Switchable flood and spot illuminator

• Main Authors: Avraham, Assaf, Morgenstein, Boris, Khan, Ali M, Herrington, Andrew T, Cohoon, Gregory A, Della Pergola, Refael, Tsur, Yuval
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 01.02.2022
• Subjects: BLASTING; 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; FREQUENCY-CHANGING; FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OR DETAILS OF LIGHTING DEVICES OR SYSTEMSTHEREOF; HEATING; LIGHTING; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; NON-LINEAR OPTICS; OPTICAL ANALOGUE/DIGITAL CONVERTERS; OPTICAL LOGIC ELEMENTS; OPTICS; PHYSICS; STRUCTURAL COMBINATIONS OF LIGHTING DEVICES WITH OTHERARTICLES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; TECHNIQUES OR PROCEDURES FOR THE OPERATION THEREOF; WEAPONS

An optical apparatus includes a transparent envelope having opposing first and second faces. An electro-optic material is contained within the transparent envelope and includes molecules oriented in respective predefined directions selected so as to form a geometric-phase structure across an area of the transparent envelope. First and second transparent electrodes are disposed respectively across the first and second faces of the transparent envelope. A controller is coupled to apply a voltage between the first and second transparent electrodes that is sufficient to displace the molecules of the electro-optic material from the predefined directions.