US Patent Application 18186933. DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENT WITH UNDIFFRACTED LIGHT EXPANSION FOR EYE SAFE OPERATION simplified abstract
DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENT WITH UNDIFFRACTED LIGHT EXPANSION FOR EYE SAFE OPERATION
Organization Name
Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC
Inventor(s)
Andreas Georgiou of Cambridge (GB)
Joel Steven Kollin of Seattle WA (US)
Sing Bing Kang of Redmond WA (US)
DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENT WITH UNDIFFRACTED LIGHT EXPANSION FOR EYE SAFE OPERATION - A simplified explanation of the abstract
- This abstract for appeared for US patent application number 18186933 Titled 'DIFFRACTIVE OPTICAL ELEMENT WITH UNDIFFRACTED LIGHT EXPANSION FOR EYE SAFE OPERATION'
Simplified Explanation
The subject disclosure relates to a safe way of projecting a diffracted light pattern using an infrared laser-based projection/illumination system. The system refracts the non-diffracted light to reduce its intensity to a safe level. The diffracted light is aberrated twice, once by a diffracting optical element with a Fresnel lens and then again to cancel out the aberration. The positioning of the diffracting optical element and the use of positive and negative lenses can be adjusted for different configurations.
Original Abstract Submitted
Aspects of the subject disclosure are directed towards safely projecting a diffracted light pattern, such as in an infrared laser-based projection/illumination system. Non-diffracted (zero-order) light is refracted once to diffuse (defocus) the non-diffracted light to an eye safe level. Diffracted (non-zero-order) light is aberrated twice, e.g., once as part of diffraction by a diffracting optical element encoded with a Fresnel lens (which does not aberrate the non-diffracted light), and another time to cancel out the other aberration; the two aberrations may occur in either order. Various alternatives include upstream and downstream positioning of the diffracting optical element relative to a refractive optical element, and/or refraction via positive and negative lenses.
