Patents by Inventor William Minster Kunkel

William Minster Kunkel has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Managing electromagnetic field propagation in gradient-index media
    Patent number: 11163168
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium for managing beam shaping in gradient refractive index (GRIN) media are provided. In one aspect, a method includes specifying a field evolution throughout a gradient-index (GRIN) medium and generating a refractive index profile of the GRIN medium based on the specified field evolution in the GRIN medium. Diffraction effects are considered in solving for the refractive index profile. The index profile is found by specifying a desired beam transformation throughout the GRIN medium and solving a series of phase retrieval problems. The GRIN medium can be two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 2018
    Date of Patent: November 2, 2021
    Assignee: Regents of the University of Minnesota
    Inventors: James Robert Leger, William Minster Kunkel, Di Lin
  • MANAGING ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD PROPAGATION IN GRADIENT-INDEX MEDIA
    Publication number: 20180356642
    Abstract: Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium for managing beam shaping in gradient refractive index (GRIN) media are provided. In one aspect, a method includes specifying a field evolution throughout a gradient-index (GRIN) medium and generating a refractive index profile of the GRIN medium based on the specified field evolution in the GRIN medium. Diffraction effects are considered in solving for the refractive index profile. The index profile is found by specifying a desired beam transformation throughout the GRIN medium and solving a series of phase retrieval problems. The GRIN medium can be two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D).
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 8, 2018
    Publication date: December 13, 2018
    Inventors: James Robert Leger, William Minster Kunkel, Di Lin