implantation is used to create a buried sacrificial layer in single-crystal yttrium iron garnet (YIG) and bismuth-substituted YIG (Bi-YIG) epitaxial layers grown on gadolinium gallium garnet (GGG).
  • YIG single-crystal yttrium iron garnet
  • Bi-YIG bismuth-substituted YIG
  • the damage generated by the implantation induces a large etch selectivity between the sacrificial layer and the rest of the garnet.
  • Ten-micron-thick films have been lifted off from the original GGG substrates by etching in phosphoric acid. Millimeter-size pieces have been transferred to the silicon and gallium arsenide substrates.
  • a stack featured four heteroepitaxial layers of 81-nm-thick yttrium iron garnet (YIG) atop 70-nm-thick bismuth iron garnet (BIG), a 279-nm-thick central layer of BIG, and four layers of BIG atop YIG.
  • YIG yttrium iron garnet
  • BIG bismuth iron garnet
  • BIG a 279-nm-thick central layer of BIG
  • a pulsed laser deposition using an LPX305i 248-nm KrF excimer laser was used.
  • the prior art employs specialty magneto-optic materials in most magneto-optic systems, but it has also been known to employ the Faraday Effect with less traditional magneto-optic materials such as the non-PCF optical fibers by creating the necessary magnetic field strength - as long as the telecommunications metrics are not compromised.
  • post-manufacturing methods are used in conjunction with pre-made optical fibers to provide certain specialty coatings for use in certain magneto-optical applications.
  • post- manufacture processing of the premade material is sometimes necessary to achieve various desired results. Such extra processing increases the final cost of the special fiber and introduces additional situations in which the fiber may fail to meet specifications.
  • magneto-applications typically include a small number (typically one or two) of magneto-optical components, the relatively high cost per unit is tolerable.
  • the final costs in terms of dollars and time
  • the unitary display system including an illumination system for generating a plurality of input wave_components in a first plurality of waveguide channels; and a modulating system, integrated with the illumination system, for receiving the plurality of input wave_components in a second plurality of waveguide channels and producing a plurality of output wave_components collectively defining successive image sets.
  • a unitary display manufacturing method including: a) forming an illumination system for generating a plurality of input wave_components in a first plurality of waveguide channels; and b) forming a modulating system, integrated with the illumination system, for receiving the plurality of input wave_components in a second plurality of waveguide channels and producing a plurality of output wave_components collectively defining successive image sets.
  • the apparatus, method, computer program product and propagated signal of the present invention provide an advantage of using modified and mature waveguide manufacturing processes.
  • the waveguide is an optical transport, preferably an optical fiber or waveguide channel adapted to enhance short-length property influencing characteristics of the influencer by including optically-active constituents while preserving desired attributes of the radiation.
  • the property of the radiation to be influenced includes a polarization state of the radiation and the influencer uses a Faraday Effect to control a polarization rotation angle using a controllable, variable magnetic field propagated parallel to a transmission axis of the optical transport.
  • the optical transport is constructed to enable the polarization to be controlled quickly using low magnetic field strength over very short optical paths.
  • Radiation is initially controlled to produce a wave component having one particular polarization; the polarization of that wave component is influenced so that a second polarizing filter modulates an amplitude of emitted radiation in response to the influencing effect.
  • this modulation includes extinguishing the emitted radiation.
  • FIG_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 specific implementation of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG_1 ;
  • FIG_3 is an end view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG_2;
  • FIG_4 is a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment for a display assembly
  • FIG_5 is a view of one arrangement for output ports of the front panel shown in FIG_4;
  • FIG_6 is a schematic representation of a preferred embodiment of the present invention for a portion of the structured waveguide shown in FIG_2;
  • FIG_7 is a schematic block diagram of a representative waveguide manufacturing system for making a preferred embodiment of a waveguide preform of the present invention
  • FIG_8 is a schematic diagram of a representative fiber drawing system for making a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG_9 is a general schematic diagram of a simplified unitary panel waveguide- based display
  • FIG_10 is a detailed schematic diagram of the display shown in FIG_9;
  • FIG_11 is a schematic diagram of an addressing grid 1100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG_12 is a schematic diagram of an "X" ribbon structural fiber system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG_13 is a schematic diagram of a "Y" ribbon structural fiber system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG_14 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment for a modular switching matrix used in the display shown in FIG_9 and FIG_10;
  • FIG_15 is a schematic diagram of a first alternate preferred embodiment for a modular switching matrix used in the display shown in FIG_9 and FIG_10;
  • FIG_16 is a schematic diagram of a second alternate preferred embodiment for a modular switching matrix used in the display shown in FIG_9 and FIG_10;
  • FIG_17 is a schematic diagram of a third alternate preferred embodiment for a modular switching matrix used in the display shown in FIG_9 and FIG_10;
  • FIG_18 is a general schematic diagram of a transverse integrated modulator switch/ junction system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG_19 is general schematic diagram of a series of fabrication steps for transverse integrated modulator switch/junction shown in FIG_18;
  • FIG_20 is a schematic three-dimensional representation of a textile matrix useable as a display, display element, logic device, logic element, or memory device.
  • the present invention relates to an alternative waveguide technology that offers advantages over the prior art to enhance a responsiveness of a radiation-influencing property of the waveguide to an outside influence while reducing unit cost and increasing manufacturability, reproducibihty, uniformity, and reliability.
  • 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 generic principles and features described herein will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiment shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features described herein.
  • an optical transport is a waveguide particularly adapted to enhance the property influencing characteristics of the influencer while preserving desired attributes of the radiation.
  • the property of the radiation to be influenced includes its polarization rotation state and the influencer uses a Faraday Effect to control the polarization angle using a controllable, variable magnetic field propagated parallel to a transmission axis of the optical transport.
  • the optical transport is constructed to enable the polarization to be controlled quickly using low magnetic field strength over very short optical paths.
  • the optical transport includes optical fibers exhibiting high Verdet constants for the wavelengths of the transmitted radiation while concurrently preserving the waveguiding attributes of the fiber and otherwise providing for efficient construction of, and cooperative affectation of the radiation property(ies), by the property influencer.
  • the property influencer is a structure for implementing the property control of the radiation transmitted by the optical transport.
  • the property influencer is operatively coupled to the optical transport, which in one implementation for an optical transport formed by an optical fiber having a core and one or more cladding layers, preferably the influencer is integrated into or on one or more of the cladding layers without significantly adversely altering the waveguiding attributes of the optical transport.
  • the preferred implementation of the property influencer is a polarization influencing structure, such as a coil, coilform, or other structure capable of integration that supports/produces a Faraday Effect manifesting field in the optical transport (and thus affects the transmitted radiation) using one or more magnetic fields (one or more of which are controllable).
  • a polarization influencing structure such as a coil, coilform, or other structure capable of integration that supports/produces a Faraday Effect manifesting field in the optical transport (and thus affects the transmitted radiation) using one or more magnetic fields (one or more of which are controllable).
  • the structured waveguide of the present invention may serve in some embodiments as a transport in a modulator that controls an amplitude of propagated radiation.
  • the radiation emitted by the modulator will have a maximum radiation amplitude and a minimum radiation amplitude, controlled by the interaction of the property influencer on the optical transport. Extinguishing simply refers to the minimum radiation amplitude being at a sufficiently low level (as appropriate for the particular embodiment) to be characterized as "off" or “dark” or other classification indicating an absence of radiation. In other words, in some applications a sufficiently low but detectable/discernable radiation amplitude may properly be identified as "extinguished" when that level meets the parameters for the implementation or embodiment.
  • the present invention improves the response of the waveguide to the influencer by use of optically active constituents disposed in the guiding region during waveguide manufacture.
  • FIG_1 is a general schematic plan view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention for a Faraday structured waveguide modulator 100.
  • Modulator 100 includes an optical transport 105, a property influencer 110 operatively coupled to transport 105, a first property element 120, and a second property element 125.
  • Transport 105 may be implemented based upon many well-known optical waveguide structures of the art.
  • transport 105 may be a specially adapted optical fiber (conventional or PCF) having a guiding channel including a guiding region and one or more bounding regions (e.g., a core and one or more cladding layers for the core), or transport 105 may be a waveguide channel of a bulk device or substrate having one or more such guiding channels.
  • a conventional waveguide structure is modified based upon the type of radiation property to be influenced and the nature of influencer 110.
  • influencer 110 for Faraday polarization rotation influence uses a combination of variable and fixed magnetic fields proximate to or integrated within/on transport 105. These magnetic fields are desirably generated so that a controlling magnetic field is oriented parallel to a propagation direction of radiation transmitted through transport 105. Properly controlling the direction and magnitude of the magnetic field relative to the transport achieves a desired degree of influence on the radiation polarization angle.
  • transport 105 be constructed to improve/maximize the "influencibility" of the selected property by influencer 110.
  • transport 105 is doped, formed, processed, and/or treated to increase/maximize the Verdet constant.
  • the greater the Verdet constant the easier influencer 110 is able to influence the polarization rotation angle at a given field strength and transport length.
  • attention to the Verdet constant is the primary task with other features/attributes/characteristics of the waveguide aspect of transport 105 secondary.
  • influencer 110 is integrated or otherwise "strongly associated" with transport 105 through the waveguide manufacturing process (e.g., the preform fabrication and/or drawing process), though some implementations may provide otherwise.
  • Element 120 and element 125 are property elements for selecting/filtering/operating on the desired radiation property to be influenced by influencer 110.
  • Element 120 may be a filter to be used as a "gating" element to pass wave components of the input radiation having a desired state for the appropriate property, or it may be a "processing" element to conform one or more wave components of the input radiation to a desired state for the appropriate property.
  • the gated/processed wave components from element 120 are provided to optical transport 105 and property influencer 110 controUably influences the transported wave components as described above.
  • Element 125 is a cooperative structure to element 120 and operates on the influenced wave components.
  • Element 125 is a structure that passes WAVE_OUT and controls an amplitude of WAVE_OUT based upon a state of the property of the wave component. The nature and particulars of that control relate to the influenced property and the state of the property from element 120 and the specifics of how that initial state has been influenced by influencer 110.
  • element 120 and element 125 may be polarization filters.
  • Element 120 selects one specific type of polarization for the wave component, for example right hand circular polarization.
  • Influencer 110 controls a po- larization rotation angle of radiation as it passes through transport 105.
  • Element 125 filters the influenced wave component based upon the final polarization rotation angle as compared to a transmission angle of element 125. In other words, when the polarization rotation angle of the influenced wave component matches the transmission axis of element 125, WAVE_OUT has a high amplitude.
  • WAVE_OUT When the polarization rotation angle of the influenced wave component is "crossed" with the transmission axis of element 125, WAVE_OUT has a low amplitude.
  • a cross in this context refers to a rotation angle about ninety degrees misaligned with the transmission axis for conventional polarization filters.
  • a default condition refers to a magnitude of the output amplitude without influence from influencer 110. For example, by setting the transmission axis of element 125 at a ninety degree relationship to a transmission axis of element 120, the default condition would be a minimum amplitude for the preferred embodiment.
  • Element 120 and element 125 may be discrete components or one or both structures may be integrated onto or into transport 105.
  • the elements may be localized at an "input” and an "output" of transport 105 as in the preferred embodiment, while in other embodiments these elements may be distributed in particular regions of transport 105 or throughout transport 105.
  • WAVE_IN radiation
  • RCP right hand circular polarization
  • Transport 105 transmits the RCP wave component until it is interacted with by element 125 and the wave component (shown as WAVE_OUT) is passed.
  • WAVE_IN typically has multiple orthogonal states to the polarization property (e.g., right hand circular polarization (RCP) and left hand circular polarization (LCP)).
  • Element 120 produces a particular state for the polarization rotation property (e.g., passes one of the orthogonal states and blocks/shifts the other so only one state is passed).
  • Influencer 110 in response to a control signal, influences that particular polarization rotation of the passed wave component and may change it as specified by the control signal. Influencer 110 of the preferred embodiment is able to influence the polarization rotation property over a range of about ninety degrees. Element 125 then interacts with the wave component as it has been influenced permitting the radiation amplitude of WAVE_IN to be modulated from a maximum value when the wave component polarization rotation matches the transmission axis of element 125 and a minimum value when the wave component polarization is "crossed" with the transmission axis. By use of element 120, the amplitude of WAVE_OUT of the preferred embodiment is variable from a maximum level to an extinguished level.
  • FIG_2 is a detailed schematic plan view of a specific implementation of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG_1. This implementation is described specifically to simplify the discussion, though the invention is not limited to this particular example.
  • Faraday structured waveguide modulator 100 shown in FIG_1 is a Faraday optical modulator 200 shown in FIG_2.
  • Modulator 200 includes a core 205, a first cladding layer 210, a second cladding layer 215, a coil or coilform 220 (coil 220 having a first control node 225 and a second control node 230), an input element 235, and an output element 240.
  • FIG_3 is a sectional view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG_2 taken between element 235 and element 240 with like numerals showing the same or corresponding structures.
  • Core 205 may contain one or more of the following dopants added by standard fiber manufacturing techniques, e.g., variants on the vacuum deposition method: (a) color dye dopant (makes modulator 200 effectively a color filter alight from a source illumination system), and (b) an optically-active dopant, such as YIG/Bi-YIG or Tb or TGG or other dopant for increasing the Verdet constant of core 205 to achieve efficient Faraday rotation in the presence of an activating magnetic field. Heating or applying stress to the fiber during manufacturing adds holes or irregularities in core 205 to further increase the Verdet constant and/or implement non-linear effects. To simplify the discussion herein, the discussion focuses predominately on non-PCF waveguides.
  • PCF variants may be substituted for the non-PCF wavelength embodiments unless the context clearly is contrary to such substitution.
  • color filtering is implemented using wavelength-selective bandgap coupling or longitudinal structures/ voids may be filled and doped. Therefore, whenever color filtering/dye-doping is discussed in connection with non-PCF waveguides, the use of wavelength-selective bandgap coupling and/or filling and doping for PCF waveguides may also be substituted when appropriate.
  • silica optical fiber is manufactured with high levels of dopants relative to the silica percentage (this level may be as high as fifty percent dopants).
  • Current dopant concentrations in silica structures of other kinds of fiber achieve about ninety-degree rotation in a distance of tens of microns.
  • Conventional fiber manufacturers continue to achieve improvements in increasing dopant concentration (e.g., fibers commercially available from JDS Uniphase) and in controlling dopant profile (e.g., fibers commercially available from Corning Incorporated).
  • Core 205 achieves sufficiently high and controlled concentrations of optically active dopants to provide requisite quick rotation with low power in micron-scale distances, with these power/distance values continuing to decrease as further improvements are made.
  • First cladding layer 210 (optional in the preferred embodiment) is doped with ferromagnetic single-molecule magnets, which become permanently magnetized when exposed to a strong magnetic field. Magnetization of first cladding layer 210 may take place prior to the addition to core 205 or pre-form, or after modulator 200 (complete with core, cladding, coating(s) and/or elements) is drawn. During this process, either the preform or the drawn fiber passes through a strong permanent magnet field ninety degrees offset from a transmission axis of core 205. In the preferred embodiment, this magnetization is achieved by an electro-magnetic disposed as an element of a fiber pulling apparatus.
  • First cladding layer 210 (with permanent magnetic properties) is provided to saturate the magnetic domains of the optically-active core 205, but does not change the angle of rotation of the radiation passing through fiber 200, since the direction of the magnetic field from layer 210 is at right-angles to the direction of propagation.
  • the incorporated provisional application describes a method to optimize an orientation of a doped ferromagnetic cladding by pulverization of non-optimal nuclei in a crystalline structure.
  • SMMs single-molecule magnets
  • ZettaCore, Inc. of Denver, Colorado.
  • 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 generating the requisite field.
  • second cladding layer 215 is saturated by a magnetic field generated by an adjacent field-generating element (e.g., coil 220), itself driven by a signal (e.g., a control pulse) from a controller such as a switching matrix drive circuit (not shown), second cladding layer 215 quickly reaches a degree of magnetization appropriate to the degree of rotation desired for modulator 200.
  • second cladding layer 215 remains magnetized at or sufficiently near that level until a subsequent pulse either increases (current in the same direction), refreshes (no current or a +/- maintenance current), or reduces (current in the opposite direction) the magnetization level.
  • This remanent flux of doped second cladding layer 215 maintains an appropriate degree of rotation over time without constant application of a field by influencer 110 (e.g., coil 220).
  • Alteration of crystalline structure is a method known to the art, and may be employed on a doped silica cladding, either in a fabricated fiber or on a doped preform material.
  • the '010 patent is hereby expressly incorporated by reference for all purposes.
  • SMMs single-molecule magnets
  • Coil 220 of the preferred embodiment is fabricated integrally on or in fiber 200 to generate an initial magnetic field.
  • This magnetic field from coil 220 rotates the angle of polarization of radiation transmitted through core 205 and magnetizes the ferri/ ferromagnetic dopant in second cladding layer 215.
  • a combination of these magnetic fields maintains the desired angle of rotation for a desired period (such a time of a video frame when a matrix of fibers 200 collectively form a display as described in one of the related patent applications incorporated herein).
  • a "coilform" is defined as a structure similar to a coil in that a plurality of conductive segments are disposed parallel to each other and at right-angles to the axis of the fiber.
  • coil 220 uses a conductive material that is a conductive polymer that is less efficient than a metal wire. In other implementations, coil 220 uses wider but fewer windings than otherwise would be used with a more efficient material. In still other instances, such as when coil 220 is fabricated by a convenient process but produces coil 220 having a less efficient operation, other parameters compensate as necessary to achieve suitable overall operation.
  • Node 225 and node 230 receive a signal for inducing generation of the requisite magnetic fields in core 205, cladding layer 215, and coil 220.
  • This signal in a simple embodiment is a DC (direct current) signal of the appropriate magnitude and duration to create the desired magnetic fields and rotate the polarization angle of the WAVE_IN radiation propagating through modulator 200.
  • a controller (not shown) may provide this control signal when modulator 200 is used.
  • Input element 235 and output element 240 are polarization filters in the preferred embodiment, provided as discrete components or integrated into/onto core 205.
  • Input element 235 as a polarizer, may be implemented in many different ways.
  • Various polarization mechanisms may be employed that permit passage of light of a single polarization type (specific circular or linear) into core 205; the preferred embodiment uses a thin-film deposited epitaxially on an "input" end of core 205.
  • a preferred illumination system may include a cavity to allow repeated reflection of light of the "wrong" initial polarization; thereby all light ultimately resolves into the admitted or "right” polarization.
  • polarization- maintaining waveguides fibers, semiconductor
  • Output element 240 of the preferred embodiment is a "polarization filter” element that is ninety degrees offset from the orientation of input element 235 for a default "off" modulator 200. (In some embodiments, the default may be made “on” by aligning the axes of the input and output elements. Similarly, other defaults such as fifty percent amplitude may be implemented by appropriate relationship of the input and output elements and suitable control from the influencer.)
  • Element 240 is preferably a thin- film deposited epitaxially on an output end of core 205. Input element 235 and output element 240 may be configured differently from the configurations described here using other polarization filter/control systems.
  • FIG_4 is a schematic block diagram of a preferred embodiment for a display assembly 400.
  • Assembly 400 includes an aggregation of a plurality of picture elements (pixels) each generated by a waveguide modulator 200i,j such as shown in FIG_2.
  • Control signals for control of each influencer of modulators 200i,j are provided by a controller 405.
  • a radiation source 410 provides source radiation for input/control by modulators 200i,j and a front panel may be used to arrange modulators 200i,j into a desired pattern and or optionally provide post-output processing of one or more pixels.
  • Radiation source 410 may be unitary balanced-white or separate RGB/CMY tuned source or sources or other appropriate radiation frequency. Source(s) 410 may be remote from input ends of modulator 200i,j, adjacent these input ends, or integrated onto/into modulator 200i,j. In some implementations, a single source is used, while other implementations may use several or more (and in some cases, one source per modulator 200i,j).
  • the preferred embodiment for the optical transport of modulator 200i,j includes light channels in the form of special optical fibers. But semiconductor waveguide, waveguiding holes, or other optical waveguiding channels, including channels or regions formed through material "in depth,” are also encompassed within the scope of the present invention. These waveguiding elements are fundamental imaging structures of the display and incorporate, integrally, amplitude modulation mechanisms and color selection mechanisms. In the preferred embodiment for an FPD implementation, a length of each of the light channels is preferably on the order of about tens of microns (though the length may be different as described herein).
  • a length of the optical transport is short (on the order of about 20mm and shorter), and able to be continually shortened as the effective Verdet value increases and/or the magnetic field strength increases.
  • the actual depth of a display will be a function of the channel length but because optical transport is a waveguide, the path need not be linear from the source to the output (the path length). In other words, the actual path may be bent to provide an even shallower effective depth in some implementations.
  • the path length is a function of the Verdet constant and the magnetic field strength and while the preferred embodiment provides for very short path lengths of a few millimeters and shorter, longer lengths may be used in some implementations as well.
  • the necessary length is determined by the influencer to achieve the desired degree of influence/control over the input radiation.
  • this control is able to achieve about a ninety degree rotation.
  • an extinguishing level is higher (e.g., brighter) then less rotation may be used which shortens the necessary path length.
  • the path length is also influenced by the degree of desired influence on the wave component.
  • Controller 405 includes a number of alternatives for construction and assembly of a suitable switching system.
  • the preferred implementation includes not only a point- to-point controller, it also encompasses a "matrix" that structurally combines and holds modulators 200i,j, and electronically addresses each pixel.
  • matrix structurally combines and holds modulators 200i,j, and electronically addresses each pixel.
  • optical fibers inherent in the nature of a fiber component is the potential for an all-fiber, textile construction and appropriate addressing of the fiber elements.
  • Flexible meshes or solid matrixes are alternative structures, with attendant assembly methods.
  • Front panel 415 may be simply a sheet of optical glass or other transparent optical material facing the polarization component or it may include additional functional and structural features.
  • panel 415 may include guides or other structures to arrange output ends of modulators 200 into the desired relative orientation with ij neighboring modulators 200 .
  • FIG_5 is a view of one arrangement for output ports 500 of front panel 415 shown in FIG_4. Other arrangements are possible are also possible depending upon the desired display (e.g., circular, elliptical or other regular/ irregular geometric shape). When an application requires it, the active display area does not have to be contiguous pixels such that rings or "doughnut" displays are possible when appropriate.
  • output ports may focus, disperse, filter, or perform other type of post-output processing on one or more pixels.
  • radiation source 410 a "switching assembly" with controller 405 coupled to modulators 200 , and front panel 415 may benefit from being housed in distinct modules or units, at some distance from each other.
  • radiation source 410 in some embodiments it is advantageous to separate the illumination source(s) from the switching assembly due to heat produced by the types of high-amplitude light that is typically required to illuminate a large theatrical screen. Even when multiple illumination sources are used, distributing the heat output otherwise concentrated in, for instance, a single Xenon lamp, the heat output may still be large enough that the separation from the switching and display elements may be desirable.
  • the illumination source(s) thus would be housed in an insulated case with heat sink and cooling elements. Fibers would then convey the light from the separate or unitary source to the switching assembly, and then projected onto the screen.
  • the screen may include some features of front panel 415 or panel 415 may be used prior to illuminating an appropriate surface.
  • integrated optics manufacturing techniques are expected to permit attenuator arrays of the present invention to be accomplished in the fabrication of a single semiconductor substrate or chip, massively monolithic or superficial.
  • the fused-fiber surface may be then ground to achieve a curvature for the purpose of focusing an image into an optical array; alternatively, fiber-ends that are joined with adhesive or otherwise bound may have shaped tips and may be arranged at their terminus in a shaped matrix to achieve a curved surface, if necessary.
  • the terms guiding region or guiding channel and bounding regions refer to cooperative structures for enhancing radiation propagation along the transmission axis of the channel. These structures are different from buffers or coatings or post-manufacture treatments of the waveguide. A principle difference is that the bounding regions are typically capable of propagating the wave component propagated through the guiding region while the other components of a waveguide do not. For example, in a multimode fiber optic waveguide, significant energy of higher-order modes is propagated through the bounding regions.
  • the guiding region/bounding region(s) are substantially transparent to propagating radiation while the other supporting structures are generally sub- stantially opaque.
  • influencer 110 works in cooperation with waveguide 205 to influence a property of a propagating wave component as it is transmitted along the transmission axis.
  • Portion 600 is therefore said to have an influencer response attribute, and in the preferred embodiment this attribute is particularly structured to enhance the response of the property of the propagating wave to influencer 110.
  • Portion 600 includes a plurality of constituents (e.g., rare-earth dopants 605, holes, 610, structural irregularities 615, microbubbles 620, and/or other elements 625) disposed in the guiding region and/or one or more bounding regions as desirable for any specific implementation.
  • portion 600 has a very short length, in many cases less than about 25 millimeters, and as described above, sometimes significantly shorter than that.
  • the influencer response attribute enhanced by these constituents is optimized for short length waveguides (for example as contrasted to telecommunications fibers optimized for very long lengths on the order of kilometers and greater, including attenuation and wavelength dispersion).
  • the constituents of portion 600 being optimized for a different application, could seriously degrade telecommunications use of the waveguide. While the presence of the constituents is not intended to degrade telecommunications use, the focus of the preferred embodiment on enhancement of the influencer response attribute over telecommunications attribute(s) makes it possible for such degradation to occur and is not a drawback of the preferred embodiment.
  • the present invention contemplates that there are many different wave properties that may be influenced by different constructions of influencer 110; the preferred embodiment targets a Faraday-effect-related property of portion 600.
  • the Faraday Effect induces a polarization rotation change responsive to a magnetic field parallel to a propagation direction.
  • influencer 110 when influencer 110 generates a magnetic field parallel to the transmission axis, in portion 600 the amount of rotation is dependent upon the strength of the magnetic field, the length of portion 600, and the Verdet constant for portion 600.
  • the constituents increase the responsiveness of portion 600 to this magnetic field, such as by increasing the effective Verdet constant of portion 600.
  • Silica silicon dioxide (SiO )
  • Silica is the basic material of which the most common communication-grade optical fibers are made. Silica may occur in crystalline or amorphous form, and occurs naturally in impure forms such as quartz and sand.
  • the Verdet constant is an optical constant that describes the strength of the Faraday Effect for a particular material.
  • the Verdet constant for most materials, including silica is extremely small and is wavelength dependent. It is very strong in substances containing paramagnetic ions such as terbium (Tb).
  • Tb terbium
  • High Verdet constants are found in terbium doped dense flint glasses or in crystals of terbium gallium garnet (TGG). This material generally has excellent transparency properties and is very resistant to laser damage.
  • the Verdet constant is quite strongly a function of wavelength. At 632.8nm, the Verdet constant for TGG is reported to be -134 radT-1 whereas at 1064nm, it has fallen to -40radT-l. This behavior means that the devices manufactured with a certain degree of rotation at one wavelength, will produce much less rotation at longer wavelengths.
  • the constituents may, in some implements, include an optically-active dopant, such as YIG/Bi-YIG or Tb or TGG or other best-performing dopant, which increases the Verdet constant of the waveguide to achieve efficient Faraday rotation in the presence of an activating magnetic field. Heating or stressing during the fiber manufacturing process as described below may further increase the Verdet constant by adding additional constituents (e.g., holes or irregularities) in portion 600.
  • Rare-earths as used in conventional waveguides are employed as passive enhancements of transmission attributes elements, and are not used in optically-active applications.
  • silica optical fiber is manufactured with high levels of dopants relative to the silica percentage itself, as high as at least 50% dopants, and since requisite dopant concentrations have been demonstrated in silica structures of other kinds to achieve 90° rotation in tens of microns or less; and given improvements in increasing dopant concentrations (e.g., fibers commercially available from JDS Uniphase) and improvements in controlling dopant profiles (e.g., fibers, commercially available from Corning Incorporated), it is possible to achieve sufficiently high and controlled concentrations of optically-active dopant to induce rotation with low power in micron-scale distances.
  • dopant concentrations e.g., fibers commercially available from JDS Uniphase
  • improvements in controlling dopant profiles e.g., fibers, commercially available from Corning Incorporated
  • FIG_7 is a schematic block diagram of a representative waveguide manufacturing system 700 for making a preferred embodiment of a waveguide preform of the present invention.
  • System 700 represents a modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) process to produce a glass rod referred to as the preform.
  • the preform from a conventional process is a solid rod of ultra-pure glass, duplicating the optical properties of a desired fiber exactly, but with linear dimensions scaled-up two orders of magnitude or more.
  • system 700 produces a preform that does not emphasize optical purity but optimizes for short-length optimization of influencer response.
  • Preforms are typically made using one of the following chemical vapor deposition (CVD) methods: 1. Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition (MCVD), 2.
  • PMCVD Plasma Modified Chemical Vapor Deposition
  • PCVD Plasma Chemical Vapor Deposition
  • OPD Outside Vapor Deposition
  • Axial Deposition All these methods are based on thermal chemical vapor reaction that forms oxides, which are deposited as layers of glass particles called soot, on the outside of a rotating rod or inside a glass tube. The same chemical reactions occur in these methods.
  • Various liquids e.g., starting materials are solutions of SiCl , GeCl , POC1 , and gaseous BC1 ) that provide the source for Si and dopants are heated in the presence in oxygen gas, each liquid in a heated bubbler 705 and gas from a source 710. These liquids are evaporated within an oxygen stream controlled by a mass-flow meter 715 and, with the gasses, form silica and other oxides from combustion of the glass- producing halides in a silica-lathe 720.
  • starting materials are solutions of SiCl , GeCl , POC1 , and gaseous BC1 .
  • Germanium dioxide and phosphorus pentoxide increase the refractive index of glass, a boron oxide - decreases it. These oxides are known as dopants.
  • Other bubblers 705 including suitable constituents for enhancing the influencer response attribute of the preform may be used in addition to those shown.
  • Changing composition of the mixture during the process influences a refractive index profile and constituent profile of the preform.
  • the flow of oxygen is controlled by mixing valves 715, and reactant vapors 725 are blown into silica pipe 730 that includes a heated tube 735 where oxidizing takes places.
  • Chlorine gas 740 is blown out of tube 735, but the oxide compounds are deposited in the tube in the form of soot 745. Concentrations of iron and copper impurity is reduced from about lOppb in the raw liquids to less than lppb in soot 745.
  • Tube 735 is heated using a traversing H O burner 750 and is continually rotated to vitrify soot 745 into a glass 755.
  • a traversing H O burner 750 By adjusting the relative flow of the various vapors 725, several layers with different indices of refraction are obtained, for example core versus cladding or variable core index profile for GI fibers.
  • tube 735 is heated and collapsed into a rod with a round, solid cross- section, called the preform rod. In this step it is essential that center of the rod be completely filled with material and not hollow.
  • the preform rod is then put into a furnace for drawing, as will be described in cooperation with Fig. 8.
  • the main advantage of MCVD is that the reactions and deposition occur in a closed space, so it is harder for undesired impurities to enter.
  • the index profile of the fiber is easy to control, and the precision necessary for SM fibers can be achieved relatively easily.
  • the equipment is simple to construct and control.
  • a potentially significant limitation of the method is that the dimensions of the tube essentially limit the rod size. Thus, this technique forms fibers typically of 3 5km in length, or 20-40km at most.
  • impurities in the silica tube primarily H and OH-, tend to diffuse into the fiber.
  • the process of melting the deposit to eliminate the hollow center of the preform rod sometimes causes a depression of the index of refraction in the core, which typically renders the fiber unsuitable for telecommunications use but is not generally of concern in the context of the present invention.
  • the main disadvantage of the method is that the deposition rate is relatively slow because it employs indirect heating, that is tube 735 is heated, not the vapors dir ectly, to initiate the oxidizing reactions and to vitrify the soot.
  • the deposition rate is typically 0.5 to 2g/min.
  • a variation of the above-described process makes rare-earth doped fibers.
  • the process starts with a rare-earth doped preform - typically fabricated using a solution doping process. Initially, an optical cladding, consisting primarily of fused silica, is deposited on an inside of the substrate tube. Core material, which may also contain germanium, is then deposited at a reduced temperature to form a diffuse and permeable layer known as a 'frit'.
  • this partially-completed preform is sealed at one end, removed from the lathe and a solution of suitable salts of the desired rare-earth dopant (e.g., neodymium, erbium, ytterbium etc.) is introduced. Over a fixed period of time, this solution is left to permeate the frit. After discarding any excess solution, the preform is returned to the lathe to be dried and consolidated. During consolidation, the interstices within the frit collapse and encapsulate the rare-earth. Finally, the preform is subjected to a controlled collapse, at high temperature to form a solid rod of glass - with a rare-earth incorporated into the core.
  • suitable salts of the desired rare-earth dopant e.g., neodymium, erbium, ytterbium etc.
  • rare-earths in fiber cables are not optically-active, that is, respond to electric or magnetic or other perturbation or field to affect a characteristic of light propagating through the doped medium.
  • Conventional systems are the results of ongoing quests to increase the percentage of rare-earth dopants driven by a goal to improve "passive" transmission characteristics of waveguides (including telecommunications attributes). But the increased percentages of dopants in waveguide core/boundaries is advantageous for affecting optical-activity of the compound medium/structure for the preferred embodiment.
  • the percentage of dopants vs. silica is at least fifty percent.
  • FIG_8 is a schematic diagram of a representative fiber drawing system 800 for making a preferred embodiment of the present invention from a preform 805, such as one produced from system 700 shown in FIG_7.
  • System 800 converts preform 805 into a hair-thin filament, typically performed by drawing.
  • Preform 805 is mounted into a feed mechanism 810 attached near a top of a tower 815.
  • Mechanism 810 lowers preform 805 until a tip enters into a high-purity graphite furnace 820. Pure gasses are injected into the furnace to provide a clean and conductive atmosphere.
  • furnace 820 tightly controlled temperatures approaching 1900°C soften the tip of preform 805. Once the softening point of the preform tip is reached, gravity takes over and allows a molten gob to "free fall” until it has been stretched into a thin strand.
  • the diameter of the drawn fiber is controlled to 125 microns within a tolerance of only 1 micron.
  • Laser-based diameter gauge 825 monitors the diameter of the fiber. Gauge 825 samples the diameter of the fiber at rates in excess of 750 times per second. The actual value of the diameter is compared to the 125 micron target. Slight deviations from the target are converted to changes in draw speeds and fed to tractor 840 for correction.
  • Processing stations 830x typically include dies for applying a two layer protective coating to the fiber « a soft inner coating and a hard outer coating. This two-part protective jacket provides mechanical protection for handling while also protecting a pristine surface of the fiber from harsh environments.
  • These coatings are cured by ultraviolet lamps, as part of the same or other processing stations 830x.
  • Other stations 830x may provide apparatus/systems for increasing the influencer response attribute of transport 835 as it passes through the station(s). For example, various mechanical stressors, ion bombardment or other mechanism for introducing the influencer response attribute enhancing constituents at the drawing stage.
  • the preferred embodiment of the present invention uses an optic fiber as a transport and primarily implements amplitude control by use of the "linear" Faraday Effect. While the Faraday Effect is a linear effect in which a polarization rotational angular change of propagating radiation is directly related to a magnitude of a magnetic field applied in the direction of propagation based upon the length over which the field is applied and the Verdet constant of the material through which the radiation is propagated. Materials used in a transport may not, however, have a linear response to an inducing magnetic field, e.g., such as from an influencer, in establishing a desired magnetic field strength.
  • an inducing magnetic field e.g., such as from an influencer
  • an actual output amplitude of the propagated radiation may be non-linear in response to an applied signal from controller and/or influencer magnetic field and/or polarization and/or other attribute or characteristic of a modulator or of WAVE_IN.
  • characterization of the modulator (or element thereof) in terms of one or more system variables is referred to as an attenuation profile of the modulator (or element thereof).
  • Fiber fabrication processes continue to advance, in particular with reference to improving a doping concentration and as well as improving manipulation of dopant profiles, periodic doping of fiber during a production run, and related processing activities.
  • US Patent 6,532,774 Method of Providing a High Level of Rare Earth Concentrations in Glass Fiber Preforms, demonstrates improved processes for co-doping of multiple dopants. Successes in increasing the concentration of dopants are anticipated to directly improves the linear Verdet constant of doped cores, as well as the performance of doped cores to facilitate non-linear effects as well.
  • Any given attenuation profile may be tailored to a particular embodiment, such as for example by controlling a composition, orientation, and/or ordering of a modulator or element thereof. For example, changing materials making up transport may change the "influencibility" of the transport or alter the degree to which the influencer "influences” any particular propagating wave_component. This is but one example of a composition attenuation profile.
  • a modulator of the preferred embodiment enables attenuation smoothing in which different waveguiding channels have different attenuation profiles.
  • a modulator may provide a transport for left handed polarized wave_components with a different attenuation profile than the attenuation profile used for the complementary waveguiding channel of a second transport for right handed polarized wave_components.
  • wave_component generation/modification may not be strictly "commutative" in response to an order of modulator elements that the propagating radiation traverses from WAVE_IN to WAVE_OUT. In these instances, it is possible to alter an attenuation profile by providing a different ordering of the non- commutative elements. This is but one example of a configuration attenuation profile. In other embodiments, establishing differing "rotational bias" for each waveguiding channel creates different attenuation profiles. As described above, some transports are configured with a predefined orientation between an input polarizer and an output polarizer/analyzer.
  • this angle may be zero degrees (typically defining a "normally ON” channel) or it may be ninety degrees (typically defining a "normally OFF” channel). Any given channel may have a different response in various angular displacement regions (that is, from zero to thirty degrees, from thirty to sixty degrees, and from sixty to ninety degrees). Different channels may be biased (for example with default "DC" influencer signals) into different displacement regions with the influencer influencing the propagating wave_component about this biased rotation. This is but one example of an operational attenuation profile. Several reasons are present that support having multiple waveguiding channels and to tailor/match/complement at- tenuation profiles for the channels. These reasons include power saving, efficiency, and uniformity in WAVE_OUT.
  • a variable Faraday rotator or Faraday “attenuator” applies a variable field in the direction of the light path, allowing such a device to rotate the vector of polarization (e.g., from 0 through 90 degrees), permitting an increasing portion of the incident light that passed through the first polarizer to pass through the second polarizer.
  • the vector of polarization e.g., from 0 through 90 degrees
  • the light passing through the first polarizer is completely blocked by the second polarizer.
  • the proper “maximum” field is applied, then 100% of the light is rotated to the proper polarization angle, and 100% of the light passes through the second polarization element.
  • FIG_9 is a general schematic diagram of a simplified unitary panel waveguide- based display 900 according to the preferred embodiment.
  • Display 900 includes a casing 905 housing an illumination source 910, a switching matrix 915, and a display surface 920.
  • Source 910 provides balanced white light or multiple channels of different colors/frequencies of a multicolor model (e.g., RGB sources).
  • the preferred embodiment uses flexible waveguiding channels (e.g., optical fiber and the like) for source 910, matrix 915, and surface 920 integrated together as further explained below.
  • Source 910 is either adjacent matrix 915 or faces matrix 915. When adjacent, fiber bundles convey radiation to an input side of matrix 915.
  • Source 910 may include any of the radiation generation and characteristic/attribute control features set forth in the incorporated patent applications including polarization control.
  • Matrix 915 includes multiple waveguided channels for controlling an amplitude of radiation passing from its input proximate source 910 and an output proximate display surface 920.
  • the options for the construction and function of matrix 915 are disclosed in detail in the incorporated patent applications.
  • Matrix 915 may include optional tunable filters as well as influencer elements, some of which are integrated in-line or stacked.
  • These waveguided channels may include fibers, waveguides, or other channelized materials made from conventional materials or photonic crystal. Any necessary channel isolation features are used, including lateral offset (staggering channels in three-dimensional space to sufficiently distance the individual channels or use of shielding structures for example).
  • Matrix 915 may include any of the radiation generation and characteristic/attribute control features set forth in the incorporated patent applications including polarization analyzers on the output. In some implementations, an overlay sheet with periodic polarizer analyzer structures is used.
  • Display surface 920 may simply be a continuation of the waveguide channels of matrix 915 or a separate structure.
  • Surface 920 has a range of implementations set forth in the incorporated patent apphcations including faceplate formation and use and channel-end modification for example.
  • Structures at an input and/or output of surface 920 may include any of the radiation generation and characteristic/attribute control features set forth in the incorporated patent applications including thinfilms, optical glass or other optical material or structure.
  • FIG_10 is a detailed schematic diagram of display 900 shown in FIG_9.
  • Illumination source 910 includes a light source 1005 and a polarization system 1010.
  • Matrix 915 includes an attenuator/modulator structure 1015 having an integrated coilform with an input 1020 and an output 1025.
  • Display surface 920 includes an analyzer 1030, an optional modified channel output 1035 and an optional display surface/protective coating.
  • FIG_11 is a schematic diagram of an addressing grid 1100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • an element of display 900 is an influencer system for use in a modulation model.
  • the preferred embodiment provides for a Faraday Effect as at least a part of the influencing system and to this end, display 900 uses coilforms for generation of the appropriate magnetic fields.
  • an efficient addressing system improves manufacturing and operational requirements.
  • Addressing grid 1100 is an implementation of the preferred embodiment for an efficient addressing system.
  • Grid 1100 which may be constructed as a passive or active matrix, is illustrated in both forms in FIG_11.
  • Grid 1100 includes an input contact 1105 and an output contact 1110 to produce an in-waveguide circuit path 1115 through the coilform/influencer element.
  • An optional transparent transistor 1120 element is included for the active configuration (and absent in the passive mode).
  • a four-quadrant schematic is but one of the possible embodiments of this approach.
  • a consideration is a relative scaling of chip circuitry dimensions versus a diameter of the input fibers. The size of the circuitry dimensions should be small enough to pack enough conductive lines to individually address each fiber input-end. Spacing fibers may be retained all the way down through the fiber bundle in order to increase the spacing between fibers when necessary, or fibers of larger diameter may also be employed. The preferred choice will also depend on the size of the display or projection face.
  • an "x" addressing line contacts an inner conductive ring or point on the fiber input-end, while a ' 'y" addressing line contacts an outer conductive ring or point on the same fiber input end.
  • the structure of the coilform or coil should be of the general principle as illustrated in FIG_11, such that contact made on the inner ring or point is made to the coilform.
  • the thinfilm tape is wound on fibers in the mass manufacturing process disclosed in the incorporated patent applications.
  • the film is perforated selectively with micro- perforations, achieved by mask-etching, laser, air-pressure perforation, or other methods known to the art before the printing or deposit of the conductive patterns.
  • the conductive material when the conductive material is deposited, in those regions with appropriately- sized perforations, the conductive material may be selectively-accessed or contacted through the perforations.
  • Perforations may be circular or possess other geometries, including lines, squares, and more complicated combinations of shapes and shape- sizes.
  • the cladding or coating should be perforated selectively with micro-perforations, achieved by etching or other methods involving heating and stretching of a thin cladding and collapse of cavities resulting in oval holes disclosed elsewhere herein, or other methods known to the art before the printing or deposit of the conductive patterns.
  • the conductive material when the conductive material is deposited, in those regions with appropriately-sized perforations, the conductive material may be selectively-accessed or contacted through the perforations by the application of a conductor in liquid or powder form, which is then cured or annealed.
  • matrix 915 As a unitary sub-element.
  • the incorporated patent applications employ weaving techniques of flexible optical waveguides to produce one or more of these integrated components.
  • woven "X" addressing ribbons and woven "Y" addressing ribbons are used.
  • FIG_12 is a schematic diagram of an "X" ribbon structural fiber system 1200 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fiber system 1200 includes a plurality of modulator segments 1205, each having an integrated influencer element 1210, for controlling an amplitude of individual channels as described herein and in the incorporated patent applications.
  • system 1200 includes a plurality of structural elements 1215 and/or spacer elements 1220 as further described below.
  • System 1200 further includes a conductive "X" addressing filament 1225 and a conductive "Y" addressing filament 1230 for an X/Y matrix addressing system.
  • the conductive elements may be metal or conductive polymer or the like.
  • conductive filaments or wires are possible; in particular filaments of Nanosonic, Inc.'s 'rubber metal' material, or other materials coated or wound with same; and materials or compound materials providing an optimal combination of tensile strength, elasticity, conductivity, and other properties desirable in a textile-fabrication paradigm may be expected to be commercially introduced, which will be superior to conventional metal wire for these purposes.
  • the conductive filament or fiber may be provided in addition to two purely structural fibers.
  • the need for the optional "spacing" filaments is determined by the relative diameter of the optical fiber segments as compared to the diameter of a subpixel, which is in turn determined by the size of the display and its resolution.
  • a fiber diameter significantly smaller than the subpixel diameter will require at least one or more spacing filaments, unless, as is detailed below, multiple fibers are employed per subpixel, or other methods are employed, also detailed below. It is a virtue of the textile fabrication paradigm that adjacent Faraday attenuator/subpixel/pixel elements may be "vertically" offset from each other, as well as separated by spacing elements, as an additional means to isolate elements electrically and magnetically from each other, should such isolation be desirable.
  • each fiber may function as a subpixel, and each ribbon is woven with dye-doped fiber of one color only, the number of vertical optical fibers will determined by resolution demands of the display they are specified for, and could range from hundreds to multiple thousands.
  • a fixing adhesive may be applied to the ribbon before cutting.
  • the structural and addressing fibers are hooked in removable tabs in a frame to either side.
  • the ribbon is then tightened appropriately. Leaving spacing between ribbon rows, the process may be repeated, resulting in a long woven fabric run that may be de-loomed at a length optimal, as determined by textile manufacturing standards.
  • the resulting fabric is taken up on spindles in a standard textile manufacturing manner. Once rolled onto spindles or holding frames, the loomed fabric is then moved to another textile handling apparatus in which the ribbons are cut from the long-fabric bolt.
  • the vertical optical fibers and spacing fibers are cleaved above and below.
  • the cleaving apparatus may also first apply heat to what will be the output ends of the optical fiber elements, and combined with the exertion of tension on the fibers by the loom apparatus as heating and softening of the fiber is effected, will result in an efficient stretching and modulation of the shape of the fiber ends.
  • a taper or a compression if the cleaving apparatus has a first heating bar constructed with rollers as the contact points, rotating at right angles to the axis of the fibers, then the cleaving apparatus may move parallel to the axis of the fibers and thus accomplish twisting or abrasion of the fiber ends as well.
  • FIG_13 is a schematic diagram of a "Y" ribbon structural fiber system 1300 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fiber system 1300 includes a plurality of modulators 1305 with one or more interposed first structural filaments 1310 and one or more interposed structural filaments/spacers 1315.
  • One or more "X" addressing ribbons 1320 as shown in FIG__12 are woven among the modulators 1305 and filaments/spacers 1315 as shown to provide the "X" address input for modulators 1305.
  • a conductive "Y" filament 1325 completes the X/Y matrix addressing.
  • Combination of fiber system 1200 and fiber system 1300 produces a woven switching matrix.
  • the "x" ribbons composed of "lengthwise” structural filaments and an “x” addressing filament, as well as hundreds or thousands of "vertical” single-color dye- doped and fabricated optical fiber Faraday attenuator elements, are next set in another precision Jacquard loom machine, with hundreds or thousands of ribbons ultimately loomed into what will be the finished textile-woven switching matrix.
  • Interwoven now with the parallel ribbons are "Y" structural filaments and a "Y” addressing filament, as shown, which, as woven into the "x” ribbons, form an equivalent “y” ribbon.
  • the optical fiber axis of the ribbon (their width) is set perpendicular to the plane of the "y” filaments.
  • Precision Jacquard looming allows for penetration of the gap between the upper and lower reinforcing structural filaments of the "X” ribbon, such that the thin "x” ribbon forms the depth of a textile "matte", the surface of which consists of the projecting "output” ends of the optical fiber Faraday attenuator elements.
  • Parallel to this "surface” are both the structural and “bottom” addressing filaments of the "X” ribbons, and the structural and “top” addressing filaments of the " Y" grid.
  • a removable "display frame" from a Jacquard-type loom adapted for the present invention becomes a structural frame of the display and fixes the addressing filaments to the drive circuit, and which holds overall woven structure of switching matrix. Self- fixing by weaving at sides also enables implementation of individual hooks or fastening apparatus at the ends of each "x" and "y” row of the textile matte.
  • the removable frame for the textile matte is removed from the loom.
  • This frame will be used to fix the textile switching matrix matte in the final display case.
  • the frame may be rigid or flexible, solid or textile, but is either fabricated with addressing logic (e.g., transistors) or conductive elements that contact each "X' and "Y' row and column.
  • addressing logic e.g., transistors
  • looming on the edges of the matte self- fixes the matte, by standard means of textile manufacturing, such that the matte may optionally be removed from the loom intact, with hooks or fastening elements fixed at the sides for each "X" ribbon and "Y” ribbon.
  • the matte may be hooked or fastened by mans of these hooks or fastening apparatus into a display case structure, where the hooking or contact points for the "x" and "y" addressing filaments may make contact with the driving circuit for the display device.
  • the resulting textile matte may be saturated with a sol, such sol being dyed black to accomplish a black matrix, and UV cured.
  • the sol then seals the textile lattice.
  • a sol may be chosen to result in a flexible but sealed textile matte, or a rigid or semirigid structure, and with appropriate insulation and/or shielding properties.
  • additional sol or liquid polymer may be spread over the cured, sealed textile matte/switching matrix surfaces, top and bottom in turn, if necessary.
  • additional flexible or rigid or semi-rigid material may be desirable to fill the space between the projecting ends of the optical fibers.
  • the formation of even, flush output and input surfaces will enable the deposit of the polarization thin-film or sheet before the input ends, and after the output ends, of the optical fiber Faraday attenuator elements, although such films or sheets may be adhered or fixed into place between the input ends and the illumination source, and on an outside display optical glass or between the output ends and any final optics, including optical glass, by other means.
  • An alternative method for implementing the switching grid is to fabricate the textile matte structure without the addressing filaments, saturating with a sol and curing, additional liquid polymer smoothing of a top layer, and depositing by epitaxy a thinfilm printed with a standard FPD addressing grid, or by other standard semiconductor lithographic methods.
  • the switching matrix as woven textile structure paradigm applies to any scale of textile fabrication machinery, from the exemplary commercially available equipment and processes of Albany International Techniweave, to micro- and nano-scale textile- type fabrication, utilizing micro-assembly process apparatus and methods commercially available from Zy vex, in particular for textile-type manipulation of micro and nano-fibers and filaments with nanomanipulator systems, and Arryx optical tweezer methods.
  • Such methods translate the textile paradigm, separately or advantageously in combination, to the smallest possible scale of assembly and components, realizing various forms of "nano-looming" systems.
  • FIG_14 is a schematic diagram of a preferred embodiment for a modular switching matrix 1400 used in the display shown in FIG_9 and FIG_10.
  • Matrix 1400 includes one or more "gripper sheets" 1405 holding and arranging a plurality of modulators 1410, preferably two or more facing sheets bonded or locked together to form a gripper block 1415.
  • a gripper block 1415 includes a gripper-type stud connector 1420 for mating to a complementary receptacle 1425 also located in gripper block 1415.
  • Blocks 1415 include embedded X/Y addressing matrix for coupling to the plurality of modulators 1410.
  • other inter-sheet/inter-block connecting systems may be employed, such as for example groove-flange and the like.
  • Corning Gripper technology is modified, including the changes set forth below.
  • Corning introduced its Polymer Gripper technology at an Optical Fiber Conference in March 2002, Gripper technology is a solution for a holding device that allows fibers to be snapped into place with sub- micron precision.
  • Corning has extended the device's capabilities to include the holding and positioning of larger components such as ferrules, GRIN lenses and other optical elements with various geometries.
  • Optical fiber fabricated according to one of the novel methods previously disclosed is cleaved into convenient multi-element (e.g., multiple doped, coilformed, segments fabricated in batch processes) lengths.
  • sheets of Corning Gripper are fabricated, but modified with the inclusion of a conductive filament (preferably wire, or stiff polymer) laid in the liquid polymer before curing, at right angles to the direction of the troughs and suspended so as to be exposed at the height of the bottom of each trough. Also, they are positioned so that when a fiber is laid in the trough, the filament contacts the coilform or coil at either the input end or output end of the Faraday attenuator element. Filaments are laid at distances in the corning gripper sheet corresponding precisely to the periodic formation of the integrated Faraday attenuator structures in the fibers.
  • a conductive filament preferably wire, or stiff polymer
  • Holes are also left in the gripper by a wire that is later removed after curing; such holes are oriented at right angles at the opposite relative end of the Faraday attenuator optical fiber element.
  • micro alignment tabs are formed in the Gripper material periodically, corresponding to the length of each Faraday attenuator fiber optic element.
  • the stacks are cut periodically corresponding to the spaces between the periodic faraday attenuator structures in the batch-manufactured fibers.
  • the sliced segments thus are in the form of "tiles,” which are mechanically collected as sliced and then conveyed and stored for use in combination to structurally form the display.
  • the filament is cut below the needle with slight pressure on the Gripper material, such that the resilient Gripper material rebounds making the cut exactly even with the surface of the Gripper at that point.
  • the procedure is repeated alongside the next channel; in addition, multiple such needles may be employed in a single punch and fill mechanism, inserting filaments simultaneously in multiple channels.
  • These conductive filaments form the "y" addressing in this optional implementation.
  • the final switching matrix structure is completed with the laying and alignment of a sufficient number of square tiles to form the required display size.
  • a laser sensor array positioned beneath a transparent laying-up pan may be employed to ensure precision alignment of the tiles, but the alternating micro-ridges/grooves or tabs/indentations originally formed on the sides of each original, pre-stacked, pre-sliced sheets now form a plurality of ridges/grooves or tabs/indentations on two opposite sides of each tile, allowing for self-micro-alignment of tiles on one axis.
  • each tile is also fabricated with self-locking elements, tabs/indentations, enabling self-locking/snapping together of the tiles on that axis.
  • the micro-alignment structures ensure continuous good contact between the embedded "x" and "y” addressing filaments, when optionally implemented.
  • a mesh or thin-film layer imprinted or having been deposited with a switching matrix may be implemented on the bottom (for the "x” addressing") and top (for the "y” addressing), or a combination of "x” and “y” addressing on one layer (as disclosed in the incorporated provisional patent application).
  • Transistors may also be printed, as specified elsewhere herein, on a selected layer along with addressing lines in order to implement active matrix switching.
  • Matrix 1500 is representative of a category of embodiments that includes a solid material, rigid or flexible, provided as a structural support for a specially-prepared flexible waveguide channel having a plurality of Faraday attenuator elements. Addressing may be made a part of the structure or a thinfilm or layer may be printed on the input and output faces, or both x and y addressing on one layer as specified in the previous embodiment. Transistors may also be printed a given layer to implement active-matrix switching
  • holes are filled, by punching and pressure insertion of fiber from spools through the needle, or air-pressure insertion of a pre-cut fiber segment through the needle.
  • a computer controlled apparatus moves to the next array of holes. Once the display has been covered in this way in one pass, filling every other, every third, or every fourth hole, etc. the filling apparatus resets and starts with the row immediately next to the first row filled. And the process of batch filling and resetting is repeated, for as many times as holes are skipped in a batch filling.
  • a sewing apparatus in which a needle inserts a continuous thread of the batch-fabricated optical fiber.
  • holes may be skipped and a display switching matrix sewn in multiple passes.
  • a cutting mechanism is deployed as a bar and sharpened guillotine blade so that the con- tinuously sewn fiber, passing under and over the solid sheet, is cut, leaving the optical fiber segments separated and vertically aligned with respect to the solid sheet.
  • the flexible material of the solid sheet in this embodiment expands when the needle in either subtype is inserted, and rebounds to hold the fiber in place when the needle is removed.
  • FIG_16 is a schematic diagram of a second alternate preferred embodiment for a modular switching matrix 1600 used in the display shown in FIG_9 and FIG_10.
  • Matrix 1600 includes a layer 1605 having preformed apertures/holes 1610 for receiving modulator segments.
  • One or more extended waveguide channel resources 1615 each including periodic modulator structures is processed (e.g., by a precision cleaving system) to produce a plurality of modulator segments 1620. These segments 1620 are deposited into an alignment/inserting system 1625 that guides appropriate segments 1620 into desired locations and inserts them into appropriate apertures 1610 as further described below.
  • Layer 1605 may include the X/Y addressing matrix as described herein.
  • Optical fiber fabricated according to the previously disclosed options or variants thereof is fed from multiple spools down into grooved trays set at an angle to thin feeder troughs, also grooved vertically.
  • a cleaving device cuts the fiber in appropriate component segments, and the segments slide down the grooves and into the vertical grooves of the feeder trough.
  • the spool array then shifts to the side to complete the filling of the adjacent set of grooves, until either the feeder trough is filled equal to the number of subpixels in a row, or until the optimal batch process-sized feeder trough is filled.
  • At a base of the feeder trough is a removable slot that exposes holes in the bottom of the trough.
  • Multiple troughs may be part of one feeder trough batch process computer-controlled manufacturing (CCM) device, and filled by the previous process.
  • CCM computer-controlled manufacturing
  • the wires or filaments are in tension and coated with a resin to provide a secure grip on a fiber segment that may be held by mechanical side tension of squeezing guide-wires.
  • Beneath the guide-wires is another solid sheet, transparent with a movable laser sensor array deployed beneath.
  • the slot or flap After positioning just above but almost touching the row or rows or portions of row or rows to be filled, the slot or flap is moved and the holes exposed, while at the same time the trough begins to agitate slightly side-to-side or with a slight circular motion. The fiber component segments thus agitated drop from the slots in the feeder troughs and fill the holes beneath.
  • the sensor array confirms the insertion of all fiber component segments into the holes to be filled by the batch process, the guide wires are released, and spring tension brings them into contact with the fiber, straightening the fibers and by virtue of being held just beneath the hole in the rigid material by an upper and lower guide wire, each coated in resin, positioning them at the center of the larger diameter holes in the rigid sheet.
  • the entire apparatus holding the rigid perforated sheet, guide- wire system, and bottom transparent sheet, is rotated 180 degrees.
  • the rigid sheet may have been previously imprinted with an addressing grid, passive or active matrix (without or with transistors adjacent to each perforation, preferably on the side opposite that on which the liquid polymer had been injected and flowed).
  • addressing circuitry may be printed or deposited by methods referenced or disclosed elsewhere herein.
  • the pre-woven mesh may also include addressing strips or filaments that may additionally "band" the optical fiber components and thereby form a multi-band field-generation structure or quasi- coilform. Interstices between mesh bands, strips or filaments, which may be formed in multiple woven layers, are filled in the same method as in the flexible solid sheet. Certain filaments or bands are formed of conductive polymer or are of a flexible synthetic material that has been metalized or coated with a conductive material. Bands of material are convenient in that once side may be coated distinctly from the other side.
  • filaments or bands may only be paired as a one pair of "x” and “y” addressing wires only, and the coilform in this case is fabricated according to one of the methods disclosed in the incorporated patent applications, or variants thereof. But optionally, addressing transistors at the "x” and “y” axis may switch current to parallel filaments or bands in a multi-layer mesh, as illustrated. The interleaving multiple "x” and “y” bands or filaments contact the fibers in roughly horizontal bands, implementing a plurality of current segments at right angles to the axis of the fiber.
  • the modulating element is optionally fabricated with a square cladding, at least at this switching matrix stage (employing two dies or an adjustable die in the pulling process, as disclosed in the incorporated provisional application), then the bands or strips make virtually continuous contact with the doped cladding.
  • This embodiment employs a similar method of implementing the coilform through the switching matrix structural elements as that disclosed above.
  • This case has the additional advantage, however, in that the weaving process effectively wraps the plurality of conductive elements snugly around the Faraday attenuator optical fiber components, ensuring close contact around a circular cladding fiber.
  • This method of course may be combined with one or more of the methods disclosed elsewhere herein for fabricating a coilform or coil integrally around a suitably fabricated optical fiber.
  • This variant includes a mesh or textile structure that implements multi-layers, effectively, with respect to the length of the modulator fiber segments, to implement a winding.
  • First channel includes a lateral polarization analyzer port 1850 in a portion of the first bounding region 1830 proximate port 1815 provided in second bounding region 1830.
  • An optional material 1855 is provided surrounding channel 1805 and channel 1810 at the junction to improve any lossiness through the junction.
  • Material 1855 may be a cured sol, nano-self-assembled special material or the like having a desired index of refraction to decrease signal loss as well as helping to ensure the desired alignment of port 1815 and port 1820.
  • Influencer 1825 controls a polarization of radiation propagating through first channel 1805 and an amount of radiation passing through port 1815 based upon a relative angle of polarization compared to a transmission axis of analyzer port 1850. Further structure and operation of system 1800 is described below.
  • Port 1815 and port 1820 are guiding structures in the bounding region(s) implemented through fused fiber starter method described below or the like and may include GRIN lens structures. These ports may be positioned in precise locations in the bounding regions or the ports may be disposed periodically along a length (or portion of a length) of the channels. In some embodiments, entire portions of one of the bounding regions may have the desired attribute (polarization or port) structure and one or more corresponding structures in the other bounding region at the junction location.
  • Polarizer 1840 and analyzer 1845 are optional structures that control an amplitude of radiation propagating further down channel 1805.
  • Polarizer 1840 and analyzer, including any optional influencer element for this segment, in cooperation with influencer 1825 control radiation between channel 1805 and 1810.
  • Switching inter-fiber in such a micro-textile architecture may be facilitated by a "transverse” (vs. "in-line”) variant of the integrated micro-Faraday attenuator optical fiber element disclosed elsewhere herein, in the following way.
  • a junction point/ contact point between orthogonally positioned fibers in a textile matrix is the locus of a new type of "light tap" between fibers.
  • the cladding (on the axis of the fiber external to multiple Faraday attenuator sections of the fiber) is micro-structured with periodic refractive index changes to be polarization- filtering (see fiber-integral polarization filtering previously disclosed herein and sub- wavelength nano-grids by NanoOpto Corporation, 1600 Cottontail Lane, Somerset, New Jersey) or polarization asymmetric (referenced and disclosed in the incorporated patent applications).
  • the index of refraction has been altered (by ion implantation, electrically, heating, photoreactively, or by other means known to the art) to be equal to that of the core.
  • the entire first cladding is so microstructured and of equal index of refraction.
  • structural-geometric configurations e.g., photonic coupling and use of sub-wavelength hole-cavity/grid systems
  • guiding and bounding are described using differential indices of refraction - however in those instances, the use of structural-geometric configurations may also be used (unless the context clearly indicates otherwise).
  • This variant of the integrated Faraday-attenuator disclosed herein is fundamentally distinguished from all other prior-art "light-taps," including those of Gemfire Corporation, 1220 Page Avenue, Fremont, California, in which a waveguide itself is collapsed in order to couple semiconductor optical waveguides.
  • the collapse of the waveguiding structures in the Gemfire implementations means the destruction of a virtuous component of any photonic or electro-photonic switching paradigm or network, which ensures efficient transmission of an optical signal between channels.
  • a "light-tap” that does not need, as other conventional types of "light-tap” do, additional and complicated compensations to control the unguided signal between core-regions, is simpler and more efficient by definition.
  • the switching mechanism of the preferred embodiment is not the activation of a poled region, or the activation of an array of electrodes, to effect a grating structure. It is in a preferred embodiment, rather, the in-line Faraday attenuator switch which rotates the angle of polarization of light propagating through a core to, and by virtue of a combining that switch with section of cladding which is effectively a polarization filter, results in the diversion of a precisely controlled portion of signal through the transverse guiding structure in the claddings of the output and input fiber (or waveguide).
  • the speed of the switch is the speed of the Faraday attenuator, as opposed to the speed of changing the chemical characteristics of a relatively extensive region covered by a cathode and anode.
  • a gradient index (GRIN) lens structure in the second cladding and with optical axis at a right angles or close to a right angle to the axis of the fiber, and fabricated according to the methods referenced elsewhere herein and in the incorporated patent applications.
  • the focal path oriented either at right angles to the axis of the optical fiber, or offset slightly, such that light passing through the GRIN lens from first channel 1805 will couple at the contact point with second channel 1810 and insert at right angles also to the axis of second channel 1810, or will insert at an angle into second channel 1810 at a preferred direction.
  • Second a simpler optical channel of the same index of refraction as the core (and optionally the first cladding), fabricated by ion implantation, by application of a voltage between electrodes in the manufacturing process, by heating, photoreactively, or by other means known to the art.
  • the axis of this simple waveguiding channel may be at right angles or slightly offset, as in the other option above.
  • Second channel 1810 is fabricated to optimally couple the light received from first channel 1805 by a parallel structure (GRIN lens or cladding waveguide channel in second cladding) into the polarization-filtering or asymmetric first cladding and from there into the core of second channel 1810.
  • a parallel structure GRIN lens or cladding waveguide channel in second cladding
  • a cured sol Surrounding the fiber-to-fiber matrix, as previously indicated, is a cured sol which impregnates the textile-structure, and which possesses a differential index of refraction that confines the light guided between fibers (or waveguides) and ensures efficiency of coupling.
  • An advantageous alternative and novel method of micro-structuring the claddings may be accomplished by the specification of a novel modification of MCVD/ PMCVD/PCVD/OVD preform fabrication methods, a preferred example of which is described below.
  • the preferred embodiment is not limited to fiber-to-fiber switching but other types of waveguides may be structured as described herein to provide generic waveguide-to-waveguide switching, including between waveguides disposed in a shared substrate or independent waveguides.
  • FIG_19 is general schematic diagram of a series of fabrication steps for transverse integrated modulator switch/junction 1800 shown in FIG_18.
  • Fabrication system 1900 includes formation of a block of material 1905 having many waveguiding channels (e.g., a fused-fiber faceplate as described in the incorporated provisional patent application and the like), with thin sections 1910 of block 1905 removed.
  • a section 1910 is softened and prepared to form a starter wall sheet 1915.
  • Sheet 1915 is rolled to form silica starter tube 1920 for producing a desired preform for drawing.
  • the silica tube upon which soots are deposited to grow the preform takes the form of a cylinder fabricated from a rolled and fused thin sheet of fused-fiber cross-sections. That is, optical fibers, optionally of different characteristics chosen for appropriate doping characteristics in claddings and cores, alternating such differently-optimized fibers in order to implement grids of thin-fiber sections with different indices of refraction and different electro-optic properties, are fused, and sections of the fused fiber matrix are cut into thin sheets. These sheets are then uniformly heated and softened and bent around a heated shaping pin to accomplish a thin-walled cylinder suitable as a starter for fabricating a thin preform according to the known preform fabrication processes.
  • the dimensions of the fibers employed in the fused fiber sheets are chosen to result in the optimal dimensions of resulting transverse structures in claddings for fibers drawn therefrom. But in general, fibers for this purpose are of minimum possible fabrication dimension (cores and claddings), as structure diameters will effectively increase during the drawing from a preform fabricated thereby. Such fiber dimensions may in fact be, in cross-section, too small for even single-mode use as individual fibers. But combined with the appropriate choice of thickness for the fused-fiber section or slice, the dimensions of the continuously-patterned transverse waveguiding structures in the resulting drawn-fiber cladding may be controlled such that the transverse structures have the desired (single-mode, multi-mode) "core" and "cladding" dimensions.
  • smaller combinations of fibers may be fused and softened and drawn, and then fused again with other fibers, before the final array of fibers are fused in lengths and then cut into sheets for forming into cylinders.
  • the polarization sections in the core and the first cladding of the first channel, both at the relative "input” end and the relative "output” end may be switchably induced by electrode structures fabricated on or inter-/intra-cladding, according to methods referenced and disclosed in the incorporated patent applications, or by UV excitation, according to known methods, such UV signal which may be generated by devices fabricated inter- or intra-cladding, according to forms and methods disclosed and referenced elsewhere in the incorporated patent applications.
  • the switching of the polarization-filtering or asymmetry state may be described as elecro-optic, or if by UV signal, "all optical.”
  • the UV-activated variant is the preferred implementation.
  • Such polarization filtering or asymmetric sections of core and cladding then may be termed “transient,” see US Patent 5,126,874 ("Method and apparatus for creating transient optical elements and circuits” filed 7/11/1990, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated in its entirety by reference herein for all purposes), such that the filter or asymmetry elements may be activated or deactivated, switched “on” or “off,” along with the operation as a variable intensity switching element of the integrated Faraday attenuator.
  • the first cladding may be of the same index as the core, as indicated, with the second cladding possessing the differential index of refraction, such that confinement to the core of the "wrong" polarization is achieved by the polarization filtering or asymmetry structure of the cladding alone.
  • the default setting of the first cladding may be either "on”, confining light to the core by polarization filter/ asymmetry or "off,” allowing light to be guided in core and the first cladding and confined only by the second cladding, and then it may be in sections where the electrode or UV activation elements are structured, switchable to the setting opposite of the default.
  • waveguide channels transversely structured with micro-guiding structures intra and inter-cladding, with IC elements and transistors integrating intra and inter-cladding with these channels, and with integrated in-line and transverse Faraday attenuator devices fabricated as periodic elements of the structure, may carry wave division multiplexed (WDM)-type multi-mode pulsed signals in the core as a bus, which are switched in-line or transverse by the integrated Faraday attenuator means some or all of any signal pulse, through the transverse guiding structures in the claddings, to the semiconductor and photonic structures in the claddings, and also between fibers, serving as buses or as other electro-photonic components.
  • WDM wave division multiplexed
  • optical nanowires which are fabricated, with surface smoothness at the atomic level and tensile strength two-to-five times that of spider silk, by a simple process of winding and heating glass fiber around a sapphire taper and then pulling at relative high-velocities, are extremely well-suited to implementation in a micro-textile structure. Visible to near-infrared wavelengths have been guided in this subwavelength diameter variant of the optical fiber waveguide type, but instead of confinement in a core, approximately half the guided light is carried internally and half evanescently along the surface. Significantly, light may be coupled with low loss by optical evanescent coupling between fibers.
  • the disclosed variants of integrated Faraday attenuator devices deployed in a mixed electro-photonic micro-textile IC architecture, may implement such a binary logic scheme, introducing numerous possibilities for increases in speed and efficiency of micro-processor and optical communication operations.
  • using multiple angles of polarization may also realize a multistate logic system (e.g., tri-state, or other logic systems relying on two or more logic "levels").
  • the present system is dynamically configurable to use one logic system during one operational mode or phase and switch to another logic system during another operational mode or phase, and then switch back or to yet another logic system in subsequent modes or phases.
  • FIG_20 is a schematic three-dimensional representation of a textile matrix 2000 useable as a display, display element, logic device, logic element, or memory device and the like.
  • Matrix 2000 includes a plurality of waveguide channel filaments 2005 and optional structural/spacer elements 2010 interwoven with an "X" structural filament 2015, an "X” addressing structural filament or ribbon 2020, and a "Y" addressing/ structural filament 2025.
  • a fabricated silica-based waveguide may also be combined with other fibers and preform material in a new preform stage and be braided or combined as a larger complex fiber, cable or textile structure.
  • the textile-type assembly of the optical fiber elements is accomplished through a modern, precision Jacquard loom textile manufacturing system (commercial example reference, Albany International Techniweave) weaving waveguide channels to preserve and enhance their optical characteristics.
  • the steps are described above, including the formation of "X" ribbons and "Y” ribbons.
  • the switching matrix in the form of a textile matte, ready for assembly into the display casing/structure, is positioned and secured into place by either placement and fixing of the removable frame (rigid or flexible) from the loom, or by means of the hooks or fastening devices provided for each color subpixel row.
  • the frame itself preferably, in this "passive matrix” option, incorporates the logic required to address each "x" and "y" row, sequentially for the entire switching matrix, or portioned into sectors which are each addressed sequentially, with appropriately modulated pulses of varying current that by magnitude effectively carries the subpixel information and current necessary to change the rotation of each subpixel Faraday attenuator element for a given video display "frame.” Fabrication of this logic is by standard semiconductor or circuit board lithographic or printing systems and processes, or by such methods elsewhere cited herein and in the incorporated patent applications, including dip-pen nanolithography. Alternatively, the removable frame may simply be fabricated with printed conductive strips that in turn contact the logic fabricated on an "interior" frame emplacement in the display casing/ structure.
  • a solid fiber structure may be additionally micro-structured to permit, through various means (including radial doping profiles forming conductive micro-filaments), additional circuit structures and strategies between exterior surface points through the fiber body.
  • This solid-state IC microstructuring of a waveguide, including fiber is obviously not limited to transistor, capacitor, resistor, coilform or other electronic semiconductor structures, but it in fact provides a natural paradigm for opto-electronic integration, as evidenced by the methods, devices and components disclosed elsewhere herein and in the incorporated patent applications.
  • the novel integrated (micro) modulator/switching/photonic waveguide device disclosed herein thus may be alternatively disclosed as an instance of a novel generally-applicable integrated optoelectronic IC device.
  • any electro-photonic or opto-electronic device may be an element of such integrated IC's so fabricated, positioned integrally in-fiber to modify light channeled in the fiber core, constrained by mode or other selection to claddings, or additionally channeled in superficial-helical channels fabricated in the preform-drawing process or as semiconductor waveguide channels fabricated as subsidiary guiding structures in the cladding/coating structure of the primary fiber.
  • Photonic bandgap structures may be fabricated intra-or inter-cladding by methods referenced and disclosed elsewhere herein and in the incorporated patent applications as well as other methods known to the art, resulting in a compound fiber structure that may include a standard fiber core and claddings or a photonic crystal base fiber structure upon which is further fabricated claddings and coatings.
  • Fiber is drawn in a bulk fiber fabrication process and is variously doped and processed as disclosed elsewhere herein to implement an optically active core dye- doped core; an optionally doped permanently magnetized inner cladding with mag- netization at right-angles to the axis of the fiber; a cladding doped with an optimal ferri/ferromagnetic material which can be magnetized and demagnetized and whose hysteresis curve is suitable for maintaining a magnitude of rotation during a video- frame cycle or a memory-access cycle; a coilform or coil or field-generating element, fabricated in the structure of the fiber either by twisting or addition of conductive patterns to the cladding or structurally wrapped with a conductive structure - film, coated silica fiber, conductive polymer, etc.
  • the mode of high-volume fabrication in fiber-optics enables a testing regime of components that allows for bulk testing of structured fiber for defects, allowing defective portions of a long run of fiber to be marked and discarded in the fiber component cleaving and looming process. And therefore avoiding the crippling defect rate and consequent rejection rate of large semiconductor-process based LCDs and PDPs.
  • the new paradigm introduced by the preferred waveguide (e.g., optical fiber) embodiment of the present invention allows for combinations of fiber-optic and other conductive and IC-structured fibers and filaments in a three-dimensional micro-textile matrix.
  • Larger diameter fibers, as disclosed elsewhere herein, may have integrally fabricated inter- and intra-cladding complete microprocessor devices; smaller fibers may have smaller IC devices; and as photonic crystal fibers and other optical fiber structures, especially single-mode fibers, approach nano-scale diameters, individual fibers may only integrate a few IC features/elements along their cylindrical length.
  • the functioning of the integrated modulator/switch waveguide (e.g., a Faraday ' attenuator optical fiber) also as a memory element in such an IC structure has implications for cache implementation in LSI and VLSI-scale structures.
  • Field Programmable Gate Arrays FPGAs
  • Complexity of woven micro-textile structures with waveguides/optical fibers and other micro-filaments will increase as the maximum angle of bending without destroying the wave guiding of optical fibers improves; recent reported research into the properties of thin capillary light fibers grown by deep- sea organisms revealed optical guiding structures that could be twisted and bent to the point of doubling back.
  • Three-dimensional weaving of the micro-textile IC system type herein disclosed will thereby include non-rectilinear weaving - such as compound- curved three-dimensional weaving as is demonstrated by complex woven turbine structures known to the art - and in general the micro-textile device class and method of manufacturing herein disclosed encompasses the full range of precision three- dimensional weaving geometries known and to be developed.
  • An implied micro-textile IC "cube” (or other three-dimensional micro-textile structure) thus may consist of any number of combinations of larger and smaller optical fibers and other filaments, conductive, micro-capillary and filled with circ ulating fluid to provide cooling to the structure, and purely structural (or structural by micro-structured with semiconductor elements, and conductive (or conductive-coated with micro-structured inner claddings, electronic and photonic).
  • the weaving/textile system of the preferred embodiment may, in some embodiments produce clothing-quality fabric with optical/ waveguide/switching/photonic/IC functionality as described above.
  • a preferred embodiment is an application derived from the woven-textile flat plane display paradigm.
  • a subsidiary application for this invention will include details of continuously woven junctions between textile-switching "cloth" sections.
  • performance attributes of the transports, modulators, and systems embodying aspects of the present invention include the following.
  • Sub-pixel diameter (including field generation elements adjacent to optically active material): preferably ⁇ 100 microns more preferably ⁇ 50 microns.
  • Length of sub-pixel element is preferably ⁇ 100 microns and more preferably ⁇ 50 microns.
  • Response time Extremely high for Faraday rotators in general (i.e., 1 ns has been demonstrated).
  • RGB sub-pixel Since only pure white requires an equally intense combination of RGB sub-pixels in a cluster, it should be noted that for either color or gray-scale images, it is a some fraction of the display's sub-pixels that will be addressed at any one time. Colors formed additively by RGB combination implies the following: some color pixels will require only one (either R, G, or B) sub-pixel (at varying intensity) to be “on”, some pixels will require two sub-pixels (at varying intensities) to be "on”, and some pixels will require three sub-pixels, (at varying intensities) to be "on”.
  • Pure white pixels will require all three sub-pixels to be "on,” with their Faraday attenuators rotated to achieve equal intensity. (Color and white pixels can be juxtaposed to desaturate color; in one alternative embodiment of the present invention, an additional sub-pixel in a "cluster" may be balanced white-light, to achieve more efficient control over saturation).
  • 0-50 m.amps for 0-90° Rotation is considered a Minimum Spec It is also important to note that an example current range for 0-90° rotation has been given (0-50 m.amps) from performance specs of existing Faraday attenuator devices, but this performance spec is provided as a minimum, already clearly being superseded and surpassed by the state- of-the-art of reference devices for optical communications. It most importantly does not reflect the novel embodiments specified in the present invention, including the benefits from improved methods and materials technology. Performance improvements have been ongoing since the achievement of the specs cited, and if anything have been and will continue to be accelerating, further reducing this range.
  • the system, method, computer program product, and propagated signal described in this application may, of course, be embodied in hardware; e.g., within or coupled to a Central Processing Unit (“CPU”), microprocessor, microcontroller, System on Chip (“SOC”), or any other programmable device.
  • the system, method, computer program product, and propagated signal may be embodied in software (e.g., computer readable code, program code, instructions and/or data disposed in any form, such as source, object or machine language) disposed, for example, in a computer usable (e.g., readable) medium configured to store the software.
  • software e.g., computer readable code, program code, instructions and/or data disposed in any form, such as source, object or machine language
  • a computer usable (e.g., readable) medium configured to store the software.
  • Such software enables the function, fabrication, modeling, simulation, description and/or testing of the apparatus and processes described herein.
  • this can be accomplished through the use of general programming languages (e.g., C, C++), GDSII databases, hardware description languages (HDL) including Verilog HDL, VHDL, AHDL (Altera HDL) and so on, or other available programs, databases, nanoprocessing, and/or circuit (i.e., schematic) capture tools.
  • Such software can be disposed in any known computer usable medium including semiconductor, magnetic disk, optical disc (e.g., CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.) and as a computer data signal embodied in a computer usable (e.g., readable) transmission medium (e.g., carrier wave or any other medium including digital, optical, or analog-based medium).
  • the software can be transmitted over communication networks including the Internet and intranets.
  • a system, method, computer program product, and propagated signal embodied in software may be included in a semiconductor intellectual property core (e.g., embodied in HDL) and transformed to hardware in the production of integrated circuits.
  • a system, method, computer program product, and propagated signal as described herein may be embodied as a combination of hardware and software.
  • One of the preferred implementations of the present invention is as a routine in an operating system made up of programming steps or instructions resident in a memory of a computing system during computer operations.
  • the program instructions may be stored in another readable medium, e.g. in a disk drive, or in a removable memory, such as an optical disk for use in a CD ROM computer input or in a floppy disk for use in a floppy disk drive computer input.
  • 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 a WAN, such as the Internet, when required by the user of the present invention.
  • LAN or a WAN such as the Internet

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Nonlinear Science (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Optics & Photonics (AREA)
  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Nanotechnology (AREA)
  • Biophysics (AREA)
  • Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
  • Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Optical Modulation, Optical Deflection, Nonlinear Optics, Optical Demodulation, Optical Logic Elements (AREA)
  • Circuit Arrangement For Electric Light Sources In General (AREA)
  • Devices For Indicating Variable Information By Combining Individual Elements (AREA)

Abstract

L'invention concerne un dispositif et un procédé destinés à un système d'affichage unitaire. Ce système d'affichage unitaire comprend un système d'éclairage permettant de produire une pluralité de composantes d'ondes d'entrée dans une première pluralité de canaux guides d'onde, et un système de modulation, intégré au système d'éclairage, permettant la réception d'une pluralité de composantes d'ondes d'entrée dans une seconde pluralité de canaux guides d'onde, et la production d'une pluralité de composantes d'ondes de sortie définissant conjointement des séries d'images successives.
PCT/IB2005/050556 2004-02-12 2005-02-12 Systeme, procede et progiciel pour afficheur et memoire a guides d'ondes formant une structure textile WO2005076720A2 (fr)

Priority Applications (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AU2005213228A AU2005213228A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2005-02-12 System, method, and computer program product for textile structured waveguide display and memory
JP2006552769A JP2007528507A (ja) 2004-02-12 2005-02-12 テキスタイル化された導波管ディスプレイとメモリのためのシステム、方法及びコンピュータプログラム製品
EP05702969A EP1730581A2 (fr) 2004-02-12 2005-02-12 Systeme, procede et progiciel pour afficheur et memoire a guides d'ondes formant une structure textile
CN2005800110250A CN1973226B (zh) 2004-02-12 2005-02-12 用于织物结构的波导的开关矩阵及制造方法

Applications Claiming Priority (22)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US54459104P 2004-02-12 2004-02-12
US60/544,591 2004-02-12
US10/812,295 2004-03-29
US10/812,295 US20050180674A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2004-03-29 Faraday structured waveguide display
US11/011,751 US20050185877A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2004-12-14 Apparatus, Method, and Computer Program Product For Structured Waveguide Switching Matrix
US11/011,751 2004-12-14
US11/011,761 US20050180722A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2004-12-14 Apparatus, method, and computer program product for structured waveguide transport
US11/011,761 2004-12-14
US10/906,224 US20060056792A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2005-02-09 System, method, and computer program product for structured waveguide including intra/inter contacting regions
US10/906,226 2005-02-09
US10/906,226 US20060056794A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2005-02-09 System, method, and computer program product for componentized displays using structured waveguides
US10/906,220 2005-02-09
US10/906,224 2005-02-09
US10/906,220 US20050201651A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2005-02-09 Apparatus, method, and computer program product for integrated influencer element
US10/906,260 2005-02-11
US10/906,262 US20050201674A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2005-02-11 System, method, and computer program product for textile structured waveguide display and memory
US10/906,260 US20050213864A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2005-02-11 System, method, and computer program product for structured waveguide including intra/inter contacting regions
US10/906,255 US20050201673A1 (en) 2004-02-12 2005-02-11 Apparatus, method, and computer program product for unitary display system
US10/906,258 US7254287B2 (en) 2004-02-12 2005-02-11 Apparatus, method, and computer program product for transverse waveguided display system
US10/906,258 2005-02-11
US10/906,262 2005-02-11
US10/906,255 2005-02-11

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KR101737828B1 (ko) 2015-07-24 2017-05-19 숭실대학교산학협력단 이온성 탄성 유전체 기반 섬유형 트랜지스터 및 그 제조방법

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US5619355A (en) * 1993-10-05 1997-04-08 The Regents Of The University Of Colorado Liquid crystal handedness switch and color filter
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US5990996A (en) * 1996-05-14 1999-11-23 Colorlink, Inc. Color selective light modulators employing birefringent stacks

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EP1730581A2 (fr) 2006-12-13
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JP2007528507A (ja) 2007-10-11

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