TERNARY AND QUATERNARY SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATORS BASED ON POLARIZATION HOLOGRAPHIC FABRY-PEROT SWITCHING

PHYSICAL OPTICS CORPORATION (POC) PROPOSES A NOVEL 2-D SLM THAT IS: 1) ELECTRICALLY ADDRESSABLE; 2) PHASE DOMINANT; 3) POLARIZATION MODULATED AND; 4) HAS 3AND 4-STATE ARCHITECTURE. THE SUCCESSFUL DESIGN OF AN SLM THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY SATISFIES ALL OF THESE FEATURES IS ACHIEVABLE USING THREE EXISTING POC TECHNOLOGIES; 1) HIGH-EFFICIENCY VOLUME HOLOGRAPHY; 2) COHERENTLY-COUPLED TUNABLE HOLOGRAPHIC FABRY-PEROT ETALONS AND; 3) BIREFRIGENCE DYE-P OLYMER TECHNOLOGY. THE PROPOSED SLM CONSISTS OF A THIN LAYER OF LOW-VOLTAGE, FAST-SWITCHING ELECTROOPTIC MATERIAL (E.G., LIQUID CRYSTAL) SANDWICHED BETWEEN COHERENTLY-COUPLED, POLARIZATION-REFLECTION HOLOGRAMS (FORMING A FABRY-PEROT ETALON) ACTING AS A MEMORY STORAGE OF STATE VECTORS. WHEN A CHARACTERISTIC VOLTAGE IS APPLIED, A PARTICULAR STATE VECTOR IS RESONATED THROUGH FABRY-PEROT COUPLING AND IS RETRIEVED OR SWITCHED "ON". INDEPENDENT PHASE AND POLARIZATION MODULATIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITHOUT AFFECTING THE AMPLITUDE OF THE COHERENT OUTPUT BEAM BECAUSE RELATIVE PHASES BETWEEN STATES ARE HOLOGRAPHICALLY RECORDED IN A BIREFRINGENT MATERIAL. THE PROPOSED SLM SHOULD RESULT IN SUPERIOR PHASE UNIFORMITY, HIGH CONTRAST (> 1000:1) AND SNR, HIGH RESOLUTION (<20UM), HIGH SPEED (<100US), LOW COST AND RUGGEDNESS. DURING PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT, POC WILL FABRICATE PROOF-OF-CONCEPT 4 X 4 PIXEL 3AND 4-STATE SLM PROTOTYPES.