U.S. patent application number 12/662525 was filed with the patent office on 2011-10-27 for fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area diffractive waveplates and arrays.
This patent application is currently assigned to Beam Engineering for Advanced Measurement Co.. Invention is credited to Brian R. Kimball, Sarik R. Nersisyan, Diane M. Steeves, Nelson Tabirian.
Application Number | 20110262844 12/662525 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 44816083 |
Filed Date | 2011-10-27 |
United States Patent
Application |
20110262844 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tabirian; Nelson ; et
al. |
October 27, 2011 |
Fabrication of high efficiency, high quality, large area
diffractive waveplates and arrays
Abstract
The objective of the present invention is providing a method for
fabricating high quality diffractive waveplates and their arrays
that exhibit high diffraction efficiency over large area, the
method being capable of inexpensive large volume production. The
method uses a polarization converter for converting the
polarization of generally non-monochromatic and partially coherent
input light beam into a pattern of periodic spatial modulation at
the output of said polarization converter. A substrate carrying a
photoalignment layer is exposed to said polarization modulation
pattern and is coated subsequently with a liquid crystalline
material. The high quality diffractive waveplates of the present
invention are obtained when the exposure time of said
photoalignment layer exceeds by generally an order of magnitude the
time period that would be sufficient for producing homogeneous
orientation of liquid crystalline materials brought in contact with
said photoalignment layer. Compared to holographic techniques, the
method is robust with respect to mechanical noises, ambient
conditions, and allows inexpensive production via printing while
also allowing to double the spatial frequency of optical axis
modulation of diffractive waveplates.
Inventors: |
Tabirian; Nelson; (Winter
Park, FL) ; Nersisyan; Sarik R.; (Orlando, FL)
; Kimball; Brian R.; (Shrewsbury, MA) ; Steeves;
Diane M.; (Franklin, MA) |
Assignee: |
Beam Engineering for Advanced
Measurement Co.
Winter Park
FL
|
Family ID: |
44816083 |
Appl. No.: |
12/662525 |
Filed: |
April 21, 2010 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
430/2 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G03H 2001/0439 20130101;
G02B 5/3083 20130101; G03H 2260/51 20130101; G03F 7/70191 20130101;
G02B 5/32 20130101; G03F 7/20 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
430/2 |
International
Class: |
G03H 1/00 20060101
G03H001/00 |
Goverment Interests
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0001] This invention was made with Government support under
Contract No. W911QY-07-C-0032.
RIGHTS OF THE GOVERNMENT
[0002] The invention described herein may be manufactured and used
by or for the Government of the United States for all governmental
purposes without the payment of any royalty.
Claims
1. A method for producing spatially periodic orientation modulation
of an anisotropy axis of a photoresponsive material layer, the
method comprising: (a) a light source emitting a light beam; (b) a
polarization converter periodically modulating in space the
polarization of said light beam; (c) a photoresponsive material
characterized by an anisotropy axis that may be formed or aligned
according to polarization of said light beam; (d) exposing at least
a portion of said photoresponsive material layer to the
polarization modulation pattern produced by said polarization
converter.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising optical means for
projecting said polarization modulation pattern of said light beam
onto at least a part of the area of said photoresponsive material
layer, said projection generally changing the size, shape and
topography of said polarization modulation pattern obtained at the
output of said polarization converter.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said polarization converter
comprises at least one diffractive waveplate that may be
achromatic, and may be part of an array.
4. The method of claim 1 further comprising at least one substrate
for controlling at least one of the following properties of said
photoresponsive material layer: mechanical shape and stability,
thermal conductivity, thickness homogeneity, radiation resistance,
and resistance to adverse ambient conditions.
5. A method for producing spatially periodic orientation modulation
of an anisotropy axis of a photoresponsive material layer, the
method comprising: (a) a light source emitting a light beam; (b) a
polarization converter periodically modulating the polarization of
said light beam along a single axis; (c) a photoresponsive material
characterized by an anisotropy axis that may be formed or aligned
according to polarization of said light beam; (d) means for holding
and positioning a layer of said photoresponsive material; (e) means
for positioning and projecting said polarization modulation pattern
of said light beam onto a part of the area of said photoresponsive
material layer; (d) means for exposing different areas of said
photoresponsive material layer to said polarization modulation
pattern.
6. The method of claim 5 wherein the means for holding and
positioning the layer of said photoresponsive material include at
least one of the following: a glass substrate; a polymer substrate,
a drum, a translation stage, and a rotation stage.
7. The method as in claim 5 wherein the means for exposing
different areas of said photoresponsive material layer to said
polarization modulation pattern includes at least one of the
mechanical motions, translation in the direction perpendicular to
the polarization modulation axis, and rotation, said motions
performed with the aid of at least one of said positioning means:
the positioning means of the holder of said photoresponsive
material layer, and the positioning means of said polarization
modulation pattern.
8. A method for producing orientation modulation of an anisotropy
axis of a photoresponsive material layer at a predetermined spatial
period, the method comprising: (a) producing a linear polarized
light beam; (b) propagating said light beam through a diffractive
waveplate, the diffractive waveplate having optical axis modulation
period twice larger compared to said predetermined spatial period.
(b) exposing a photoresponsive material layer to said light beam
propagated through said diffractive waveplate, the photoresponsive
material having the ability of producing an anisotropy axis
modulated according to the polarization of said light beam.
9. Any of the methods of claim 1, 5, or 8 further comprising at
least one anisotropic material layer with ability of producing an
optical axis modulation according to and under the influence of the
anisotropy axis of the photoresponsive material layer.
10. A method of fabricating high quality diffractive waveplates for
providing diffraction efficiency greater than 95% over an area of
greater than 1'' in diameter, and scattering losses less than 1%
comprising: (a) a source of a light beam; (b) means for
periodically modulating the polarization of said light beam across
the beam profile; (c) a photoresponsive material layer with ability
of producing an anisotropy axis modulated according to said
polarization pattern; (d) exposing said photoresponsive material
layer to said polarization modulation pattern for exposure energy
density exceeding at least 5 times the exposure energy density
sufficient for producing waveplates with homogeneously orientation
of optical axis. (e) bringing said photoresponsive layer in contact
with at least one anisotropic material layer, said anisotropic
material having the ability of producing an optical axis modulation
according to and under the influence of the anisotropy axis of said
photoresponsive material layer.
11. The method of claim 9 or 10 wherein said optical axis
modulation of at least one of said anisotropic material layers is
twisted in the direction perpendicular to the modulation plane of
the anisotropy axis of said photoresponsive material layer.
Description
CROSS REFERENCES
[0003] Sh. D. Kakichashvili, "Method for phase polarization
recording of holograms," Soy. J. Quantum. Electron. 4, 795-798,
1974.
[0004] T. Todorov, et al., High-sensitivity material with
reversible photo-induced anisotropy, Opt. Commun., 47, 123-126,
1983.
[0005] M. Attia, et al., "Anisotropic gratings recorded from two
circularly polarized coherent waves," Opt. Commun., 47, 85-90,
1983.
[0006] G. Cipparrone, et. al, "Permanent polarization gratings in
photosensitive langmuir blodget films," Appl. Phys. Lett. 77,
2106-2108, 2000.
[0007] L. Nikolova et al., "Diffraction efficiency and selectivity
of polarization holographic recording," Optica Acta 31, 579-588,
1984.
[0008] K. Ichimura, et al., "Reversible Change in Alignment Mode of
Nematic Liquid Crystals Regulated Photochemically by Command
Surfaces Modified with an Azobenzene Monolayer," Langmuir 4,
1214-1216, 1988.
[0009] W. M. Gibbons, et al., "Surface-mediated alignment of
nematic liquid crystals with polarized laser light," Nature 351,
49-50, 1991.
[0010] W. M. Gibbons, et al., "Optically controlled alignment of
liquid crystals: devices and applications," Mol. Cryst. Liquid
Cryst., 251, 191-208, 1994.
[0011] W. M. Gibbons, et al., "Optically generated liquid crystal
gratings," Appl. Phys. Lett., 65, 2542-2544, 1994.
[0012] M. Schadt, et al., "Optical patterning of multi-domain
liquid-crystal displays with wide viewing angles," Nature 381,
212-215, 1996.
[0013] S. R. Nersisyan, et al., "Optical Axis Gratings in Liquid
Crystals and their use for Polarization insensitive optical
switching," J. Nonlinear Opt. Phys. & Mat., 18, 1-47, 2009.
[0014] N. V. Tabiryan, et al., "The Promise of Diffractive
Waveplates," Optics and Photonics News, 21, 41-45, 2010.
[0015] H. Sarkissian et al., "Periodically Aligned Liquid Crystal:
Potential application for projection displays," Storming Media
Report, A000824, 2004.
[0016] H. Sarkissian, et al., "Periodically aligned liquid crystal:
potential application for projection displays and stability of LC
configuration," Optics in the Southeast 2003, Orlando, Fla.,
Conference Program, PSE 02.
[0017] H. Sarkissian, et al., "Potential application of
periodically aligned liquid crystal cell for projection displays,"
Proc. of CLEO/QELS Baltimore Md., poster JThE12, 2005.
[0018] B. Ya. Zeldovich, N. V. Tabirian, "Devices for displaying
visual information," Disclosure, School of Optics/CREOL, July
2000.
[0019] C. Provenzano, et al., "Highly efficient liquid crystal
based diffraction grating induced by polarization holograms at the
aligning surfaces," Appl. Phys. Lett., 89, 121105(1-3), 2006
[0020] M. J. Escuti et al., "A polarization-independent liquid
crystal spatial-light-modulator," Proc. SPIE 6332, 63320M(1-8),
2006.
[0021] C. M. Titus et al., "Efficient, polarization-independent,
reflective liquid crystal phase grating," Appl. Phys. Lett., 71,
2239-2241, 1997.
[0022] J. Chen, et al., "An electro-optically controlled liquid
crystal diffraction grating, Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 2588-2590,
1995.
[0023] B. J. Kim, et al., "Unusual characteristics of diffraction
gratings in a liquid crystal cell," Adv. Materials, 14, 983-988,
2002.
[0024] R.-P. Pan, et al., "Surface topography and alignment effects
in UV-modified polyimide films with micron size patterns," Chinese
J. of Physics, 41, 177-184, 2003.
[0025] A. Y.-G. Fuh, et al., "Dynamic studies of holographic
gratings in dye-doped liquid-crystal films," Opt. Lett. 26,
1767-1769, 2001.
[0026] C.-J. Yu, et al., "Polarization grating of photoaligned
liquid crystals with oppositely twisted domain structures," Mol.
Cryst. Liq. Cryst., Vol. 433, pp. 175-181, 2005.
[0027] G. Crawford, et al., "Liquid-crystal diffraction gratings
using polarization holography alignment techniques," J. of Appl.
Phys. 98, 123102 (1-10), 2005.
[0028] M. Schadt, et al. "Photo-Induced Alignment and Patterning of
Hybrid Liquid Crystalline Polymer Films on Single Substrates," Jpn.
J. Appl. Phys. 34, L764-L767 1995.
[0029] M. Schadt, et al. "Photo-Generation of Linearly Polymerized
Liquid Crystal Aligning Layers Comprising Novel, Integrated
Optically Patterned Retarders and Color Filters," Jpn. J. Appl.
Phys. 34, 3240-3249, 1995.
[0030] H. Seiberle, et al., "Photo-aligned anisotropic optical thin
films," SID 03 Digest, 1162-1165, 2003.
[0031] B. Wen, et al., "Nematic liquid-crystal polarization
gratings by modification of surface alignment," Appl. Opt. 41,
1246-1250, 2002.
[0032] J. Anagnostis, D. Rowe, "Replication produces holographic
optics in volumes", Laser Focus World 36, 107-111, 2000.
[0033] M. T. Gale, "Replicated diffractive optics and
micro-optics", Optics and Photonics News, August 2003, 24-29.
[0034] S. R. Nersisyan, et al., "Characterization of optically
imprinted polarization gratings," Appl. Optics 48, 4062-4067,
2009.
[0035] H. Sarkissian, et al., "Periodically aligned liquid crystal:
potential application for projection displays," Mol. Cryst. Liquid
Cryst., 451, 1-19, 2006.
[0036] V. G. Chigrinov, et al., "Photoaligning: physics and
applications in liquid crystal devices", Wiley VCH, 2008.
[0037] S. C. McEldowney et al., "Creating vortex retarders using
photoaligned LC polymers," Opt. Lett., Vol. 33, 134-136, 2008.
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
TABLE-US-00001 [0038] 2009/0141216 June 2009 Marucci 7,196,758
March 2007 Crawford et al. US2008/0278675 November 2008 Escuti et
al. 3,897,136 July 1975 Bryngdahl 2010/0066929 March 2010 Shemo et
al. 5,903,330 May 1999 Funfshilling et al. 5,032,009 July 1991
Gibbons et al.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0039] This invention relates to fabrication of one or two
dimensional diffractive waveplates and their arrays, those
waveplates including "cycloidal" waveplates, optical axis gratings,
polarization gratings (PGs), axial waveplates, vortex waveplates,
and q-plates.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0040] Polarization recording of holograms and related
"polarization gratings" were concieved in 1970's as a method for
recording and reconstructing the vector field of light. A
light-sensitive material that acquired birefringence under the
action of polarized light was suggested in the first studies (Sh.
D. Kakichashvili, "Method for phase polarization recording of
holograms," Soy. J. Quantum. Electron. 4, 795, 1974). Examples of
such photoanisotropic media included colored alkaly halid crystals
regarded particularly promising due to reversibilty of the
recording process consisting in optically altering the orientation
of anisotropic color centers in the crystal.
[0041] A grating characterized only by spatial variations in the
orientation of the induced optics axis can be obtained when the
photoanisotropic medium is exposed to a constant intensity,
rectilinear light vibrations, with spatially varying orientation,
obtained from superposition of two orthogonal circularly polarized
waves propagating, in slightly different directions (M. Attia, et
al., "Anisotropic gratings recorded from two circularly polarized
coherent waves," Opt. Commun. 47, 85, 1983). The use of Methyl Red
azobenzene dye in a polymer layer allowed to claim that
photochemical processes in such material systems would enable
obtaining 100 percent diffraction efficiency even in "thin"
gratings (T. Todorov, et al., "High-sensitivity material with
reversible photo-induced anisotropy," Opt. Commun. 47, 123, 1983).
Highly stable polarization gratings with orthogonal circular
polarized beams are obtained in thin solid crystalline
Langmuir-Blodgett films composed of amphiphilic azo-dye molecules
showing that "100% efficiency may be achieved for samples less than
1 .mu.m thick" (G. Cipparrone, et al., "Permanent polarization
gratings in photosensitive langmuir blodget films," Appl. Phys.
Lett. 77, 2106, 2000).
[0042] A material possesing birefringence that is not influenced by
light is an alternative to the photoanisotropic materials that are
typically capable of only small induced birefringence (L. Nikolova
et al., "Diffraction efficiency and selectivity of polarization
holographic recording," Optica Acta 31, 579, 1984). The orientation
of such a material, a liquid crystal (LC), can be controlled with
the aid of "command surfaces" due to exposure of the substrate
carrying the command layer to light beams (K. Ichimura, et al.,
"Reversible Change in Alignment Mode of Nematic Liquid Crystals
Regulated Photochemically by Command Surfaces Modified with an
Azobenzene Monolayer," Langmuir 4, 1214, 1988). Further a
"mechanism for liquid-crystal alignment that uses polarized laser
light" was revealed (W. M. Gibbons, et al., "Surface-mediated
alignment of nematic liquid crystals with polarized laser light,"
Nature 351, 49, 1991; W. M. Gibbons, et al., "Optically controlled
alignment of liquid crystals: devices and applications," Mol.
Cryst. Liquid Cryst., 251, 191, 1994). Due to localization of dye
near the interface, the exposure can be performed in the absence of
LC, and the LC is aligned with high spatial and angular resolution
(potentially, submicron) after filling the cell (W. M. Gibbons, et
al., "Optically generated liquid crystal gratings," Appl. Phys.
Lett. 65, 2542, 1994). Variety of photoalignment materials are
developed for achieving high-resolution patterns and obtaining
variation of molecular alignment within individual pixels (M.
Schadt, et al., "Optical patterning of multi-domain liquid-crystal
displays with wide viewing angles," Nature 381, 212, 1996).
[0043] A critically important issue for producing LC orientation
patterns at high spatial frequencies is their mechanical stability.
Particularly, the cycloidal orientation of LCs obtained due to the
orienting effect of boundaries is stable only when a specific
condition between the material parameters, the cell thickness, and
the period of LC orientation modulation is fulfilled (H. Sarkissian
et al., "Periodically Aligned Liquid Crystal: Potential application
for projection displays," Storming Media Report, A000824, 2004; H.
Sarkissian, et al., "Periodically aligned liquid crystal: potential
application for projection displays and stability of LC
configuration," Optics in the Southeast 2003, Orlando, Fla.;
Conference Program, PSE 02. and H. Sarkissian, et al., "Potential
application of periodically aligned liquid crystal cell for
projection displays," Proc. of CLEO/QELS Baltimore Md., poster
JThE12, 2005; B. Ya. Zeldovich, N. V. Tabirian, "Devices for
displaying visual information," Disclosure, School of Optics/CREOL,
July 2000). Suggesting fabrication of cycloidal polarization
gratings using the photoalignment technique with overlapping right
and left circularly polarized beams, the publications by
Sarkissian, Zeldovich and Tabirian cited above are credited for
having theoretically proven polarization gratings can be 100%
efficient and can be used as a diffractive grating for projection
displays (C. Provenzano, et al., "Highly efficient liquid crystal
based diffraction grating induced by polarization holograms at the
aligning surfaces," Appl. Phys. Lett., 89, 121105, 2006; M. J.
Escuti et al., "A polarization-independent liquid crystal
spatial-light-modulator," Proc. SPIE 6332, 63320M, 2006).
[0044] LCs with spatially modulated orientation patterns produced
using the photoalignment technqiue are known in the prior art (W.
M. Gibbons, et al., "Surface-mediated alignment of nematic liquid
crystals with polarized laser light," Nature 351, 49, 1991; C. M.
Titus et al., "Efficient, polarization-independent, reflective
liquid crystal phase grating," Appl. Phys. Lett. 71, 2239, 1997; J.
Chen, et al., "An electro-optically controlled liquid crystal
diffraction grating, Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 2588, 1995; B. J. Kim,
et al., "Unusual characteristics of diffraction gratings in a
liquid crystal cell," Adv. Materials 14, 983, 2002; R.-P. Pan, et
al., "Surface topography and alignment effects in UV-modified
polyimide films with micron size patterns," Chinese J. of Physics
41, 177, 2003; A. Y.-G. Fuh, et al., "Dynamic studies of
holographic gratings in dye-doped liquid-crystal films," Opt. Lett.
26, 1767, 2001; C.-J. Yu, et al., "Polarization grating of
photoaligned liquid crystals with oppositely twisted domain
structures," Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 433, 175, 2005; G. Crawford,
et al., "Liquid-crystal diffraction gratings using polarization
holography alignment techniques," J. of Appl. Phys: 98, 123102,
2005; Crawford et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,196,758).
[0045] LC polymers were widely used as well (M. Schadt, et al.
"Photo-Induced Alignment and Patterning of Hybrid Liquid
Crystalline Polymer Films on Single Substrates," Jpn. J. Appl.
Phys. 34, L764 1995; M. Schadt, et al. "Photo-Generation of
Linearly Polymerized Liquid Crystal Aligning Layers Comprising
Novel, Integrated Optically Patterned Retarders and Color Filters,"
Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 34, 3240, 1995; Escutti et al, US Patent
Application US2008/0278675;). Photo-aligned anisotropic thin films
can be applied to rigid or flexible substrates, which may be flat
or curved and/or generate patterned retarders with continuous or
periodical inplane variation of the optical axis (H. Seiberle, et
al., "Photo-aligned anisotropic optical thin films," SID 03 Digest,
1162, 2003).
[0046] The cycloidal diffractive waveplates (CDWs) wherein the
optical axis of the material is periodically rotating in the plane
of the waveplate along one axis of a Cartesian coordinate system
are the most interesting one-dimensional structures used for
applications such as displays, beam steering systems, spectroscopy
etc. These are known also as cycloidal DWs (CDWs), optical axis
gratings, and polarization gratings (PGs) (S. R. Nersisyan, et al.,
"Optical Axis Gratings in Liquid Crystals and their use for
Polarization insensitive optical switching," J. Nonlinear Opt.
Phys. & Mat. 18, 1, 2009). Most interesting for applications
two-dimensional orientation patterns possess with axial symmetry
(N. V. Tabiryan, et al., "The Promise of Diffractive Waveplates,"
Optics and Photonics News 21, 41, 2010; L. Marucci, US Patent
Application 2009/0141216; Shemo et al., US Patent Application
2010/0066929).
[0047] Thus, in the prior art, optical axis modulation patterns of
anisotropic material systems were demonstrated, including in LCs
and LC polymers, due to modulation of boundary alignment
conditions, and it was shown that such boundary conditions can be
achieved by a number of ways, including using photoaligning
materials, orthogonal circular polarized beams, microrubbing, and
substrate rotation (Funfshilling et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,903,330;
B. Wen, et al., "Nematic liquid-crystal polarization gratings by
modification of surface alignment," Appl. Opt. 41, 1246, 2002; S.
C. McEldowney et al., "Creating vortex retarders using photoaligned
LC polymers," Opt. Lett., Vol. 33, 134, 2008). LC optical
components with orientation pattern created by exposure of an
alignment layer to a linear polarized light through a mask, by
scanning a linear polarized light beam in a pattern, or creating a
pattern using an interference of coherent beams is disclosed in the
U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,009 to Gibbons, et al. Also, in the prior art,
"Optically controlled planar orientation of liquid crystal
molecules with polarized light is used to make phase gratings in
liquid crystal media" (W. M. Gibbons and S.-T. Sun, "Optically
generated liquid crystal gratings," Appl. Phys. Lett. 65, 2542,
1994).
[0048] DWs are characterized by their efficiency, optical
homogeneity, scattering losses, and size. While acceptable for
research and development purposes, none of the techniques known in
the prior art can be used for fabricating high quality DWs and
their arrays in large area, inexpensively, and in high volume
production. Since DWs consist of a pattern of optical axis
orientation, they can not be reproduced with conventional
techniques used for gratings of surface profiles (J. Anagnostis, D.
Rowe, "Replication produces holographic optics in volumes", Laser
Focus World 36, 107, 2000); M. T. Gale, "Replicated diffractive
optics and micro-optics", Optics and Photonics News, August 2003,
p. 24).
[0049] It is the purpose of the present invention to provide method
for the production of DWs. The printing method of the current
invention does not require complex holographic setups, nor special
alignment or vibration isolation as described in the publications
S. R. Nersisyan, et al., "Optical Axis Gratings in Liquid Crystals
and their use for Polarization insensitive optical switching," J.
Nonlinear Opt. Phys. & Mat., 18, 1, 2009; S. R. Nersisyan, et
al., "Characterization of optically imprinted polarization
gratings," Appl. Optics 48, 4062, 2009 and N. V. Tabiryan, et al.,
"The Promise of Diffractive Waveplates," Optics and Photonics News,
21, 41, 2010, which are incorporated herein by reference.
[0050] Energy densities required for printing DWs are essentially
the same as in the case of producing a waveplate in a holographic
process. This makes fabrication of diffractive waveplates much
faster compared to mechanical scanning or rotating techniques. A
technique for obtaining polarization modulation patterns avoiding
holographic setups was discussed earlier in the U.S. Pat. No.
3,897,136 to O. Bryngdahl. It discloses a grating "formed from
strips cut in different directions out of linearly dichroic
polarizer sheets. The gratings were assembled so that between
successive strips a constant amount of rotation of the
transmittance axes occurred." These were also essentially
discontinuous structures, with the angle between the strips .pi./2
and .pi./6 at the best. The size of individual strips was as large
as 2 mm. Thus, such a grating modulated polarization of the output
light at macroscopic scales and could not be used for production of
microscale-period gratings with diffractive properties at optical
wavelengths.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0051] Thus, the objective of the present invention is providing
means for fabricating high quality DWs in large area, typically
exceeding 1'' in sizes, in large quantities, with high yield, and
low cost.
[0052] The second objective of the present invention is providing
means for fabricating DWs with different periods of optical axis
modulation.
[0053] The invention, particularly, includes converting a linear or
unpolarized light, generally non-monochromatic, incoherent or
partially coherent, into a light beam of a periodic pattern of
polarization modulation and subjecting materials with capability of
photoalignment to said pattern for time periods exceeding the times
otherwise required for obtaining homogeneous orientation state.
[0054] Further objectives and advantages of this invention will be
apparent from the following detailed description of presently
preferred embodiment, which is illustrated schematically in the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0055] FIG. 1A shows the schematic of printing DWs.
[0056] FIG. 1B schematically shows distribution of light
polarization at the output of the linear-to-cycloidal polarization
converter.
[0057] FIG. 1C schematically shows distribution of light
polarization at the output of a linear-to-axial polarization
converter.
[0058] FIG. 1D schematically shows distribution of light
polarization at the output of a two-dimensional cycloidal
polarization converter.
[0059] FIG. 2A shows the schematic of printing DWs using a
cycloidal DW as a polarization converter.
[0060] FIG. 2B shows the schematic of a cycloidal DW.
[0061] FIG. 3 shows spatial frequency doubling of a cycloidal DW in
the printing process. Photos are obtained under polarizing
microscope with 100x magnification.
[0062] FIG. 4 shows two consecutive doubling of the order of an
axially symmetric DW.
[0063] FIG. 5 shows photos of the structure of cycloidal DWs
obtained under polarizing microscope for different exposure times.
Photos are obtained under polarizing microscope with 40.times.
magnification.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0064] Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present
invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is
not limited in its application to the details of the particular
arrangement shown since the invention is capable of other
embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose
of description and not limitation.
[0065] The preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in
FIG. 1A includes a light beam 101 incident upon an optical
component 102 capable of converting the incident light beam 101
into a beam with spatially modulated polarization pattern 103. Of
particular interest are "cycloidal" and axial modulation patterns
shown schematically in FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C, correspondingly,
wherein the numerals 106 indicate the linear polarization direction
at each point of the plane at the output of the polarization
converter (S. R. Nersisyan; et al., "Characterization of optically
imprinted polarization gratings," Appl. Optics 48, 4062, 2009). One
polarization modulation period is shown in FIG. 1B, and the
polarization direction is reversed 4 times for the example of the
axially modulated pattern shown in FIG. 1C. Polarization modulation
may have other distributions as exemplified by the two-dimensional
cycloidal pattern shown in FIG. 1D.
[0066] A photoresponsive material film 104 capable of producing an
internal structure aligned according to the polarization pattern
103, deposited on a substrate 105, is arranged in the area with
spatially modulated polarization pattern. Examples of such
materials include photoanisotropic materials such as azobenzene or
azobenzene dye-doped polymers, and photoalignment materials such as
azobenzene derivatives, cinnamic acid derivatives, coumarine
derivatives, etc.
[0067] In case shown in FIG. 2A, a cycloidal diffractive waveplate
(CDW) is used as polarization converter 102. The structure of said
CDW is schematically shown in FIG. 2B wherein the numeral 109
indicates the alignment direction of the optical axis of the
material. The cycloidal polarization pattern is obtained at the
vicinity of the converter, near its output surface, in the overlap
region of the diffracted beams 107 and 108.
[0068] The simplicity of this method, its insensitivity to
vibrations, noises, air flows, as opposed to the holographic
techniques makes feasible manufacturing high quality DWs with high
diffraction efficiency in large areas exceeding 1'' in sizes and in
large quantities with low cost. Note that adding a polarizer at the
output of the DW transforms the polarization modulation pattern
into a pattern of intensity modulation that could be used for
printing diffractive optical elements as well.
[0069] The spatial period of the printed DW is equal to that of the
DW used as a polarization converter when a circular polarized light
is used. A linear polarized light, however, yields in a DW with
twice shorter period of the optical axis modulation. This is
evident, FIG. 3, in the photos of the structure of the DW 301
produced via printing using a linear polarized light beam as
compared to the structure of the DW 302 used as a polarization
converter. Photos were obtained under polarizing microscope with
100.times. magnification (S. R. Nersisyan, et al.,
"Characterization of optically imprinted polarization gratings,"
Appl. Optics 48, 4062, 2009). This applies both to CDWs as well as
to the diffractive waveplates with axial symmetry of optical axis
orientation (ADWs) shown in FIG. 4 wherein the numeral 401
corresponds to the ADW used as a polarization converter, and 402
corresponds to the ADW obtained as a result of printing (N. V.
Tabiryan, S. R. Nersisyan, D. M. Steeves and B. R. Kimball, The
Promise of Diffractive Waveplates, Optics and Photonics News 21,
41, 2010). The technique of doubling the spatial frequency allows
producing high degree ADWs and their arrays without using
mechanical rotating setups.
[0070] Each DW in these examples was obtained by deposition of a LC
polymer on the substrate carrying the photoalignment layer. This
process of LC polymer deposition involves spin coating, heating to
remove residual solvents, and polymerization in an unpolarized UV
light. Other coating techniques (spray coating, as an example) and
polymerization techniques (heating, as an example) are known and
can be used for this purpose. The period of the printed CDW can be
varied also by incorporating an optical system that projects the
cycloidal polarization pattern onto larger or smaller area.
[0071] Another key aspect of the present invention consists in the
disclosure that the photoalignment materials need to be exposed to
cycloidal polarization pattern of radiation for time periods
considerably exceeding the exposure time required for obtaining
homogeneous aligning films at a given power density level of
radiation. As an example, ROLIC Ltd. specifies 50 mJ/cm.sup.2
exposure energy density for its material ROP 103 at the wavelength
325 nm. Exposure with such an energy density yields in good
homogeneous alignment, however, the structure of cycloidal DWs
fabricated according to that recipe appears very poor under
polarizing microscope as shown in FIG. 5. Extending the exposure
time improves the structure, and practically defect-free structure
is obtained for exposure energies >1 J/cm.sup.2 that is
20.times. exceeding the specified values for this particular
material.
[0072] The quality of DWs fabricated in conventional holographic
process depends on many factors: the quality of the overlapping
beams; the susceptibility of the holographic setup to mechanical
vibrations and air fluctuations in the path of the beam; the
coherence of the beams and equality of their paths; depolarization
effects due to propagation of the beams through multiple optical
elements such as lenses and beam splitters; the quality of the
substrate; the qualities of the photoalignment materials, their
affinity with the substrate in use and the effects of spin coating
and solvent evaporation process. These factors include the
homogeneity of the LCs layer thickness, and their compatibility
issues with the photoalignment layer. The compatibility of the LC
materials with the photoalignment material is important as well.
Typical thickness of these films is in the micrometer range,
whereas thickness variation for as little as the wavelength of
radiation, .about.0.5 .mu.m for visible wavlengths, can
dramatically affect the diffraction efficiency of those components.
The absolute value of the thickness is as important due to
orientation instabilities that is determined, among other things,
by the ratio of the layer thickness to the modulation period (H.
Sarkissian, et al., "Periodically aligned liquid crystal: potential
application for projection displays," Mol. Cryst. Liquid Cryst.,
451, 1, 2006).
[0073] Among all these factors, the exposure energy, being a
parameter easy to control and specified by its supplier appears to
be the least suspected to affect the quality of the DW being
fabricated. With all the noises, impurities, and uncertainties in
many steps involved in the process, the obtained component would
still show relatively small areas of good quality, good enough for
a university research, but beyond the acceptable limits for
practical applications. Thus, the finding that the exposure times
shall considerably exceed photoaligning material specifications is
critically important for fabrication of high quality DWs with
homogeneous properties in a large area.
[0074] The reasons for such an effect of the exposure time lie,
apparently, in the need to produce stronger forces to support a
pattern of spatial modulation of the optical axis than those
required for homogeneous alignment. Elastic forces against
modulation of molecular orientation are strong in LC materials.
Longer exposure induces stronger modulation of the microscopic
orientation properties of the photoaligning materials. Anchoring
energy of such materials for LCs are not comprehensively studied.
The available data relate to homogeneous orientation (V. G.
Chigrinov, et al., "Photoaligning: physics and applications in
liquid crystal devices", Wiley VCH, 2008).
[0075] Due to robustness of the printing method to the mechanical
and other ambient noise, large area components can be fabricated by
continuously translating the substrate in the region of cycloidal
polarization pattern. By that, the energy of the light beam can be
distributed along a long strip to produce a larger photoalignment
area.
[0076] Although the present invention has been described above by
way of a preferred embodiment, this embodiment can be modified at
will, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing
from the spirit and nature of the subject invention.
* * * * *