Optical grating using a liquid suspension of dielectric particles
US4453805A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 19, 1981 |
| Grant date | Jun 12, 1984 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 19, 2001 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG02F1/0126
- WIPO fieldOptics
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
The invention provides apparatus comprising at least two beams of coherent radiation directed so as to intersect and form a standing wave pattern having a period .LAMBDA. in an optically responsive medium. The optically responsive medium is a colloidal suspension of dielectric particles in a liquid medium, the dielectric particles and liquid having different indices of refraction, and the diameter of the particles being less than or approximately equal to the period .LAMBDA.. The dielectric particles are arranged into a grating by the electric fields carried by the beams of coherent radiation. In an embodiment of the invention, the dielectric particles are small dielectric spheres. The dielectric particles and the liquid may have approximately equal mass densities. A third beam of light may generate an output beam of light by degenerate four-wave mixing processes incorporating a dielectric grating made by the electric fields carried by the beams of coherent radiation.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.