Holographic video display system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9983547-B2
Application number	US-201213437850-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 2, 2012
Priority date	Aug 11, 2007
Publication date	May 29, 2018
Grant date	May 29, 2018

Abstract

A holographic video display employs at least one light source adapted to produce at least one wavelength of monochromatic light, a video signal generator, at least one guided-wave acousto-optic modulator for diffracting light received from the light source according to signals received from the video signal generator, a vertical scanning subsystem, and an optical path between the acousto-optic modulator and the vertical scanning subsystem. The optical path may preferably include a Bravais lens system, at least one Fourier transform lens system, and at least one moving horizontal mirror.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A holographic video display system comprising:
at least one light source adapted to provide one or more wavelengths of monochromatic light;
a video signal generator;
at least one guided-wave two-dimensional acousto-optic modulator for diffracting light received from the light source according to at least one video signal received from the video signal generator, the guided-wave acousto-optic modulator comprising one or more optical substrates with associated acoustic components that together are configured to diffract the light received from the light source, wherein the associated acoustic components include at least a set of phased-array transducers that deflect light horizontally via Bragg diffraction and a set of non-phased transducers that deflect light vertically by means of mode conversion;
a vertical scanning subsystem for rendering a holographic image; and
an optical path for passing the diffracted light from the guided-wave acousto-optic modulator to the vertical scanning subsystem.

2. The holographic video display system of claim 1 , said optical path comprising one or more optical elements selected from the group comprised of: at least one Bravais lens system, at least one Fourier transform lens system, at least one moving horizontal mirror, at least one stationary mirror of continuous helical shape, at least one holographic optical element, at least one diffractive optical element, at least one convex mirror, at least one concave mirror, at least one vertical diffuser, and at least one twisted prism.

3. The holographic video display system of claim 1 , further comprising a polarizer that blocks undiffracted light from exiting the guided-wave modulator.

4. The holographic video display system of claim 1 , wherein the guided-wave acousto-optic modulator further comprises video signal inputs for multiple frequency bands.

5. The holographic video display system of claim 1 , wherein the color of the monochromatic light source changes with time in order to create a time-sequential full-color display.

6. The holographic video display system of claim 1 , wherein there are three monochromatic light sources, one light source each being red, blue, and green, and three guided-wave modulators, each guided-wave modulator receiving light from one of the three monochromatic light sources.

7. The holographic video display system of claim 1 , wherein there are three monochromatic light sources, one light source each being red, blue, and green, and the guided-wave modulator sequentially cycles through receiving light from each of the three monochromatic light sources.

8. The holographic video display system of claim 1 , said optical path further comprising:
a Bravais lens system;
a first Fourier transform lens system;
at least one diffractive optical element, concave mirror, convex mirror, or moving horizontal mirror; and
a second Fourier transform lens system.

9. The holographic video display system of claim 1 , wherein the vertical scanning subsystem further comprises a galvanometric scanner, a micro-electromechanical scanner, or a motor.

10. A holographic video display system comprising:
at least one light source adapted to provide one or more wavelengths of monochromatic light;
a video signal generator;
at least one guided-wave acousto-optic modulator for diffracting light received from the light source according to at least one video signal received from the video signal generator;
a vertical scanning subsystem for rendering a holographic image; and
an optical path for passing the diffracted light from the acousto-optic modulator to the vertical scanning subsystem, said optical path comprising:
a Bravais lens system;
a first Fourier transform lens system;
at least one diffractive optical element, concave mirror, convex mirror, vertical diffuser, twisted prism, or moving horizontal mirror; and
a second Fourier transform lens system.

11. The holographic video display system of claim 10 , wherein the guided-wave acousto-optic modulator is a guided-wave two-dimensional acousto-optic modulator comprising one or more optical substrates with associated acoustic components that together are configured to diffract the light received from the light source along two axes.

12. The holographic video display system of claim 10 , wherein the vertical scanning subsystem further comprises a micro-electromechanical scanner, galvanometric scanner, or a motor.

13. The holographic video display system of claim 10 , wherein the first Fourier transform lens system is a telephoto lens system.

14. The holographic video display system of claim 10 , wherein the second Fourier transform lens system performs demagnification.

15. The holographic video display system of claim 10 , further comprising a polarizer that blocks undiffracted light from exiting the guided-wave modulator.

16. The holographic video display system of claim 10 , wherein the guided-wave acousto-optic modulator further comprises video signal inputs for multiple frequency bands.

17. The holographic video display system of claim 10 , wherein the color of the monochromatic light source changes with time in order to create a time-sequential full-color display.

18. The holographic video display system of claim 10 , wherein there are three monochromatic light sources, one light source each being red, blue, and green, and three guided-wave modulators, each guided-wave modulator receiving light from one of the three monochromatic light sources.

19. The holographic video display system of claim 10 , wherein there are three monochromatic light sources, one light source each being red, blue, and green, and the guided-wave modulator sequentially cycles through receiving light from each of the three monochromatic light sources.

20. A holographic video image produced using the display of claim 1 .

21. A holographic video image produced using the display of claim 10 .

Assignees

• Smalley Daniel E
• Smithwick Quinn Y J
• Bove Jr V Michael
• Massachusetts Inst Technology

Inventors

• Smalley Daniel E
• Smithwick Quinn Y J
• Bove Jr V Michael

Classifications

• G03H2223/17

  Element having optical power · CPC title

• G03H2225/21

  Acousto-optic SLM [AO-SLM] · CPC title

• G03H2001/0224

  Active addressable light modulator, i.e. Spatial Light Modulator [SLM] · CPC title

• G03H1/02

  Details {of features involved during the holographic process; Replication of holograms without interference recording} · CPC title

• G03H1/2294 Primary

  Addressing the hologram to an active spatial light modulator · CPC title