Patent ID: 6038054
Filing Date: 2000-03-14
Classification: G02B

Abstract:
A polarized-light converting elemental device provided with a cholesteric liquid crystal layer for reflecting either one of clockwise circularly polarized light and anticlockwise circularly polarized light and transmitting the other, a first reflecting optical element array composed of first reflecting optical elements arranged in an array and a second reflecting optical element array composed of second reflecting optical elements arranged in an array, wherein the first reflecting optical element array is disposed to reflect a part of natural light falling on the polarized-light converting elemental device and transmit the remaining part of the natural light that is split into two light rays propagating in two directions and entering into the cholesteric liquid crystal layer at first and second different incident angles respectively, and the second reflecting optical element array reverses a rotary direction of circularly polarized light reflected from the cholesteric liquid crystal layer and causes respective light rays reflected from the cholesteric liquid crystal layer to enter into the cholesteric liquid crystal layer at the first and second incident angles respectively, thereby incident light acted by the first and second reflecting optical element arrays and transmitted through the cholesteric liquid crystal layer is converted to two rays that emerge as circularly polarized light rays having the same rotating direction and propagate separately in two different directions.