Patent ID: 6992748

Claim:
A 1XN optical connector for steering light comprising: an (N−1)th stage including an (N−1)th stage liquid crystal cell having a first state for transmitting a first polarization component of the light and a second state for transmitting a second polarization component of the light; an (N−1)th stage polarizing beam splitter structure superposed on the (N−1)th liquid crystal cell, the (N−1)th polarizing beam splitter structure comprising 2 N−1 polarizing beam splitting elements reflecting the first polarization state and transmitting the second polarization state, the (N−1)th polarizing beam splitter elements being integrated within an (N−1)th substrate and oriented at an angle and in a direction; an Nt stage including an Nt stage liquid crystal cell superposed on the (N−1)th polarizing beam splitter structure, Nth liquid crystal cell having a first state for transmitting a first polarization component of the light and a second state for transmitting a second polarization component of the light the Nth liquid crystal cell configured for receiving an input from the (N−1)th polarizing beam splitter; and an Nth stage polarizing beam splitter structure superposed on the Nth liquid crystal cell, the Nth polarizing beam splitter structure comprising 2 N polarizing beam splitting elements reflecting the first polarization state and transmitting the second polarization state, the Nth polarizing beam splitter elements being integrated within an Nth substrate and oriented at an angle and in a direction substantially similar to the angle and direction of the (N−1)th polarizing beam splitter elements, wherein N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.