A reflective display device includes a layer of pigment material that is divided into a plurality of pixels, the pigment material in each pixel displaying information by reflecting light. The reflective display device further includes a light source embedded in the layer of a pigment material, wherein the light source emits light that is reflected by the pigment material.

The present invention describes a semiconductor interferometric device capable of modulating an electromagnetic wave by modulating the carrier concentration inside a semiconductor device. The variation of the carrier concentration within the device causes the variation of the physical properties inside the semiconductor material leading to a shift of the reflected and absorbed spectrums. One or more rays are generated within the device so as to operate the device through interference effects. The present invention may be utilized for an antenna or for beam steering purposes comprising an array of semiconductor interferometric reflecting devices. Furthermore the same principle could be utilized to generate tunable meta-surfaces, so as to modulate phase, amplitude or polarization of an incident electromagnetic wave.

The disclosure generally relates to image displays. Specifically, the application relates to an overlay that, among others, enhances the brightness in image displays with color filters. Much of the incoming light to a reflective image display having a color filter layer is absorbed by the color filter layer and is therefore lost. An overlay embodiment is disclosed herein that disperses and concentrates portions of the incoming light onto specific portions of the display. The amount of light absorbed by the color filter layer may be drastically reduced and instead transmitted through the color filter where the light may be reflected or absorbed by a light modulating layer. The disclosed embodiments increase the efficiency and reflectance of the display.

An optical system configured as part of optical metrology unit used to assess the operational status of a workpiece and, in a specific case, configured as an encoder head of a lithographic exposure tool. The optical system is devoid of a stand-alone optical corner-cubes and includes, instead, a single, imperfect or frustrated cuboid of optically-isotropic material that, in operation with the diffraction grating of the workpiece, simultaneously forms four interferometric signals for measuring x-, y, and z-positions of the workpiece grating relative to the optical system. Proposed system and method solve problems of (i) structural complexity of a conventional metrology unit for use in an exposure tool, (ii) burdensome alignment of the multitude of optical prisms in the process of forming such metrology unit, and (iii) cyclic non-linear errors associated with measurements involving conventional corner-cubes-based metrology units.

The brightness of a TIR-based display is enhanced with a registered reflective element by recycling and reflecting light that passes through the dark pupil region of each hemi-spherical protrusion in the hemi-spherical surface back to the viewer. A method to fabricate a brightness enhanced TIR display comprising an apertured membrane with a thin conductive reflective metal layer facing and registered with the pupils of the hemi-spherical surface.

Aspects of the disclosure include suppression of optical interference fringes in optical spectra via a modification to the refractive index of media that forms or is contained in one or more components of equipment utilized for optical spectroscopy. Such a modification can yield changes in the optical path of light propagating through at least one of the media, with the ensuing changes in the spectral structure of interference between light propagating through different optical paths. In certain embodiments, the refractive index of the media that forms or is contained in one or more components can be modified via application of a time-dependent stimulus to at least one of the one or more components. The applied stimulus can include pressure, mechanical strain or stress, temperature, a combination thereof, or the like.

Aspects of the disclosure include suppression of optical interference fringes in optical spectra via a modification to the refractive index of media that forms or is contained in one or more components of equipment utilized for optical spectroscopy. Such a modification can yield changes in the optical path of light propagating through at least one of the media, with the ensuing changes in the spectral structure of interference between light propagating through different optical paths. In certain embodiments, the refractive index of the media that forms or is contained in one or more components can be modified via application of a time-dependent stimulus to at least one of the one or more components. The applied stimulus can include pressure, mechanical strain or stress, temperature, a combination thereof, or the like.

A fast optical switch can be fabricated/constructed, when vanadium dioxide (VO.sub.2) ultra thin-film or a cluster of vanadium dioxide particles (less than 0.5 microns in diameter) embedded in an ultra thin-film of a polymeric material or in a mesh of metal nanowires is activated by either an electrical pulse (a voltage pulse or a current pulse) or a light pulse just to induce rapid insulator-to-metal phase transition (IMT) in vanadium dioxide ultra thin-film or vanadium dioxide particles embedded in an ultra thin-film of a polymeric material or in a mesh of metal nanowires. The applications of such a fast optical switch for an on-Demand optical add-drop subsystem, integrating with or without a wavelength converter are also described.

A display panel includes a plurality of sub-pixels. At least one sub-pixel of the plurality of sub-pixels includes a first electrode, a light modulation structure disposed on a side of the first electrode, and a second electrode disposed at a side of the light modulation structure away from the first electrode. The light modulation structure includes a refractive index adjustment layer, and a light modulation layer disposed between the refractive index adjustment layer and the first electrode. A refractive index of the refractive index adjustment layer is changed under action of an electric field between the first electrode and the second electrode. The light modulation layer is in contact with the refractive index adjustment layer, and at least a part of a surface of the light modulation layer that is in contact with the refractive index adjustment layer is a curved face.

A system and method are provided for forming energy filter layers or shutter components, including energy scattering layers that are actively electrically switchable. The energy filters or shutter components are operable between at least a first mode in which the layers, and thus the presentation of the shutter components, appear substantially transparent when viewed from an energy/light incident side, and a second mode in which the layers, and thus the presentation of the energy filters or shutter components, appear opaque to the incident energy impinging on the energy incident side. The differing modes are selectable by electrically energizing, differentially energizing and/or de-energizing electric fields in a vicinity of the energy scattering layers. Refractive indices of transparent particles, and the transparent matrices in which the particles are fixed, are tunable according to the applied electric fields. The energy scattering layers may conceal a sensor such as a camera or photovoltaic cell.