Spatially Switched Achromatic Compound Retarder

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to compound retarders. More specifically, the present invention is directed to achromatic compound retarders that exhibit an achromatic composite optic axis orientation and/or an achromatic composite compound retardance at each of at least two composite retarder orientation states.

2. Background of the Related Art

Liquid crystal retarders are increasingly utilized within optical devices such as tunable filters, amplitude modulators and light shutters. Planar aligned smectic liquid crystal devices function as rotative waveplates wherein application of an electric field rotates the orientation of the optic axis but does not vary the birefringence. In contrast, homeotropically aligned smectic liquid crystals, homogeneous aligned nematic devices, and nematic .pi.-cells function as variable retarders, wherein application of an electric field varies the birefringence. Chromaticity is a property of birefringent elements, both passive and active liquid crystals. There are two main components to chromaticity: (1) dispersion, which is the change in the birefringence (.DELTA.n) with wavelength .lambda.; and (2) the explicit dependence of retardance on 1/.lambda. due to the wavelength dependent optical pathlength. Both components contribute to increased birefringence with decreased wavelength. A birefringent material having a particular retardance at a design wavelength has higher retardance at shorter wavelengths and lower retardance at longer wavelengths. Chromaticity places limitations on the spectral operating range of birefringent optical devices.

Chromaticity compensation for passive retarders was addressed by S. Pancharatnam, Proc. Indian Acad. Sci. A41, 137 [1955], and by A. M. Title, Appl. Opt. 14, 229 [1975], both of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. The wavelength dependence of passive birefringent materials can be reduced by replacing single retarders with compound retarders. The principle behind an achromatic compound retarder is that a stack of waveplates with proper retardance and relative orientation can be selected to produce a structure which behaves as a pure retarder with wavelength insensitive retardance. Pancharatnam showed, using the Poincare sphere and spherical trigonometry, that such a device can be implemented using a minimum of three films of identical retarder material. A Jones calculus analysis by Title (supra) verified the conditions imposed on the structure in order to achieve this result: (1) the requirement that the composite structure behave as a pure retarder (no rotation) forces the input and output retarders to be oriented parallel and to have equal retardance; and (2) first-order stability of the compound retarder optic axis and retardance with respect to wavelength requires that the central retarder be a half-wave plate. These conditions yield design equations that determine the retardance of the external elements and their orientation relative to the central retarder for a particular achromatic retardance. Because these design equations specify a unique orientation of the central retarder and a unique retardance for the external retarders, they have never been applied to active liquid crystal devices and the problem of active retarder chromaticity remains.

For the specific example of an achromatic half-wave retarder, the design equations dictate that the external retarders are also half-wave plates and that the orientation of the external retarders relative to the central retarder is .pi./3. By mechanically rotating the entire structure, wavelength insensitive polarization modulation is feasible. Furthermore, Title showed that the compound half-wave retarder can be halved, and one section mechanically rotated with respect to the other half to achieve achromatic variable retardance. Electromechanical rotation of such compound half-wave retarders has been used extensively to tune polarization interference filters for astronomical imaging spectrometers.

The primary application of ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) has been shutters and arrays of shutters. In the current art, on- and off-states of an FLC shutter (FIG. 1) are generated by reorienting the optic axis of FLC retarder 10 between .pi./4 and 0 with respect to bounding crossed or parallel polarizers 20 and 22. In the off-state, x-polarized light is not rotated by the liquid crystal cell and is blocked by the exit polarizer. In the on-state, the polarization is rotated 90.degree. and is therefore transmitted by the exit polarizer.

For maximum intensity modulation, the cell gap is selected to yield a half-wave retardance at the appropriate design wavelength. The on-state transmission of x-polarized light is theoretically unity at the design wavelength, neglecting absorption, reflection and scattering losses. At other wavelengths the transmission decreases. The ideal transmission function for an FLC shutter as in FIG. 1 is given by ##EQU1## where .delta. is the deviation from half-wave retardance with wavelength. This expression indicates a second-order dependence of transmission loss on .delta.. The off-state transmission is in principle zero, but in practice it is typically limited to less than 1000:1 due to depolarization by defects, the existence of multiple domains having different alignments, and fluctuations in the tilt-angle with temperature.

High transmission through FLC shutters over broad wavelength bands is feasible for devices of zero-order retardance, but it is ultimately limited by the inverse-wavelength dependence of retardation and the rather large birefringence dispersion of liquid crystal materials. For instance, a visible FLC shutter device that equalizes on-state loss at 400 nm and 700 nm requires a half-wave retarder centered at 480 nm. A zero-order FLC device with this retardance, using typical FLC birefringence data, has a thickness of roughly 1.3 microns. The transmission loss at the extreme wavelengths, due to the departure from half-wave retardance, is approximately 40%. This significantly limits the brightness of FLC displays and the operating band of FLC shutters and light modulators. In systems incorporating multiple FLC devices, such as tunable optical filters or field-sequential display color shutters, this source of light loss can have a devastating impact on overall throughput and spectral purity.

The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.

This invention provides achromatic compound retarders, achromatic polarization switches, and achromatic shutters using the achromatic compound retarders. It further provides achromatic variable retarders utilizing smectic liquid crystals. An achromatic shutter according to this invention is demonstrated which provides excellent on-state transmission over the entire visible, .gtoreq.94% from 400 nm to 700 nm after normalization for polarizer loss, and high contrast, 1000:1 from 450 nm to 650 nm.

One embodiment of the achromatic compound retarder of this invention comprises a central rotatable smectic liquid crystal half-wave retarder and two external passive retarders positioned in series with and on either side of the liquid crystal retarder. The external retarders are equal in retardance and oriented parallel to each other. Design equations determine the retardance of the external elements and their orientation relative to the central retarder to obtain a particular retardance for the compound structure. A reflective version of the achromatic compound retarder described above is constructed with a smectic liquid crystal quarter-wave retarder positioned between a single passive retarder and a reflector.

In the achromatic compound retarders of this invention there is, in general, an orientation of the central retarder for which the structure has maximum achromaticity in both orientation and retardance. Important aspects of this invention are the discoveries that (1) the composite retardance at the design wavelength does not change when the optic axis orientation of the central retarder is changed and (2) there are optic axis orientations of the central retarder for which the optic axis orientation of the compound retarder is stable (achromatic) even though the composite retardance is not achromatic.

The central retarder may comprise a liquid crystal retarder, as described above. In the case of a smectic liquid crystal cell, application of an electric field rotates the optic axis between two or more orientations. One of the orientations provides maximum achromaticity of the compound retardance. As discussed above, there is also at least one other optic axis orientation for which the optic axis of the compound retarder is achromatic, even though the composite retardance is not. Furthermore, the composite retardance at the design wavelength does not change when the optic axis orientation of the smectic liquid crystal cell is changed.

The central retarder may also comprise a spatially switched planar-aligned passive retarder, in which the orientation of the optic axis varies as a function of position on the spatially switched passive retarder. The spatially switched passive retarder has at least two optic axis orientations states, with one of the orientations causing the retardance of the compound retarder to be substantially achromatic, and the second orientation causing the optic axis orientation of the compound retarder to be substantially achromatic, even though the composite retardance may not be.

The achromatic properties discussed above are utilized in the achromatic polarization switch of this invention, comprising a linear polarizer and the compound achromatic retarder, and in the achromatic shutter of this invention, comprising the compound achromatic retarder positioned between a pair of polarizers. In one optic axis orientation state of the central retarder (the "on-state") the compound retarder is achromatic and in a second optic axis orientation state of the central retarder (the "off-state") the compound retarder is oriented parallel to one polarizer and the light therefore does not "see" the compound retarder. In the off-state, fixed retardance with wavelength is therefore not necessary. Providing achromatic orientation of the compound retarder in the off-state yields high contrast shutters. Reflection-mode shutters are further provided in this invention.

In alternative liquid crystal compound retarder embodiments, the rotatable smectic liquid crystal half-wave retarder is replaced by first and second liquid crystal variable birefringence retarders. The first and second variable birefringence retarders have first and second fixed optic axis orientations, respectively, and retardances which can be switched between zero and half-wave. In operation, when one retarder is switched to zero retardance, the other is switched to half-wave, and vice-versa, so that the composite retardance of the pair is a half-wave retardance with orientation switchable between the first and second optic axis orientations.

The achromatic variable retardance smectic liquid crystal compound retarder of this invention comprises an active section rotatable with respect to a passive section. The active section comprises two liquid crystal retarders: a half-wave plate and a quarter-wave plate oriented at angles .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 +.pi./3, respectively, where the angle .alpha..sub.2 is electronically switchable. The passive section comprises two retarders: a quarter-wave plate and a half-wave plate oriented at angles .alpha..sub.1 and .alpha..sub.1 +.pi./3, respectively, where the angle .alpha. is fixed. The quarter-wave plates are positioned between the half-wave plates. The composite retardance of the compound structure is 2(.pi./2-.alpha..sub.2 +.alpha..sub.1). To vary the retardance, the liquid crystal retarders in the active section are both rotated.

The planar-aligned smectic liquid crystal cells of this invention have continuously or discretely electronically rotatable optic axes. The smectic liquid crystal cells can utilize SmC* and SmA* liquid crystals, as well as distorted helix ferroelectric (DHF), antiferroelectric, and achiral ferroelectric liquid crystals. The variable birefringence liquid crystal cells of this invention can include homogeneously aligned nematic liquid crystals, .pi.-cells, and homeotropically aligned smectic liquid crystal cells.

The present invention may be achieved in whole or in part by an achromatic compound retarder that exhibits a compound retardance and a compound optic axis, comprising: (1) a first passive retarder unit having a predetermined retardance at a design wavelength, and having a predetermined optic axis orientation; (2) a second passive retarder unit having the same retardance as the first passive retarder unit at the design wavelength, and having substantially the same optic axis orientation as the first passive retarder unit; and (3) a central retarder unit positioned between the first and second retarder units, the central retarder unit having a retardance .pi. at the design wavelength, and having an optic axis orientation that varies as a function of position on the central retarder unit, wherein the optic axis orientation varies between at least a first orientation state, in which the compound retardance is substantially achromatic, and a second orientation state.

The present invention may also be achieved in whole or in part by a reflection mode achromatic compound retarder, comprising: (1) a first passive retarder unit having a predetermined retardance at a design wavelength, and having a predetermined optic axis orientation; (2) a reflector; and (3) a spatially switched retarder unit positioned between the first retarder unit and the reflector, the spatially switched retarder unit having a retardance .pi./2 at the design wavelength, and having an optic axis orientation that varies as a function of position on the central retarder unit, wherein the optic axis orientation varies between at least a first orientation state, in which the compound retardance is substantially achromatic, and a second orientation state.

The present invention may also be achieved in whole or in part by an achromatic compound retarder that exhibits a composite optic axis orientation and a composite retardance, comprising: (1) a first passive retarder unit having a predetermined retardance at a design wavelength, and having a predetermined optic axis orientation; (2) a second passive retarder unit having the same retardance as the first passive retarder unit at the design wavelength, and having substantially the same optic axis orientation as the first passive retarder unit; and (3)a central retarder unit positioned between the first and second retarder units, the central retarder unit having a retardance .pi. at the design wavelength, and having an optic axis orientation that switches between at least two orientation states as a function of position on the central retarder unit, wherein the composite optic axis orientation and/or the composite retardance is substantially achromatic at two orientation states of the central retarder unit.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:

FIG. 1 is a light shutter comprising a ferroelectric liquid crystal between crossed polarizers;

FIG. 2(a) illustrates a first embodiment of an achromatic compound retarder, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2(b) illustrates a second embodiment of an achromatic compound retarder, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2(c) illustrates a third embodiment of an achromatic compound retarder, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3(a) is a reflective achromatic compound retarder, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3(b) illustrates a second embodiment of a reflective achromatic compound retarder, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates an achromatic shutter utilizing the achromatic compound retarder of the present invention;

FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are plots showing the calculated on- and off-state transmission spectra of crossed polarizer shutters having (a) the achromatic compound retarder of the present invention, and (b) a single retarder;

FIGS. 5(c) and 5(d) are plots showing the calculated on- and off-state transmission spectra of parallel polarizer shutters having (c) the achromatic compound retarder of the present invention, and (d) a single retarder;

FIG. 6 is a plot showing measured on-state transmission spectra of (a) a compound-retarder achromatic shutter, in accordance with the present invention, and (b) a single-retarder shutter;

FIG. 7 is the measured off-state transmission spectrum of a compound-retarder achromatic shutter, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a plot showing the calculated on-state transmission, as a function of the deviation from half-wave retardance .delta., of (a) a compound-retarder achromatic shutter, in accordance with the present invention, and (b) a single-retarder shutter;

FIG. 9 is a plot showing the calculated off-state transmission, as function of .delta., of a compound-retarder achromatic shutter, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a plot showing the calculated contrast ratio, of a function of .delta., of a compound-retarder achromatic shutter, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11(a) is a plot showing the calculated on-state transmission spectra of an achromatic shutter utilizing a compound quarter-wave retarder, in accordance with the present invention;.

FIG. 11(b) is a plot showing the calculated off-state transmission spectra of an achromatic shutter utilizing a compound quarter-wave retarder, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12(a) shows a multiple-pixel reflection-mode achromatic shutter having parallel polarizers, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12(b) shows a multiple-pixel reflection-mode achromatic shutter having crossed polarizers, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is multiple-pixel transmission-mode achromatic shutter, in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 14 is a compound achromatic variable retarder comprising a pair of liquid crystal retarders and a pair of passive retarders, in accordance with the present invention.

The elements in the devices of this invention are optically coupled in series. The orientation of a polarizer refers to the orientation of the transmitting axis, and the orientation of a birefringent element refers to the orientation of the principal optic axis of that element. Orientations are herein defined with respect to an arbitrary axis in a plane perpendicular to the light propagation axis z. This arbitrary axis is labeled the "x" axis in the figures. In the illustrations of birefringent elements, the orientation is shown by arrow-headed lines and the retardance is labeled on the side of the element. When the retardance is switchable between two values, the values are both labeled on the side and are separated by a comma. The retardance refers to the retardance at a design wavelength. Note that a .pi. retardance is equal to a half-wave (.lambda./2) retardance.

The term fixed retarder refers to a birefringent element wherein the orientation and retardance can not be electronically modulated. The term active retarder refers to a birefringent element wherein the orientation and/or the retardance can be electronically modulated. Rotatable liquid crystal retarders of this invention have electronically rotatable orientation and fixed retardance at the design wavelength. Liquid crystal variable retarders or, equivalently, liquid crystal variable birefringence retarders have electronically variable retardance (birefringence) and fixed orientation. The term compound retarder is used for a group of two or more retarders which function as a single retarder. The composite retardance of a compound retarder is characterized by an orientation and a retardance.

A spatially switched retarder refers to an active or passive retarder in which the orientation and/or the retardance varies as a function of position on the retarder.

The terms design wavelength and design frequency (.upsilon..sub.o) refer to the wavelength and frequency at which the individual retarders within the compound retarder provide the specified retardance. The term achromatic retarder refers to a retarder with minimal first-order dependence of both the retardance and the orientation on the deviation of the incident light from the design frequency (.DELTA..upsilon./.upsilon..sub.o). The term achromatic orientation refers to an orientation of the optic axis with minimal first-order dependence on the deviation of the incident light from the design frequency.

A first embodiment of the achromatic compound retarder of this invention (FIG. 2a) comprises planar-aligned smectic liquid crystal retarder 30 having an orientation which is electronically rotatable between angles .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 '. These orientations are herein termed the on-state and the off-state, respectively. Retarder 30 provides a half-wave retardance (.GAMMA..sub.2.sup.0 =.pi.) at the design wavelength. Outer retarders 40 and 42, with orientation (and retardance .GAMMA..sub.1.sup.0 at the design wavelength, are positioned on either side of central retarder 30. In an alternative embodiment, the outer retarders 40 and 42 are crossed instead of parallel. In this application the design equations are derived for the case of parallel retarders. Analogous equations can be derived for crossed retarders.

In this embodiment, the central retarder is an FLC, but it can be any material with an electronically rotatable optic axis, including planar aligned SmC* and SmA* liquid crystals, as well as distorted helix ferroelectric (DHF), antiferroelectric, and achiral ferroelectric liquid crystals. The retarder switches between at least two orientations, .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 '. It can, depending on the liquid crystal employed and the electric field applied, rotate continuously between a range of orientations including .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 ', switch between bistable states .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 ', or be switched between two or more discreet but not necessarily stable orientations.

In a second embodiment of the achromatic compound retarder (FIG. 2(b)), rotatable retarder 30 is replaced by a spatially switched retarder 100. The spatially switched retarder 100 is prefereably a planar-aligned passive retarder with an optic axis orientation that varies as a function of position on the spatially switched retarder 100. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2(b), the spatially switched retarder 100 has a fixed optic axis orientation .alpha..sub.2 in one portion 100a of the retarder 100, and an optic axis orientation .alpha..sub.2 ' in a second portion 100b of the spatially switched retarder 100. The retardance of the spatially switched retarder 100 at the design wavelength is preferably fixed and the same in both the first and second retarder portions 100a and 100b.

Similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2(a), the orientations .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 ' are termed the on-state and the off-state, respectively. The spatially switched retarder 100 preferably provides a half-wave retardance (.GAMMA..sub.2.sup.0 =.pi.) at the design wavelength in both the first portion 100a and the second portion 100b. The spatially switched retarder 100 is divided into at least two portions 100a and 100b, with respective optic axis orientations .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 '. However, the spatially switched retarder 100 can be divided into additional portions that exhibit other optic axis orientations.

The spatially switched retarder 100 can be any birefringent material. Suitable materials include crystalline materials, such as mica or quartz, stretched polymeric films, such as mylar or polycarbonates, and polymer liquid crystal films.

In a third embodiment of the achromatic compound retarder (FIG. 2(c)), rotatable retarder 30 is replaced by variable retarders 31 and 33 having fixed orientations of .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 ', respectively. The retardance of 31 and 33 can be switched between zero and half-wave. The retardances are synchronously switched which, as used herein, means that when one has zero retardance the other has half-wave retardance and vice-versa. Thus the composite retardance of 31 and 33 is always a half-wave and the composite orientation is switchable between .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 '.

Liquid crystal variable retarders 31 and 33 can include, but are not limited to, homogeneously aligned nematic cells, nematic .pi.-cells, and homeotropically aligned smectic liquid crystal retarders. As is known in the art, homogeneously aligned nematic cells and nematic .pi.-cells are sometimes incapable of being electrically driven to zero retardance. In this case, the liquid crystal cell can be combined ("shimmed") with a passive retarder to compensate for the residual retardance. The passive retarder is oriented orthogonal to the liquid crystal retarder if the birefringence has the same sign and parallel if the birefringence has opposite sign. In the present invention, variable retarders 31 and 33 optionally include passive retarders to compensate for non-zero residual retardance.

This invention is described herein with the rotatable liquid crystal retarder (FIG. 2(a)) as the representative species of FIGS. 2(a)-2(c). It is to be understood that in all embodiments of the present invention that utilize a tunable retarder, a liquid crystal rotatable retarder can, in the manner of FIG. 2(c), be replaced by a pair of liquid crystal variable retarders. The species of FIG. 2(a) is preferred over the species of FIG. 2(c) for several reasons. The construction is simpler because it uses a single liquid crystal cell instead of two active cells. In addition, the switching speed of smectic liquid crystals is orders of magnitude faster than nematics. Finally, the field of view is greater.

The passive outer retarders can be any birefringent material. As discussed above, in connection with the spatially switched retarder, suitable materials include crystalline materials, such as mica or quartz, stretched polymeric films, such as mylar or polycarbonates, and polymer liquid crystal films. In a preferred embodiment, the dispersion of the passive outer retarders is approximately matched to the dispersion of the central retarder. Mylar, for example, has a similar dispersion to some FLCs.

The achromatic compound retarder of this invention is designed to be achromatic in the on-state when the central retarder is oriented at .alpha..sub.2. For achromaticity of the orientation and retardance, one solution for the relative orientations of the retarders is: ##EQU2## where .DELTA.=.alpha..sub.2 -.alpha..sub.1. In addition there are isolated orientations for specific design frequencies that also yield achromatic orientation and retardance. The retardance, .GAMMA., of the compound retarder is obtained from ##EQU3## The orientation, .OMEGA.+.alpha..sub.1, of the compound retarder is obtained from ##EQU4## where .OMEGA. is the orientation of the compound retarder with respect to the orientation of the outside passive retarders.

Based on the above design equations, the retardance of the outer retarders and the relative orientations of the retarders can be chosen to provide the desired retardance of the compound retarder and to ensure achromaticity. For example, for an achromatic compound half-wave retarder (.GAMMA.=.pi.), Eq. 3 provides the solution .GAMMA..sub.1.sup.0 =.pi., and Eq. 2 provides the relative orientation of the retarders as .DELTA.=60.degree.. Eq. 4 gives the relative orientation of the compound retarder as .OMEGA.=30.degree.. Therefore, to obtain an orientation of .OMEGA.+.alpha..sub.1 =45.degree. for the compound half-wave retarder, the outer retarders are oriented at .alpha..sub.1 =15.degree.. Since .DELTA.=60.degree., the orientation of the central retarder must then be .alpha..sub.2 =75.degree.. Similarly, for an achromatic compound quarter-wave retarder (.GAMMA.=.pi./2), the equations yield .GAMMA..sub.1.sup.0 =115.degree., .DELTA.=71.degree., and .OMEGA.=31.degree.. Thus, for an orientation of .OMEGA.+.alpha..sub.1 =45.degree., the outer retarders are oriented at .alpha..sub.1 =14.degree. and the central retarder is at .alpha..sub.2 =85.degree..

In the achromatic compound retarder of FIG. 2(a), the liquid crystal central retarder has an optic axis rotatable between .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 '. When the liquid crystal retarder is at .alpha..sub.2 ', the orientation relative to the outer passive retarders is .DELTA.'=.alpha..sub.2 '-.alpha..sub.1 and the orientation of the compound retarder relative to the outer retarders is .OMEGA.'. Since Eq. 2 gives a unique solution for the absolute value of .DELTA., at which the compound retarder is achromatic, it teaches against changing the orientation of the central retarder with respect to the outer retarders. An aspect of the present invention is the discovery that (1) at orientations .alpha..sub.2 ' of the central retarder which do not satisfy Eq. 2, the composite retardance .GAMMA. is nevertheless unchanged at the design wavelength and (2) there are orientations .alpha..sub.2 ' of the central retarder for which, even though the composite retarder is not achromatic, the optic axis orientation is stable with respect to wavelength.

A further aspect of this invention is the realization that in many devices the composite retardance does not affect device output in certain switching states and, therefore, it need not be achromatic in those states. In particular, when the compound retarder is oriented parallel to a polarizer, the polarized light is not modulated by the retarder and hence any chromaticity of the retardance is unimportant. Only stability of the orientation of the optic axis is required so that the orientation remains parallel to the polarizer throughout the operating wavelength range. These properties lead to numerous useful devices utilizing the compound retarder with a rotatable or spatially switched central retarder.

In a preferred embodiment of the achromatic compound retarder, the optic axis orientation of the compound retarder is achromatic when the central retarder is oriented at .alpha..sub.2 '. The first order term of the frequency dependence of the orientation of the retardation axis is ##EQU5## where .epsilon. is the relative frequency difference .DELTA..upsilon./.upsilon..sub.0. Note that in the on-state, wherein Eq. 2 is satisfied, Eq. 5 gives .differential..OMEGA./.differential..epsilon.=0. This confirms that the on-state orientation is achromatic. For off-state orientations, .alpha..sub.2 ', Eq. 5 can be used to determine the magnitude of .differential..OMEGA.'/.differential..epsilon.. For the special case of an achromatic half-wave retarder, .GAMMA..sub.1.sup.0 =.pi., and sin .GAMMA..sub.1.sup.0 =0, so .differential..OMEGA./.differential..epsilon.=0 for all values of .alpha..sub.2 ', i.e., the optic axis orientation is achromatic at all orientations.

Because of the symmetry of the achromatic retarder, it can be implemented in reflection-mode, as illustrated in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b). FIG. 3(a) is the reflection-mode embodiment of the retarder of FIG. 2(a), and utilizes a single passive retarder 40, with retardance .GAMMA..sub.1.sup.0 and orientation .alpha..sub.1, liquid crystal quarter-wave retarder 32, with orientation switchable between .alpha..sub.2 and .alpha..sub.2 ', and reflector 50. Because the reflector 50 creates a second pass through the liquid crystal quarter-wave retarder 32, the net retardance of the liquid crystal quarter-wave retarder 32 is a half wave. A forward and return pass through the reflection-mode device is equivalent to a single pass through the compound retarder of FIG. 2a. The reflection-mode embodiment of the retarder of FIG. 2(c) (not shown) uses a pair of variable retarders switchable between zero and quarter-wave retardance in lieu of rotatable quarter-wave retarder 32 in FIG. 3(a). FIG. 3(b) illustrates a reflection mode embodiment of the retarder of FIG. 2(b), and utilizes a spatially switched quarter-wave retarder 110, with retarder portions 110a and 110b, in lieu of the liquid crystal quarter-wave retarder 32 of FIG. 3(a).

The reflector in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) has R=1 but it can also have R<1. The reflector can transmit an optical signal for addressing the liquid crystal retarder of FIG. 3(a).

This invention further includes devices employing the achromatic compound retarders described above. The polarization switch of this invention comprises a linear polarizer in combination with the achromatic compound retarder. The polarizer can be neutral with wavelength or can be a pleochroic polarizer. Light is linearly polarized by the polarizer and the polarization is modulated by the achromatic compound retarder. For the case of a half-wave achromatic compound retarder, the polarization remains linear and the orientation is rotated. Other achromatic compound retarder embodiments produce elliptically polarized light. The polarization switch functions as a polarization receiver when light is incident directly on the achromatic compound retarder rather than on the polarizer.

In a preferred embodiment, the achromatic compound retarder is achromatic in the on-state (.alpha..sub.2) and is oriented parallel to the polarizer in the off-state (.alpha..sub.2 ') With this preferred off-state orientation, achromaticity of the composite retardance is not needed because, with the orientation of the achromatic compound retarder parallel to the polarizer, the polarized light does not "see" the achromatic compound retarder and is not modulated by it. In a more preferred embodiment, the orientation of the achromatic compound retarder is stable in the off-state, i.e., .differential..OMEGA.'/.differential..epsilon. is small. In the most preferred embodiment, the orientation of the achromatic compound retarder is achromatic, i.e., .differential..OMEGA.'/.differential..epsilon. is zero.

A particularly useful embodiment of the polarization switch of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 4. The polarization switch 110 comprises polarizer 20, outer retarders 40 and 42, and liquid crystal retarder 30. Outer retarders 40 and 42 are half-wave retarders (.GAMMA..sub.1 -.pi.) oriented at .alpha..sub.1 =.pi./12. The liquid crystal retarder 30 is a half-wave retarder, and is switchable between on- and off-state orientations of .alpha..sub.2 =5.pi./12 and .alpha..sub. '=8.pi./12, respectively. This gives a compound retardance .GAMMA.=.lambda./2 and orientations .OMEGA.+.alpha..sub.1 =.pi./4 and .OMEGA.'+.alpha..sub.1 =0. In the off-state, light remains polarized along the x-axis and in the on-state, light is oriented parallel to the y-axis. Because the achromatic compound half-wave retarder has an achromatic orientation for all values of .alpha..sub.2 ', it can be used to achromatically rotate the polarization between the input polarization state and any other linear polarization state.

The polarization switch 110 can be used in combination with any polarization sensitive element. In combination with an exit polarizer 22 it forms an achromatic shutter, as shown in FIG. 4. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the polarizers 20 and 22 are crossed, but they can alternatively be parallel. The shutter shown in FIG. 4 is analogous to the shutter shown FIG. 1 in that the achromatic compound retarder has a half-wave retardance, and on- and off-state composite retarder orientations of .pi./4 and 0, respectively. Like the shutter of FIG. 1, the shutter of FIG. 4 requires only one active retarder. One advantage is that the shutter of the present invention is achromatic.

A mathematical analysis of the achromatic compound half-wave retarder and the achromatic shutter demonstrates the wavelength stability of the devices of this invention. The Jones matrix for the compound half-wave retarder is the product of the matrices representing the three linear retarders. The Jones matrix that propagates the complex Cartesian field amplitude is given by chain multiplying the matrices representing the individual linear retarders. For the on- and off-states these are given, respectively, by the equations

and

where the general matrix for a linear retarder with retardation .GAMMA. and orientation .alpha. is given by ##EQU6## and the absolute phase of each retarder is omitted. For the present analysis, each retarder is assumed identical in material and retardance, with half-wave retardation at a specific design wavelength. This wavelength is preferably selected to provide optimum peak transmission and contrast over the desired operating wavelength band. The retardance is represented here by the equation .GAMMA.=(.pi.+.delta.), where .delta. is the wavelength dependent departure from the half-wave retardance. For the present work, the dispersion is modeled using a simple equation for birefringence dispersion that is suitable for both FLC and the polymer retarders used (Wu, S. T., Phys. Rev. (1986) A33:1270). Using a fit to experimental FLC and polymer spectrometer data, a resonance wavelength was selected that suitably models the dispersion of each material.

Substituting the three matrices into Eqs. 6 and 7 produces on- and off-state matrices that can be written in the general form ##EQU7## where .vertline.t.sub.ij .vertline. denotes the magnitude and .theta. the phase of the complex t.sub.ij matrix components of the compound structure. The specific elements for the (achromatic) on-state are given by: ##EQU8## The components for the off-state are given by: ##EQU9##

In the achromatic shutter device, the achromatic compound retarder is placed between crossed polarizers. The Jones vector for the transmitted field amplitude is given by the matrix equation

The polarizers are taken to be ideal ##EQU10## and the input field spectral density, E.sub.o (.lambda.), is taken to be x polarized, with unity amplitude. Under these conditions, the Jones vector for the transmitted field is the off-diagonal component of W.sub.c. The y component of the output Jones vector gives the field transmittance of the structure.

Since the components of W.sub.c are given above in terms of their magnitudes, the intensity transmission of the on- and off-states of the achromatic compound retarder are given by simply squaring the off-diagonal terms of Eqs. 11 and 14, or T=.vertline.t.sub.12 .vertline..sup.2. This gives the two intensity transmission functions of the shutter ##EQU11##

The above outputs illustrate the desirable result that the second-order dependence of transmitted intensity on .delta. vanishes. The loss in transmission in the on-state and the leakage in the off-state have at most a fourth-order dependence on .delta..

Like a simple FLC shutter, the mechanism for modulating polarization with the smectic liquid crystal compound retarder is by rotating the orientation of the compound retarder rather than by varying the birefringence. This can clearly be seen by considering wavelength bands sufficiently narrow that the second (and higher) order terms of the Jones matrices in .delta. can be neglected. In this instance the matrices representing on- and off-states reduce respectively to ##EQU12##

The on-state matrix reduces, to this degree of approximation, to an ideal achromatic half-wave retarder oriented at .pi./4, while the off-state matrix reduces to an ideal linear retarder oriented at 0, with retardation 2.theta.. Since only an off-diagonal component is utilized in a shutter implementation, the output is ideal to this degree of approximation.

The elimination of the second-order term is achieved using a 3-element structure that achieves ideal half-wave retardation at two wavelengths, rather than a single wavelength for the simple FLC shutter. This behavior can be seen by slightly varying the relative orientation of the central and outer retarders in the on-state. The two ideal transmission states, as well as the two null states, can be further separated in this way, increasing the operating band but producing a more pronounced dip (leakage) between maxima (nulls).

Based on the above equations, comparisons can be drawn between the achromatic compound retarder shutter and the conventional FLC shutter. A 10% loss in transmission for a conventional shutter occurs for a retardation deviation of .delta.=37.degree., while the same loss for the achromatic shutter occurs for .delta.=72.degree.. This is very nearly a factor of two increase in .delta.. FIG. 5(a) shows a transmisstion spectrum, created using a computer model for the structures, for an achromatic shutter optimized for visible operation (400-700 nm). The shutter has a 90% transmission bandwidth of 335 nm (409-744 nm). FIG. 5(b) shows the transmission spectrum for a conventional shutter with a design wavelength of 480 nm. The conventional shutter has a 90% bandwidth of 122 nm (433-555 nm). The use of an achromatic compound retarder in the shutter results in a factor of 3.75 increase in bandwidth. Calculated spectra for parallel polarizer shutters with a compound retarder, shown in FIG. 5(c), and a single retarder, shown in FIG. 5(d), show the tremendous improvement in the off-state provided by the achromatic compound retarder of this invention.

The increase in operating bandwidth is accompanied by a theoretical loss in contrast ratio. The first-order orientation stability requirement of the optic axis allows off-state leakage due to the presence of higher order terms. In practice, little if any actual sacrifice is observed when incorporating the achromatic compound retarder. An FLC optimized for visible operation (half-wave retardance at 480 nm) gives a maximum departure in retardance of .delta.=75.degree.. Using this value, and assuming that the outer retarders have dispersion identical to the FLC, a worst-case contrast ratio of 667:1 is found for operation in the 400-700 nm band. For most of this band, theory predicts contrast far in excess of 1000:1.

The conventional and the achromatic shutters were experimentally demonstrated to verify the performance predicted by computer modeling. The FLC device was fabricated using ZLI-3654 material from E-Merck. The ITO coated substrates were spin coated with nylon 6/6 and were rubbed unidirectionally after annealing. Spacers with a diameter of 1.5 microns were dispersed uniformly over the surface of one substrate and UV cure adhesive was deposited on the inner surface of the other substrate. The substrates were gapped by applying a uniform pressure with a vacuum bag and subsequently UV cured. The FLC material was filled under capillary action in the isotropic phase and slowly cooled into the C* phase. After cooling, the leads were attached to the ITO and the device was edge-sealed. The FLC cell had a half-wave retardance at 520 nm.

A conventional shutter, such as the one shown in FIG. 1, was formed by placing the FLC cell with the optic axis oriented at 45.degree. between parallel polarizers. Polaroid HN22 polarizers were used due to their high contrast throughout the visible wavelength range. The structure was probed by illuminating it with a 400 W Xenon arc lamp, and the transmitted light was analyzed using a SPEX 0.5 m grating spectrometer system. The on-state transmission of the conventional shutter is shown in plot (b) of FIG. 6.

The achromatic shutter was assembled using the same FLC device positioned between two Nitto NRF polycarbonate retarders having half-wave retardance at 520 nm. Since the FLC device is not dispersion matched to the polymer film, a loss in contrast ratio is anticipated for the achromatic compound retarder due to increased off-state leakage. The polycarbonate films were oriented at 15.degree. with respect to the input polarizer, which was crossed with the exit polarizer. The FLC was switched between orientations of 5.pi./12 and 8.pi./12. The on-state spectra shown in plot (b) of FIG. 6, and the off-state spectra, shown in FIG. 7, were measured. Both of these spectra were appropriately normalized to remove leakage due to non-ideal polarizers, depolarization by the retarders, and the polarization dependence of the lamp spectrum.

The measured transmission spectra indicate excellent agreement with the model results. FIG. 6 is striking evidence of the increased transmission over the visible spectrum provided by the achromatic shutter of this invention.

The model was further used to calculate the on-state transmission of a compound-retarder achromatic shutter (Eq. 19) and a single retarder shutter (Eq. 1) as a function of the deviation from half-wave retardance .delta.. The calculated transmission spectra are shown in FIG. 8. FIG. 9 is the calculated off-state transmission of a compound-retarder shutter as a function of .delta., and FIG. 10 is the calculated contrast ratio.

Using the achromatic shutter at slightly longer center wavelengths, where FLC dispersion is greatly reduced, enormous operating bands are feasible. For instance, the calculated 95% transmission bandwidth of a shutter centered at 600 nm is approximately 400 nm (480 nm-880 nm), while that of a simple FLC shutter is only 150 nm (540 nm-690 nm).

The achromatic polarization switches and shutters of this invention can also utilize compound retarders with composite retardances other than half-wave. For example, a polarization switch can be fabricated using a linear polarizer and an achromatic compound quarter-wave retarder. In one embodiment, the orientation of the achromatic compound retarder switches between .pi./4 and 0 with respect to the input polarizer, i.e. .OMEGA.+.alpha..sub.1 =45.degree. and .OMEGA.'+.alpha..sub.1 =0.degree.. To achieve this, Eqs. 2-4 give .GAMMA..sub.1.sup.0 =115.degree., .DELTA.=71.degree., .alpha..sub.1 =14.degree. and .alpha..sub.2 =85.degree. in the on-state, and in the off-state .DELTA.'=96.degree., and .alpha..sub.2 '=111.degree.. In the on-state, the compound quarter-wave retarder switches the linear light to circularly polarized light, and in the off-state the linear polarization is preserved. Addition of a second polarizer oriented perpendicular to the first polarizer results in a shutter which switches between 50% transmission in the on-state and zero transmission in the off-state. The on-state transmission spectrum, shown in FIG. 11(a), and the off-state transmission spectrum, shown in FIG. 11(b), were calculated assuming no dispersion. Note that the off-state transmission spectrum is shown on a logarithmic scale in FIG. 11(b).

The achromatic compound retarder, polarization switch and shutter of this invention have been illustrated with FLCs having two optic axis orientations. They can alternatively utilize more than two optic axis orientations and can have a continuously tunable optic axis.

The achromatic shutter of this invention can be utilized in applications such as CCD cameras, eye protection systems, glasses in virtual reality systems, three-color shutters in field-sequential displays, beamsteerers, diffractive optics and for increasing the brightness of LC flat-panel displays.

For many display applications the achromatic shutter can be used in a multiple-pixel array, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13. In these figures, optical elements are shown in cross section and are represented by rectangular boxes. The retardance of birefringent elements is listed at the top of the respective box, and the orientation is listed at the bottom. When elements can rotate between two or more orientations, both orientations are listed in the box and are separated by a comma.

Reflection-mode embodiments are shown in FIGS. 12(a) and 12(b). FLC retarder 32 has a quarter-wave retardance at the design wavelength and the optic axis is rotatable between 5.pi./12 and 8.pi./12. The FLC cell is formed with substrates 90 and 92. Voltages are applied to the FLC using transparent electrode 95 and pixellated mirror electrodes 52. Each pixel can be separately addressed to provide the desired display pattern. The compound retarder is formed by the FLC in combination with passive half-wave retarder 40, oriented at .pi./12.

In FIG. 12(a) the shutter array uses linear polarizer 20 oriented at 0.degree.. Since, in reflection-mode, polarizer 20 is both the input and output polarizer, this is a parallel polarizer embodiment. The array is illuminated by ambient light 100 and the viewer is represented by an eye. In FIG. 12(b), the array uses polarizing beam splitter 25 to create a crossed polarizer embodiment. White light 101 illuminates the array and modulated gray light is output to the viewer.

A transmission-mode array is illustrated in FIG. 13. In this embodiment, the FLC has a half-wave retardance. Voltages are applied using transparent electrode 95 and pixellated transparent electrode 96. The compound retarder is formed by the FLC retarder in combination with outer retarders 40 and 42. The shutter is formed by polarizers 20 and 22 which, in this embodiment, are crossed. The array is illuminated by backlight assembly 103, which can be collimated by lens 104. The display is viewed in transmission mode.

The achromatic compound retarder of this invention has been demonstrated within an achromatic shutter. In addition, it can be used in many other optical devices known in the art. In particular, it is suited to devices in which the retarder needs to be achromatic in only one orientation and in which slight achromaticity in other retarder orientations can be tolerated. Specific examples include polarization interference filters and dye-type color polarizing filters.

Numerous previous devices by the inventors can be improved by using the achromatic compound retarder of this invention. In the polarization interference filters of U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,132,826, 5,243,455 and 5,231,521, all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety, a smectic liquid crystal rotatable retarder and a passive birefringent element are positioned between a pair of polarizers. In a preferred embodiment, the birefringent element is oriented at .pi./4 with respect to a polarizer.

In the split-element polarization interference filters of U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,393, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, a center retarder unit and a pair of split-element retarder units are positioned between a pair of polarizers. The retarder units can include a rotatable liquid crystal retarder. The individual liquid crystal rotatable retarders of the above-mentioned polarization interference filters can be replaced with the achromatic compound retarders of the present invention.

The liquid crystal handedness switch and color filters described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,355, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, can also be improved by using the achromatic compound retarders of the present invention. The circular polarization handedness switch and the linear polarization switch comprise a linear polarizer and a rotatable liquid crystal retarder. The color filters use the polarization switch in combination with a color polarizer, such as a cholesteric circular polarizer or a pleochroic linear polarizer. The simple liquid crystal rotatable retarders described in the handedness switch patent can be replaced with the achromatic compound retarders of the present invention.

The achromatic compound retarder can also be used to improve other color filters known in the art, for example as described in Handschy et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,378, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. These color filters comprise a linear polarizer and a rotatable liquid crystal retarder. In some embodiments, they further comprise pleochroic polarizers, and in other embodiments they further comprise a second linear polarizer and a passive birefringent element. The simple liquid crystal rotatable retarder of the Handschy et al. invention can be replaced with the achromatic compound retarders of the present invention.

The color filters of this invention can be temporally multiplexed, wherein the output color is switched on a timescale which is rapid compared to a slow response time detector, such as the human eye. The achromatic compound retarder of FIG. 2a, employing a smectic liquid crystal cell, is particularly suited to this application.

The criterion for replacing a single retarder with the achromatic compound retarder of this invention is that the single retarder must be rotatable between two or more orientations of the optic axis. The achromatic compound retarder is especially suited for use in devices wherein it is positioned adjacent to a linear polarizer and wherein the orientation of the retarder is, in one of its switching states, parallel to the linear polarizer. The achromaticity of the compound retarder is particularly advantageous in color filtering devices because it can increase the throughput across the entire visible spectrum.

The achromatic compound retarder of this invention can also be used in optical devices to replace a pair of variable retarders in which the first and second variable retarders have first and second fixed orientations, and have retardances switchable between first and second levels, and wherein the retardances are synchronously switched between opposite levels. In addition, since the achromatic half-wave retarder can be used to rotate the orientation of linearly polarized light, it can replace twisted nematic cells in optical devices.

In addition to the achromatic compound retarder, this invention provides an achromatic variable retarder, illustrated in FIG. 14. An active section comprises smectic liquid crystal half-wave retarder 60, oriented at .alpha..sub.2, and smectic liquid crystal quarter-wave retarder 65, oriented at .alpha..sub.2 +/3. Angle .alpha..sub.2 of retarders 60 and 65 is electronically tuned, preferably synchronously. A passive section comprises passive quarter-wave retarder 75, oriented at .alpha..sub.1 +.pi./3, and passive half-wave retarder 70, oriented at .alpha..sub.1. Angle .alpha..sub.1 is fixed. The angle .alpha..sub.2 of the liquid crystal retarder orientation can be rotated discreetly or continuously to at least one other angle .alpha..sub.2 '. The retardance of the compound structure is 2(.pi./2-.alpha..sub.2 +.alpha..sub.1).

The foregoing embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures. For example, although quartz and mylar may not be structural equivalents in that quartz is a crystalline material, whereas mylar is a polymeric material, in the area of birefringent materials, quartz and mylar may be equivalent structures.