Patent ID: 6388730
Filing Date: 2002-05-14
Classification: G02F

Abstract:
An electro-optic polarizor comprising:a first glass plate; a first alignment surfactant coated on one surface of the first glass plate; a second glass plate; a second alignment surfactant coated on one surface of the second glass plate; a transparent interdigitated electrode pattern disposed between the second glass plate and the second alignment surfactant; a thin film of homeotropically aligned nematic liquid crystal sandwiched between the first and second alignment surfactants for applying a lateral electric field across the liquid crystal to alter the optical properties of the liquid crystal such that a polarization dependent grating is induced by the lateral electric field; and an optical beam selector placed a distance away from the transparent interdigitated electrode pattern such that the optical beam selector filters all non-zero orders of light diffracted from the transparent interdigitated electrode pattern for allowing only the zero order to pass, thereby attenuating all non-zero orders such that the overall light intensity is attenuated.