Abstract: An optical component including: a substrate made from heat absorptive glass having a front surface and a rear surface, at least one of said surfaces being a crenulate surface having optical power.

Abstract: Various embodiments of reinforced mirror microstructures for a surface micromachined optical system are disclosed. Multi-layered and structurally reinforced mirror microstructures are disclosed, including both two and three-layer microstructures. Adjacent structural layers in these multi-layered mirror microstructures may be structurally reinforced and interconnected by a plurality of vertically disposed columns, or by a plurality of at least generally laterally extending rails or ribs, or some combination thereof. Various embodiments of a single layered mirror microstructure with a structural reinforcement assembly that cantilevers from a lower surface thereof is also disclosed.

Abstract: Polarizing glass articles and methods of manufacturing polarizing glass articles are disclosed. Optical isolators using the polarizing glass articles have reduced coupling and surface losses when compared with conventional optical isolators.

Abstract: A reflecting light polarizer having improved polarizing efficiency, and a method of manufacturing the reflecting light polarizer. The reflecting light poplarizer includes a first non-linear mating surface, a second non-linear mating surface and a polarizing coating disposed between the first and second non-linear mating surfaces wherein a first light polarization is transmitted through the reflecting light polarizer and a second light polarization is reflected by the reflecting light polarizer. The reflecting light polarizer can further include glue disposed between the first non-linear mating surface and the second non-linear mating surface. The reflecting light polarizer also can include at least one clamping device securing together the first non-linear mating surface and the second non-linear mating surface. The first and second non-linear mating surfaces can be glass, plastic or crystalline.

Abstract: A holographic element is a reflective holographic element formed on a substrate and constituted by a composite hologram having a plurality of patterns of interference fringes composed of interference fringes nonparallel to the substrate. The holographic element forms, out of image light having a predetermined wavelength width emanating from an image display element, a plurality of observation pupils at spatially different locations, and acts in such a way as to fulfill prescribed conditions for an identical incident ray over the entire area in which the image light is incident on the holographic element.

Abstract: The use of one or more wavefront modulators in the observation beam path and/or illumination beam path of a microscope provide various advantageous results. Such modulators may be adapted to change the phase and/or the amplitude of light in such a way to carry out displacement and shaping of the focus in the object space and correction of possible aberrations. The possible areas of use include confocal microscopy, laser-assisted microscopy, conventional light microscopy and analytic microscopy.

Abstract: A PMD compensator has three compensation elements in series, each for providing variable differential group delay. Each compensation element provides compensation along a different orthogonal polarization axis. This enables PMD to be cancelled more completely.

Abstract: A zoom lens includes a first lens unit having a positive optical power, a second lens unit having a negative optical power, a third lens unit having a positive optical power, and a fourth lens unit having a negative optical power in sequence from an object side. The zoom lens executes zooming by moving all the four lens units on an optical axis. At least one of the four lens units has at least one diffractive optical surface. By this arrangement, the size of the zoom lens can be easily reduced while securing a desired variable power ratio and correcting lateral chromatic aberration that is varied by zooming.

Abstract: A polarizer comprising a polyvinyl alcohol based film being dyed by iodine and treated with potassium iodide, wherein an element content ratio (K/I) of iodine (I) and potassium (K) is 0.05 through 0.24, show an effect controlling coloring and satisfying high durability under conditions of high temperature.

Abstract: An optical quality, freestanding, compliant membrane mirror is cast with a concave parabolic shape, and includes a substrate and a reflective stress coating. The stress coating is in compression and applies a tensile shear stress to the substrate that opposes and offsets the intrinsic stress in the substrate that would otherwise decrease the concavity. The stress coating generates a force to restore the membrane mirror to its cast concave parabolic shape when an external force deforms the mirror.

Abstract: A domestic or vehicle rearview silvered mirror having a silver coating which is not covered with a protective layer of copper. The silver mirror comprises a glass sheet, tin and preferably palladium at surface of the glass sheet, a silver coating of the surface of the glass sheet and at least one paint layer covering the silver coating. Optionally, tin may be present at the surface of the silver coating adjacent the paint layer and optionally traces of silane may be present at the surface of the silver coating adjacent to the paint layer. Alternate or additional materials may be present at a surface of the glass sheet and alternate or additional materials may be present at the surface of the silver adjacent to the paint layer.

Abstract: The present invention provides an easily aligned, all-reflective, aberration-free pulse stretcher-compressor in a compact geometry. The stretcher-compressor device is a reflective multi-layer dielectric that can be utilized for high power chirped-pulse amplification material processing applications. A reflective grating element of the device is constructed: 1) to receive a beam for stretching of laser pulses in a beam stretcher beam path and 2) to also receive stretched amplified pulses to be compressed in a compressor beam path through the same (i.e., common) reflective multilayer dielectric diffraction grating. The stretched and compressed pulses are interleaved about the grating element to provide the desired number of passes in each respective beam path in order to achieve the desired results.

Abstract: A light resolution element for a light guiding apparatus is provided that is connectable in optical communication with the light guiding apparatus for guiding and re-orienting light emitted thereto from the light guiding apparatus such that light exiting the light resolution element irradiates a dental restoration piece in a manner which effects complete hardening of the piece. The light resolution element includes a prismatic body operable to guide and re-orient a light beam passed thereto from the light guiding apparatus.

Abstract: An optical member 7 is bonded, at its rear side 7b, to a holographic stereogram 6. The front side 7a of the optical member 7 consists of parallel triangular prisms. Illumination light 9 is applied to the front surface 7a of the optical member 7 at a predetermined angle of, for example, 60°. The optical member 7 is made of, for example, optical glass or transparent plastic. Each triangular prism has an incidence surface 8, to which the illumination light is applied at right angles. The illumination light is applied to the interface 22 between the optical member 7 and the holographic stereogram 6, at an incidence angle &thgr; of, for example, 60°, thereby to suppress surface reflection of the illumination light 9 at the interface 22.

Abstract: A polarization independent optical device is provided wherein the device has two optical paths that include one or more birefringent crystals, a electrically controllable rotator, and a fixed waveplate. The device may operate as a switch, attenuator, coupler, or polarization mode dispersion compensator. The device may also include several folded path embodiments, a multifunctional embodiment, and a temperature insensitive embodiment.

Abstract: An optical unit includes a first optical element and a second optical element, wherein the first optical element has a protrusion while the second optical element has a recess. The relative alignment between the first and second optical elements is accomplished by engagement of the protrusion and the recess.

Abstract: A privacy filter for use on an electronic display screen, such as a PDA display screen or a laptop display screen, is constructed using holographic imaging technology. The privacy filter consists of a flexible, optically clear photopolymer film having a plurality of holographic images formed thereon. The key aspect of the present disclosure is constructing the master holographic images by imaging the master holographic recording plates at a severe side angle “off angle”. By shooting the hologram at this “off angle”, the resulting hologram is not visible to a person looking directly (perpendicularly) at the resulting hologram. However, the holograms are visible within the remaining fields of view to the right and to the left of center. Creation of the holograms in this manner creates an effective blocking tool for use in the context of a privacy filter.

Abstract: A hologram recording film has a hologram image of an object recorded in a volume hologram photosensitive material by holographic duplication and further has a hologram image of an additional information pattern, e.g. a character or an image, recorded superimposedly in the same volume hologram photosensitive material simultaneously with the holographic duplication so that the additional information pattern is reconstructable in a plane with a depth from the hologram plane. Reflection type additional information is recorded in the hologram recording film so as to be reconstructable simultaneously in superimposition with a reconstructed image from the volume hologram. In addition, transmission type additional information that is in mirror image relation to the reflection type additional information is recorded in the hologram recording film so as to be reconstructable simultaneously in superimposition with the reconstructed image from the volume hologram.

Abstract: A narrow bandpass optical filter for use in a WDM communication minimizes the system bit rate error by providing a sufficiently broad passband with respect to the data transfer rate yet has a low group delay across the passband. The passband shape is optimized to have a single maximum in the center of the passband and continuously decreasing transmission there from so as to minimize dispersion in GD across the passband.

Abstract: A method for the generation of volume spatially-resolved holographic data storage within a photosensitive glass sample that incurs changes of optical properties in response to two-photon absorption, the method including directing non-ultraviolet pulsed laser radiation at the photosensitive glass sample to induce changes of optical properties in the glass sample, splitting of the pulsed laser radiation, prior to reaching the glass sample, into an object beam having a direct optical path of a first predetermined length and a reference beam, changing the path of the reference beam to have an indirect optical path of a second pre-determined length, focusing each of the object beam and the reference beam along the respective optical paths, to intersect at a focal volume of the glass sample, and therein to cause the two-photon absorption, providing a variable time delay in the direct path of the object beam so that it reaches the chosen region within the focal volume of glass at the same time as the reference beam,