OPTICAL ELEMENT

• Main Authors: MINOURA KAZUO, USUI MASAYUKI, BABA TAKESHI, SOMEYA ATSUSHI, MIYAJIMA YUUKO, MATSUOKA KAZUHIKO, NISHIMURA YUKIO
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 05.07.1985
• Subjects: ADVERTISING; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS; CRYPTOGRAPHY; DEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS, THE OPTICAL OPERATION OF WHICH ISMODIFIED BY CHANGING THE OPTICAL PROPERTIES OF THE MEDIUM OF THEDEVICES OR ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE CONTROL OF THE INTENSITY,COLOUR, PHASE, POLARISATION OR DIRECTION OF LIGHT, e.g.SWITCHING, GATING, MODULATING OR DEMODULATING; DISPLAY; DISPLAYING; EDUCATION; FREQUENCY-CHANGING; i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; LABELS OR NAME-PLATES; LINING MACHINES; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICS; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICS; PRINTING; SEALS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS; SIGNS; STAMPS; TECHNIQUES OR PROCEDURES FOR THE OPERATION THEREOF; TRANSPORTING; TYPEWRITERS

PURPOSE:To display image of an optical modulating device and a display device with high resolution and also to improve driving performance, productivity, durability, etc., by heating light transmissive liquid by a heating element in a dot matrix shape, etc. CONSTITUTION:A substrate 5, heating element 1, liquid layer 2, and transparent protection plate 3 are laminated basically in this order to constitute a display element DE. The heating part 1a of the heating element 1 generates heat to heat the liquid layer 2 until the refractive index varies slightly wihtout vaporizing the light transmissive liquid of the layer 2, forming a liquid-layer heating part 13. Illumination light 4' passing through the liquid-crystal heating part 13 of the liquid layer 2 of the display element DE does not travel straight in the liquid layer 2 while refracted, scattered, and diffracted owing to the refractive index gradient generated thermally at this part, but ilunimation light 4 incident except to the liiquid-crystal heating part 13 travels straight in the liquid layer 2 and is projected from the display element DE as parallel light. Therefore, the illumination light beams 4 and 4' are discriminated from each other optically.