Patent ID: 6297907
Filing Date: 2001-10-02
Classification: G02B,G02F

Abstract:
An optical device, comprising:a first array of prisms formed of a transparent material, each prism having at least a first prism facet and a second prism facet intersecting said first prism facet at a prism apex;at least one metal layer and an electro-optical dielectric layer contacting each other to form a metal-dielectric interface on each prism facet, wherein said dielectric layer has a refractive index less than a refractive index of said first and second arrays of prisms, and wherein said metal-dielectric interface generates a surface plasmon wave in response to a p-polarized input light beam to transmit light at a selected wavelength within a bandwidth according to a control voltage from said metal layer to said dielectric layer and reflects light of other wavelengths; anda second array of prisms substantially identical to said first array, disposed to engage to said first array in such a way that each prism facet in said second array conformably contacts said metal-dielectric interface formed on a respective prism facet of said first array, wherein said second array couples an input light beam to said metal-dielectric interface and the said first and second arrays are configured so that said input light beam is respectively reflected once by metal-dielectric interfaces on two adjacent prism facets of said first array to produce a desired color and a desired grey scale.