MOXTEK has developed a new polarizer technology for the visible spectrum based on the technology of nanometer-scale wire-grids. They have named their technology ProFlux(tm) Polarizers. These polarizers are extremely durable in the LCOS and transmissive light valve projector environment. They also offer very attractive optical performance characteristics as beam splitters in the imaging path, especially for an LCOS-type system. However, since they are plate beamsplitters, they are not a direct replacement for current cube beamsplitters. The proper optical system architecture based on the MOXTEK ProFlux(tm) technology will exhibit significant improvements in image contrast, contrast uniformity, brightness uniformity, and color uniformity. This paper compares performance of conventional beamsplitter cubes with the ProFlux™ beamsplitter. It suggests optical architectures that favor the characteristics of this new beamsplitter while avoiding the problems characteristic of a plate beamsplitter. Test data on polarizers and example system performance will be presented.

Wire-grid polarizers are now available for broadband visible applications. This type of polarizer is very attractive for projection display applications because of its high efficiency, high contrast, and extreme temperature and flux tolerance. However, using wire-grid polarizers as drop-in replacements in existing architectures, significantly limits the possible applications of this new polarizer type. As with conventional polarizers, wire-grid polarizers come in a sheet format, but they reflect one polarization rather than absorb it. Therefore, care must be taken in the system design to control this reflected light. Other significant design issues will also be highlighted in this paper. Applied Digital Optics, Inc. and MOXTEK will discuss design issues concerning the use of ProFlux™ wire-grid polarizers in the illumination stages for projection, as well as other suitable applications. Conceptual designs will be presented.

A highly durable optical disk has been developed for data archiving. This optical disk uses tellurium as the write layer and carbon as a dielectric and oxidation prevention layer. The sandwich style CTeC film was deposited on polycarbonate and silicon substrates by plasma sputtering. These films were then characterized with SEM, TEM, EELS, ellipsometry, ToF-SIMS, etc, and were tested for writability and longevity. Results show the films were uniform in physical structure, are stable, and able to form permanent pits. Data was written to a disk and successfully read back in a commercial DVD drive.

Many promising applications of multilayer x-ray optical elements subject them to intense radiation. This paper discusses the selection of optima! pairs of materials to resist heat damage and presents simulations of multilayer performance under extreme . heat loadings. IntroductionMultilayers have been used in environments where x-rays or other radiation is sufficiently intense to degrade performance. Examples include such applications as synchrotron primary monochromators and end-mirrors for x-ray lasers. These two examples illustrate the range of environments and performance expectations. A multilayer in the synchrotron application will attain a moderately high steady-state temperature in a hard vacuum, and it will be expected to maintain a reliably constant thickness of its layers without warping or wrinkling. In the laser application, the multilayer is expected to-normally reflect a predetermined wavelength, but only for a short period. The damage mechanisms (and therefore the designs and fabrications) are different for the pulsed and cw applications. Damage mechanisms . r; Diffraction and reflection arises from regularly spaced, smooth layers with different refractive indexes. Damage mechanisms reduce smoothness, decrease the refractive index gradient at the interface, or cause irregularities in the layer thicknesses. Multilayers are typically made by condensation from low pressure gases (e.g., by evaporation, sputtering or chemical vapor deposition). Such methods seldom produce layers which are in chemical equilibrium with respect to crystallization, although microcrystals may be present. They may also be out of equilibrium with respect to chemical bond formation. For example, a multilayer composed of equal numbers of W and C atoms could presumably form a single, homogeneous layer of the compound WC. In addition, entropy of mixing may drive diffusion of the materials into one another. In most cases, the rate of crystallization, chemical reaction, and diffusion can be ignored at room temperature, but may become objectionable at some higher temperature.Because the temperature is proportional to the rate of absorbed radiation, materials should be selected that minimize total multilayer absorption of all incident radiation (not just the wavelengths of interest). What is more, severe strain between layers can develop if their thermal expansion coefficients are not well matched. The residual stress resulting from fabrication or annealing could cause enhancement or relief, depending upon its direction. Low absorbance could help keep the temperature below that where mechanical failure of the layers occurs.In cw applications, melting will distort the layer spacing, if not by flow under the influence of gravity, then by surface tension. In the anticipated pulsed applications, there is not enough time for liquid flow and so it appears that melting can be ignored, at least as a first approximation. Direct vaporization of solid materials (sublimation) can completely remove an unprotected material exposed to a vacuum ove...

We studied the optical performance of reflective wire grid polarizer designed for visible light. The polarizer reflects Epolarization and transmits H-polarization with low losses. When used in a twisted nematic (TN) device as a back polarizer it enhances the brightness and provides high contrast ratio at wide viewing angles. By placing the wire grid polarizer within the cell, viewing parallax is eliminated. The polarizer can also be used as the rear electrode.