Spatially patterned polarization compensator
View Patent ↗A modulation optical system ( 40 ) provides modulation of an incident light beam. A wire grid polarization beamsplitter ( 240 ) receives the beam of light ( 130 ) and transmits a beam of light having a first polarization, and reflects a beam of light having a second polarization orthogonal to the first polarization. Sub-wavelength wires ( 250 ) on the wire grid polarization beamsplitter face a reflective spatial light modulator. The reflective spatial light modulator receives the polarized beam of light and selectively modulates the polarized beam of light to encode data thereon. The reflective spatial light modulator reflects back both the modulated light and the unmodulated light to the wire grid polarization beamsplitter. The wire grid polarization beamsplitter separates the modulated light from the unmodulated light. A compensator ( 260 ) is located between the wire grid polarization beamsplitter and the reflective spatial light modulator ( 210 ). The compensator conditions the polarization states of the oblique and skew rays of the modulated beam and includes a spatially variant retardance that corrects for a spatially variant retardance of the reflective spatial light modulator.
1. A spatially patterned polarization compensator, comprising an optical structure fabricated with a spatially variant retardance that corresponds to the spatially variant retardance of a spatial light modulator, such that when said patterned polarization compensator and said spatial light modulator are used in combination, within a light beam, net retardance of the combination is nominally spatially uniform on a pixel to pixel basis.
2. A spatially patterned polarization compensator according to claim 1 which is fabricated with liquid crystal polymer materials.
3. A spatially patterned polarization compensator according to claim 1 which is fabricated with inorganic materials.
4. A spatially patterned polarization compensator, fabricated with the assistance of a pre-existing spatial light modulator having a spatially variant retardance, such that said spatially patterned polarization compensator has a spatially variant retardance that corresponds to the spatially variant retardance of said pre-existing spatial light modulator, with the result that when said patterned polarization compensator and said pre-existing spatial light modulator are used in combination within a light beam, net retardance of the combination is nominally spatially uniform on a pixel to pixel basis.
5. A spatially patterned polarization compensator, comprising an optical structure fabricated with a spatially variant retardance that corresponds to the spatially variant retardance of a pre-existing spatial light modulator, such that when said patterned polarization compensator and said pre-existing spatial light modulator are used in combination within a light beam of a given color band, a nominally spatially uniform net retardance results.
6. A spatially patterned polarization compensator according to claim 5 which is fabricated with liquid crystal polymer materials.
7. A spatially patterned polarization compensator according to claim 5 which is fabricated with inorganic materials.
8. A spatially patterned polarization compensator, comprising an optical structure fabricated with a spatially variant retardance that corresponds to the spatially variant retardance of a spatial light modulator, such that when said patterned polarization compensator and said spatial light modulator are used in combination within a light beam, net retardance of the combination is nominally spatially uniform across the full width of said spatial light modulator on a pixel to pixel basis.
9. A spatially patterned polarization compensator, comprising an optical structure fabricated with a spatially yariant retardance that corresponds to the spatially variant retardance of a spatial light modulator, such that when said patterned polarization compensator and said spatial light modulator are used in combination within a light beam of a given color band, a nominally spatially uniform net retardance results.
10. A spatially patterned polarization compensator according to claim 9 which is fabricated with liquid crystal polymer materials.
11. A spatially patterned polarization compensator according to claim 9 which is fabricated with inorganic materials.