Phase masks are used to eliminate the Fourier-plane hotspot that otherwise degrades holographic data storage
performance. In order to eliminate the cost, bulk, and precision alignment difficulties of inserting a discrete phase mask
into an optical system we have designed phase masks integrated directly into the structure of a spatial light modulator
used as the storage system's write head. A micron-thick ferroelectric liquid crystal film is confined between the surface
of a VLSI integrated circuit and a window containing planarized relief structures on its inward-facing surface. This
arrangement avoids depth-of-field problems encountered by designs that place the phase mask on the outer surface of the
window. Any of a variety of phase mask designs can be implemented in this fashion. An alternative architecture in
which pixel surfaces of the CMOS VLSI backplane are etched to differing heights is also investigated.
Phase masks are needed in Fourier-transform holographic data storage systems (HDS) to reduce the range of light intensities found in the Fourier plane. The range of light intensities must match the dynamic range of the holographic storage medium and of the full HDS system. Descriptions, mathematical models, and tests of a variety of phase mask types have been reported in the literature: pixelated phase masks, non-pixelated phase masks, and axicons. Lacking, however, has been a systematic way of comparing the relative merits of phase mask types in order to make sound choices. To address this problem, performance criteria are proposed for both the Fourier plane and for the output image plane (e.g. the margin by which 1’s can be distinguished from 0’s). The criteria are useful both for comparisons and for design optimization. A new numerical model has been developed enabling quantitative comparisons to be made between the predicted performance of the various phase mask types. The model reported here enables more extensive investigations than could be carried out with previously reported models, including investigation of systems in which multiple bits of data are encoded by each pixel using light intensity modulation. The viability of using non-pixelated phase masks integrated with spatial light modulators is also examined. The use of non-pixelated (continuous random) phase masks instead of the more common pixelated phase masks would eliminate the need for costly precision lateral alignment, and integration eliminates the need for precise positioning in an image plane. These advantages would enable smaller, cheaper, high performance HDS optical systems.
KEYWORDS: Spatial light modulators, Manufacturing, Very large scale integration, Prototyping, Semiconducting wafers, Active optics, Data storage, Molecules, Switching, Holography
The road from a new technology's proof-of-principle prototype to commercially successful products always seems to be more challenging, more expensive, and longer than its inventors had imagined. Displaytech built its first experimental FLC-VLSI SLMs in 1989, began ramping up its efforts to commercialize FLC-VLSI displays around 1995, and now is building more than 100,000 displays per month with its manufacturing partner Miyota. Here we review the motivation for using FLC-VLSI technology and trace the developments that were necessary for its commercialization. We discuss problems that had to be overcome in FLC materials, device design, manufacturing, applications, product definition, and systems support in order to develop the technology and to lower barriers to its adoption by customers. The principal focus here is on technical challenges encountered in manufacturing and in FLC materials development that had to be met to go from hand-built prototypes to mass production. We also review future potential markets other than displays and describe some of our work on experimental FLC-VLSI devices that addresses those opportunities. Examples include holographic optical data storage, 3D projection, optical image processing, smart-pixel SLMs, and high-speed computer interfaces needed to support high frame rate SLMs.
The principles underlying optical correlators and Fourier transform optical memories are well understood. The components and materials they depend upon are gradually becoming available, bringing these technologies closer to commercialization. As efforts are made to obtain the best possible performance from these systems it becomes increasingly important to understand how their detailed operation differs from simple idealized models. Spatial light modulators (SLMs) used in correlators display sets of discrete data rather than continuous 2D functions, and the optical Fourier transform of these SLMs is influenced by the shape and fill-factor of the SLM's pixels. As a consequence, optical correlators perform a function that is more complex than the simple idealized correlation operation. The performance of Fourier transform optical memories is similarly affected. Here we investigate the operation of such optical systems incorporating pixelated SLMs. Examples are presented which highlight differences between the functions actually performed by these systems and the simple conceptual models of their operation. The output of these systems is commonly detected using pixelated CCD or CMOS imagers, the effect of imager pixel fill-factor is also examined.
We have previously reported on the design and operation of a novel single-chip optical correlator prototype. Two ferroelectric liquid crystal SLMs and a high-speed APS camera were built into a single CMOS integrated circuit. Diffractive Fourier transform lenses were fabricated onto the surface of a window which was mounted on top of the chip. We are now working towards implementing the correlator as a business card-sized module mounted on a PCI card which can be plugged into the motherboard of industry standard PCs. We are also upgrading the SLMs to have analog optical modulation capability. The PCI card contains input and output image buffers, plus high-speed circuitry which digitizes the four analog output channels of the correlator's camera. This paper describes the system we are developing, some of the electronic and optical engineering issues involved, and the present status of our work.
Smart-pixel spatial light modulators (SLMs) with optical inputs and outputs can offer a powerful combination of optical and electronic processing functions. Here we report on work in progress on an experimental FLC-VLSI SLM intended for use in the first Fourier plane of a joint transform correlator (JTC). The JTC SLM is designed to eliminate the unwanted autocorrelation term that normally exists in the JTC's output. One of the JTC's input images is modulated in phase or amplitude causing a modulation term to occur in the intensity of their joint transform. The smart-pixel SLM selectivley responds to the modulation term and displays the result as an image that will pass through the second and final Fourier transform lens (each pixel contains both a photodetector and an optical modulator).
Barriers to commercialization of optical correlators include the complexity and cost of their manufacture, their large size compared to typical electronic processors, and the cost of their components. Using sub-micron CMOS VLSI fabrication processes it is possible to build the two SLMs and photodetector array of a Vander Lugt correlator on a single silicon die. The correlator's lenses can be fabricated on a single piece of glass using diffractive optics technology and then attached to the CMOS die to form a monolithic assembly. This approach greatly reduces the mechanical degrees of freedom that must be controlled by the correlator's housing thus lowering cost, reducing size, and improving reliability. Here we report on the design and performance of a prototype.
Due to advances in spatial light modulator technology and high-speed imagers, optical correlators are becoming viable for a variety of high-speed image processing applications. However, conventional approaches to assembling correlators produce systems which are costly to manufacture, and which are too large for some uses. We are investigating approaches to the construction of compact, highly integrated correlators that combine ferroelectric liquid-crystal-on- VLSI spatial light modulators, a CMOS imager, and diffractive optical elements.
In order to successfully transition optical processor prototypes from research laboratories to commercial markets, new packaging and manufacturing technologies will be needed. One approach which has been discussed is the use of reflective, off-axis diffractive optical elements (DOEs) in place of refractive optics. In this type of architecture the reflective DOEs are placed predominantly on a single planar surface which faces a second surface on which active devices such as laser diodes, spatial light modulators, and detector arrays are located. Light is deflected away form the surface normal of the planes so that it can propagate from one device to the next within the processor. This offers potential benefits of compact size, low cost mass production, and generic system designs. We are investigating the design, manufacture, and performance of optical processors which combine DOEs and FLC-VLSI spatial light modulators in this type of architecture.
We report here on analog modulation effects in ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) materials and electrical drive schemes that are appropriate to FLC/VLSI spatial light modulations (SLMs). The deformable-helix ferroelectric (DHF) effect paired with fixed-charge drive can give sub- millisecond grey-scale response with VLSI-compatible drive voltages. New DHF materials with long-pitch nematic phases give superior alignment quality and contrast ratio. We present analog FLC driver circuits suitable for VLSI implementation, and show that providing adequate read/write isolation in optically addressed FLC/VLSI SLMs requires special care.
Ferroelectric smectic C* liquid crystals have been shown to exhibit high speed, multistate electro-optic and display device applications, particularly when incorporated into the surface stabilized ferroelectric liquid crystal (SSFLC) light valve. The SSFLC geometry results in two distinct stable states. Unfortunately, the lack of intermediate electrically addressed states precludes a natural gray-scale effect. The recently discovered Deformed Helix Ferroelectric liquid crystal (DHFLC) effect opens the door to linear gray scale or linear phase modulation in a ferroelectric liquid crystal device on a microsecond time-scale. One drawback of currently available DHFLC materials is that their alignment quality is limited due to the lack of a nematic phase above their smectic A phase. While alignment can be improved by the use of shear techniques, this represents an undesirable option for a manufacturing process. We show that DHFLC mixtures can possess a nematic phase with a long N* pitch and tight C* pitch in the C* phase. These new easily aligned DHFLC mixtures are discussed as well as their use in beam-steering devices that can benefit from analog optical response.
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