Provision of frames or borders around opaque flakes for covert security applications
Granted: January 12, 2010
Patent Number:
7645510
Opaque flakes, such as pigment or bright flake used in paints and inks, have a selected shape and/or other indicia to provide a covert security feature to an object. In some embodiments the composition includes base pigment, and the opaque covert flakes match the visual characteristics of the base pigment. In another embodiment, opaque covert flakes are mixed in the carrier with base pigment at a concentration sufficient to avoid changing the appearance of the composition. In another…
Front surface mirror for providing white color uniformity for polarized systems with a large range of incidence angles
Granted: January 5, 2010
Patent Number:
7641350
A fold mirror for a projection display system is designed to lessen a perceived variation in white color balance of light reflected across the mirror wherein the white light is comprised of sub-beams of orthogonal polarization states. The mirror comprises a metal reflective layer and a plurality of optically transparent layers, wherein thicknesses and materials of the optically transparent layers are such that wavelength-averaged reflectance for p-polarized incident green light varies by…
Manufacturable sampled grating mirrors
Granted: January 5, 2010
Patent Number:
7643532
The present invention relates to the tailoring the reflectivity spectrum of a sampled-grating distributed Bragg reflector (SGDBR) by applying digital sampling theory to choose the way each reflector is sampled. The resulting mirror covers a larger wavelength span and has peaks with a larger, more uniform, coupling constant (?) than the mirrors produced using conventional approaches. The improved mirror also retains the benefits of the sample grating approach. Additionally, most of the…
Component assembly and fabrication method
Granted: December 15, 2009
Patent Number:
7632022
The present invention relates to a component assembly and to a method of fabricating such a component assembly. The component assembly includes a substrate, a mount attached to the substrate, and a component attached to the mount with solder by melting the solder with light from a light source. The mount is composed of a ceramic material having properties advantageous for soldering using a light source. As a first property, the ceramic material is optically absorptive to enable the mount…
Tunable laser source with monolithically integrated interferometric optical modulator
Granted: December 15, 2009
Patent Number:
7633988
A monolithically-integrated semiconductor optical transmitter that can index tune to any transmission wavelength in a given range, wherein the range is larger than that achievable by the maximum refractive index tuning allowed by the semiconductor material itself (i.e. ??/?>?n/n). In practice, this tuning range is >15 nm. The transmitter includes a Mach-Zehnder (MZ) modulator monolithically integrated with a widely tunable laser and a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). By using…
Covert security coating
Granted: December 8, 2009
Patent Number:
7630109
A multilayer thin film filter is disclosed an organic dielectric layer serving as a spacer layer in a Fabry-Perot structure. The dielectric has embossed regions of varying thicknesses wherein the thickness within a region is substantially uniform. Each different region of a different thickness produces a different color (shift). The size of one of the embossed adjacent regions is such that the color of said one region is uniform and cannot be seen by a human eye as different in color…
Wavelength dispersive device with temperature compensation
Granted: December 8, 2009
Patent Number:
7630599
The invention relates to fiber-optic wavelength dispersive devices incorporating a wavelength dispersive reflector that provides auto-compensation of variations of output spectral characteristic with temperature and includes a transmissive dispersion that is followed by a beam-folding reflecting surface in a double-pass configuration grating and is coupled to a wedged shaped prism.
Extended wavelength strained layer lasers having nitrogen disposed therein
Granted: December 1, 2009
Patent Number:
7627014
Several methods are used in novel ways with newly identified and viable parameters to decrease the peak transition energies of the pseudomorphic InGaAs/GaAs heterostructures. These techniques, taken separately or in combination, suffice to permit operation of light emitting devices at wavelengths of 1.3 ?m or greater of light-emitting electro-optic devices. These methods or techniques, by example, include: (1) utilizing new superlattice structures having high In concentrations in the…
Light steering using an array of tunable phase delay elements
Granted: December 1, 2009
Patent Number:
7626754
An apparatus and method for steering a beam of light using an array of tunable optical phase delay elements is presented. The sidelobes of an angular spectrum of light reflected from the array are causing an optical crosstalk. The selected sidelobes are suppressed by perturbing the phase delay pattern of the array elements. The pattern of perturbations is found by linearizing a system of equations describing dependence of the angular spectrum of the reflected light on the phase delays…
Polarization controlling elements
Granted: December 1, 2009
Patent Number:
7626661
The invention relates to a polarization compensating element (PCE) for a liquid crystal, e.g. liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS), display system manufactured using a linearly photo-polymerizable polymer (LPP) for orienting a photo-polymerizable liquid crystal polymer (LCP) film. To decrease the reflection, polarization conversion, and interference events in an LPP/LCP assembly the ?N birefringence value of the LCP material is minimized. Dielectric coatings are added at various locations…
Alignable diffractive pigment flakes and method and apparatus for alignment and images formed therefrom
Granted: December 1, 2009
Patent Number:
7625632
Diffractive pigment flakes are selectively aligned to form an image. In one embodiment, flakes having a magnetic layer are shaped to facilitate alignment in a magnetic field. In another embodiment, the flakes include a magnetically discontinuous layer. In a particular embodiment, deposition of nickel on a diffraction grating pattern produces magnetic needles along the grating pattern that allow magnetic alignment of the resulting diffractive pigment flakes. Color scans of test samples of…
Piano MEMS with hidden hinge
Granted: November 10, 2009
Patent Number:
7616372
The micro-electro-mechanical mirror device according to the present invention includes a platform pivotable about two perpendicular axes, and a hinge structure disposed beneath the platform. The hinge structure includes first and second hinges and a gimbal ring fabricated in a single layer beneath the platform layer. One end of the hinge structure extends from the undersurface of the platform, while the other end extends from a pedestal, which extends upwardly from a substrate.
MEMS control system gain normalization
Granted: November 3, 2009
Patent Number:
7612931
A method and system for providing gain normalization in a MEMS control system and/or device includes moving a MEMS structure from a first position wherein light is redirected from a first input port to an output port to a second position wherein light is redirected from a second input port to the output port, dithering an orientation of the MEMS structure, monitoring an intensity of the dithered light and providing a feedback signal in dependence upon the monitored intensity, and using…
High chroma optically variable color-shifting glitter comprising particles having interference structure coating
Granted: October 27, 2009
Patent Number:
7608330
Opaque glitter particles that are uniform in size and shape are disclosed that have an optically variable color with a change in angle of incident light. The glitter particles have an organic substrate and an optical interference structure on one or both sides of the organic substrate. The optical interference design can be a Fabry-Perot structure or can be an optically variable ink.
Kinematic images formed by orienting alignable flakes
Granted: October 20, 2009
Patent Number:
7604855
An image is disclosed comprised of flakes in a carrier, such as an ink vehicle or a paint that can be aligned in a magnetic field. The flakes are aligned so as to produce one or more kinematic features such as a rolling bar that appears to move as the image is tilted. These images can provide security features on high-value documents, such as bank notes.
Semiconductor laser diode with narrow lateral beam divergence
Granted: October 13, 2009
Patent Number:
7602828
The invention relates to high power broad-area semiconductor lasers incorporating a structure that provides both gain guiding and index guiding. The lateral width of the index guiding region is greater than the lateral width of the gain guiding region by at least 20 micron. This results in a high power broad-area semiconductor laser which has reduced lateral divergence of the output beam.
Engraved optically variable image device
Granted: September 15, 2009
Patent Number:
7588817
A method and image made by the method is disclosed wherein non-spherical magnetically alignable optical pigment flakes in transparent carrier are applied to a substrate and are aligned by applying a magnetic field to the substrate. The pigment flakes align along magnetic field lines and a tool for impressing or scribing the flakes is applied to a sub-region of the substrate to realign or remove flakes from a desired region. For example a scribing tool can be used to scribe a signature or…
Stabilization of actively Q-switched lasers
Granted: July 28, 2009
Patent Number:
7567594
The invention discloses an actively Q-switched laser with an intracavity nonlinear coupler in which a stable optical frequency converted output is generated. A Gain Fluctuation Insensitivity Condition is defined and described for several examples. The nonlinear coupler with a coupling level which satisfies this Condition permits stable laser operation with minimal interaction between pulses, even when the pulses are clipped by the Q-switch. Thus, the output pulse duration and repetition…
Semiconductor laser diode with advanced window structure
Granted: July 28, 2009
Patent Number:
7567603
The invention relates to a semiconductor laser diode structure with increased catastrophic optical damage (COD) power limit, featuring three sections, sometimes called windows, at the output facet of the diode. These include an optically transparent section, a current blocking section and a partially current blocking section.
Non-toxic flakes for authentication of pharmaceutical articles
Granted: June 23, 2009
Patent Number:
7550197
In one embodiment of the present invention, non-toxic inorganic flakes are used for identification and anticounterfeit protection of pharmaceutical articles, such as pills, tablets and capsules, having a core of a biologically active material and/or a biologically inert material. Non-toxic inorganic authentication flakes, either optically variable flakes or taggant flakes having one or more symbols and/or a selected shape are disposed on the surface or inside of the pharmaceutical…
