A waveguide configured for use with a near eye display (NED) device can include a light-transmissive substrate configured to propagate light rays through total internal reflection and a switchable diffractive optical element (DOE) on a surface of the substrate that is configured to input and/or output light rays to and/or from the substrate. According to some embodiments, the switchable DOE can include diffractive properties that vary across an area of the DOE. In some embodiments, the switchable DOE includes a surface relief diffraction grating (SRG) a surface of the substrate, a layer of liquid crystal material in contact with the SRG, a layer of conducting material in contact with the liquid crystal material configured to apply the voltage to the liquid crystal material, and a layer of insulating material over the layer of conducting material.

Diffraction grating-based backlighting having controlled diffractive coupling efficiency includes a light guide and a plurality of diffraction gratings at a surface of the light guide. The light guide is to guide light and the diffraction gratings are to couple out a portion of the guided light using diffractive coupling and to direct the coupled-out portion away from the light guide surface as a plurality of light beams at a principal angular direction. Diffraction gratings of the plurality include diffractive features having a diffractive feature modulation configured to selectively control a diffractive coupling efficiency of the diffraction gratings as a function of distance along the light guide surface.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a phase modulator, a lighting system, and a projector that allow for improving diffraction efficiency in a light phase modulation element. The phase modulator according to the present disclosure includes a light phase modulation element that has a plurality of pixels arranged with the pixel pitches p being different from each other to have a pixel structure suppressing occurrence of high-order diffraction light and that modulates a phase of light with respect to each of the pixels. Moreover, the phase modulator according to the present disclosure includes a capturing optical system that captures a plurality of fluxes of high-order diffraction light generated in each of the pixels.

This semiconductor laser device includes a semiconductor laser chip and a spatial light modulator SLM which is optically connected to the semiconductor laser chip. The semiconductor laser chip LDC includes an active layer 4, a pair of cladding layers 2 and 7 sandwiching the active layer 4, and a diffraction grating layer 6 which is optically connected to the active layer 4. The spatial light modulator SLM includes a common electrode 25, a plurality of pixel electrodes 21, and a liquid crystal layer LC arranged between the common electrode 25 and the pixel electrodes 21. A laser beam output in a thickness direction of the diffraction grating layer 6 is modulated and reflected by the spatial light modulator SLM and is output to the outside.

The present invention discloses a liquid crystal grating, a manufacturing method and a drive method thereof, and an optical phased array. In the liquid crystal grating, plurality of first electrodes are formed on a lower substrate with first gaps formed between adjacent first electrodes, second electrodes are further provided above the first gaps with second gaps formed between adjacent second electrodes, and an insulation layer is provided between the first electrodes and the second electrodes. When voltages are applied to the first electrodes and the second electrodes, continuously and smoothly changing electric field is generated inside the liquid crystal grating, and then phases of incident light may be controlled continuously and smoothly, which improves the ability of the liquid crystal grating to modulate light beam.

Examples are disclosed relating to reducing orders of diffraction patterns in phase modulating devices. An example phase modulating device includes a phase modulating layer having first and second opposing sides, a common electrode adjacent the first side of the phase modulating layer, a plurality of pixel electrodes adjacent the second side of the phase modulating layer, and blurring material disposed between the phase modulating layer and the pixel electrodes. In the example phase modulating device, the blurring material is configured to smooth phase transitions in the phase modulating layer between localized areas associated with the pixel electrodes, the pixel electrodes have a pixel pitch by which the pixel electrodes are distributed along the phase modulating layer, and the pixel electrodes are separated from one another by an inter-pixel gap, where the ratio of the inter-pixel gap to the pixel pitch is between 0.50 and 1.0.

According to one embodiment, a display device includes a first arrangement layer and a second arrangement layer. The first layer includes a first pixel, a second pixel, and a third pixel are arranged periodically in one direction. The second layer is opposed to the first layer, and the second layer includes a first element, a second element, and a third element which are arranged periodically to correspond to the first pixel, the second pixel, and the third pixel, respectively, and separate emission light to light of wavelength corresponding to a first color, light of wavelength corresponding to a second color, and light of wavelength corresponding to a third color to be emitted on the first pixel, the second pixel, and the third pixel, respectively.

A light field generator system including a leaky-mode SAW modulator is disclosed. The modulator incorporates at least one optical power component, such as a concave mirror or volume grating having a non-zero diopter rating. In some embodiments, the system incorporates the at least one optical power component by embedding the optical power component within a substrate of the SAW modulator and/or by placing the optical power component upon a surface of the SAW modulator.

Disclosed are a modulated terahertz (THz) signal deflector and a preparation method thereof. The modulated THz signal deflector includes: a first transparent substrate and a second transparent substrate that are oppositely disposed, a liquid crystal layer, a transparent electrode layer, and a photo-alignment layer, wherein the photo-alignment layer has a control graph in which a molecule director is periodically and gradiently distributed along a specific direction, and the control graph is configured to control a liquid crystal molecule director in the liquid crystal layer to be periodically and gradiently distributed along a specific direction to form a blazed-grating phase distribution based on a geometric phase, and deflect an incident circularly polarized THz signal to a specific angle. The deflector provided in the present disclosure can deflect a THz signal to a specific angle, and can switch signal deflection and non-deflection functions by powering up a transparent electrode.

A display panel includes: a first substrate and a second substrate; a liquid crystal layer located between the first substrate and the second substrate; located on a side of the first substrate proximate to the liquid crystal layer; and a light-shielding pattern located on a side of the second substrate proximate to the liquid crystal layer. The second substrate has a light-shielding region shielded by the light-shielding pattern and light-exiting regions not shielded by the light-shielding pattern. A pixel electrode in the pixel electrodes is configured to converge light entering the pixel electrode from the first substrate; and the pixel electrode is used to control a deflection state of a liquid crystal in the liquid crystal layer, so that light passing through the pixel electrode is incident to the light-shielding pattern and/or a corresponding light-exiting region.