An innovative multispectral pattern recognition system, consisting of a surface plasmon tunable filter (SPTF) and a compact Grayscale Optical Correlator (GOC) is under development at JPL. The surface plasmon tunable filter is capable of rapidly acquiring narrowband input imagery sequence through the visible spectral band (400nm-1000nm) and feed into the cascading GOC for parallel target recognition. The combined system will be useful for one-pass hyperspectral imaging and pattern recognition.
A new technology invented at JPL of active wavelength filtering on electro-optical switching of internal-reflection states have been proposed for use in DWDM, as add/drop multiplexers.
A new technology, developed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), using low-absorption color filters with polarization and color recycle system, is able to enhance efficiency of a single panel liquid crystal display (LCD) projector to the same efficiency of a three panel LCD projector.
A new technology invented at JPL of color filtering and beam scanning device based on electro-optical switching of internal-reflection states have been proposed for use in DWDM, display and measurement applications.
Recently, JPL has invented and developed a miniature optical microscope, microscope-on-chip using micro-channel and solid state image sensors. It is lightweight, low-power, fast sped instrument, it has no image lens, does not need focus adjustment, and the total mass is less than 50g. A prototype has been built and demonstrated at JPL.
Recently, Jet Propulsion Laboratory has invented and developed a miniature optical microscope, microscope-on-chip using micro-channel and solid state image sensors. It is lightweight, low-power, fast speed instrument, it has no image data, does not need focus adjustment, and the total mass is less than 100 g. A prototype has been built and demonstrated at JPL.
Surface plasmon tunable filter is a new technology under development at JPL. I had discussed the theoretical model and possible applications of using surface plasmon tunable filters for flat panel display device in several SPIE meetings. Now a prototype of surface plasmon tunable filter has been fabricated at JPL, and the experiment measurement will be discussed in this paper.
Telescopes are critical elements of NASA's space program. Very high resolution telescopes are needed to study planets of neighboring stellar systems and life beyond earth. Telescope resolution is limited by aperture diameter but current technology limits telescope apertures to about 10- meters in diameter. The Earth's atmosphere refracts sunlight such that the sun's image appears about a half degree above its real position during sunset. If we could build a space telescope using the Earth's atmosphere as an objective lens the aperture of such space telescope would be the diameter of the earth. Telescope resolution could be enhanced by up to seven orders of magnitude and would enable detailed images of planets in far away stellar systems.
Surface plasmon tunable filter is a new technology under development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This technology can also be used to build an electronically tunable mirror. When white light is incident on a metal/electro-optic material interface under certain conditions, surface plasmon waves can be excited at the interface. Photons in the wavelength range of the surface plasmon resonance will be converted into the energy of free electrons in the metal. When using nickel or a rhodium/aluminum bilayer as the metal, the bandwidth of the surface plasmon resonance can cover all of the visible spectrum. This surface plasmon resonance depends on the dielectric constants of both the metal and the electro-optic materials Therefore, application of a voltage to the electro optic material to change its dielectric constant can theoretically result in a change in the reflectivity of the interface from less than 0.5 percent to over 80 percent. The experimental results show a contrast ratio of 50:1 and a maximum reflection of 50 percent.
Surface plasmon tunable filter (SPTF) is a new technology under development at Jet Propulsion Lab. when applying to LCD projects, SPTF can simplify the system structure, and enhance the efficiency. A scrolling SPTF which consists three SPTFs can generate scrolling red, green and blue colors, is able to enhance the efficiency of a single panel LCD projector up to the same level as a three panel LCD projector. A scrolling SPTF which consists six SPTFs and can generate two set of scrolling RGB colors, will enable a single panel LCD projector to be 100 percent more efficiency than the current three panel LCD projector.
The surface plasmon tunable filter (SPTF) is a new technology invented at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. When white light is incident on a metal/air/metal structure, under appropriate conditions, surface plasmon waves are excited at one metal/air material interface. Those photons in the surface plasmon resonance wavelength range will be converted into the energy of free electrons in the metal, then coupled into the other metal film which re-radiates light at the identical resonant wavelength. This surface plasmon resonance depends on the dielectric constant of the metal and the thickness of the air gap. When the thickness of the air gap changes, the surface plasmon resonance spectrum shifts from one wavelength to another, and the device functions as a tunable filter. The SPTF is a light weight, low power device, which can be integrated with a solid state image sensor to form a spectrometer-on-a-chip. Theoretical calculation has shown that this image spectrometer can also work in IR range up to at least 10 micrometers .
Last year, we reported a novel phenomenon of voltage-induced color-selective absorption with surface plasmons. When a white light is incident on a metal/EO material interface, in certain condition, surface plasmon waves can be excited; those photons in surface plasmon resonance wavelength range would be totally absorbed and these photons out of the surface plasmon resonance wavelength range would be almost totally reflected. This surface plasmon resonance depends on the dielectric constants of both the metal and the EO material. If a voltage is added on the EO material to change its dielectric constant,the surface plasmon resonance spectrum can be shifted from one wavelength to the other, and this is a tunable notch filter. If coupled surface plasmon waves are used, a tunable bandpass filter can be built. A prototype mode has been built using liquid crystal as the EO material. Experiment results, which has excellent agreement with theory, has shown that the wavelength tunable range can cover almost all of the visible when 30-v voltage is applied. Theoretical calculation has shown that this tunable filter can also work in IR range up to at least 10 micrometers .
A novel projection display, based on a new phenomenon of voltage-induced color-selective absorption with surface plasmons, is able to generate bright image on a large screen with high efficiency. In addition, neither color filter nor phosphor is needed to generate the color. With an incident beam of +/- 7 degrees half cone angle, the color purity of this device can be as good as the CRT displays, and the contrast ratio can reach over 200:1. System analysis shows that, for a color sequential single panel 1.8 inches surface plasmon projector, the luminous efficiency can reach 3 Lumens/Watt, and for a 1.8 inches surface plasmon 'smart card' projector, the luminous efficiency can reach over 10 Lumens/Watt.
A novel projection display, based on a new phenomenon of voltage-induced color-selective absorption with surface plasmons, are able to generate bright image on a large screen with high efficiency. In addition, neither color filters nor phosphors are needed to generate the color. With the incident beam of +/- 7 degree(s) half cone angle, the color purity of this device can be as good as the CRT displays, and the contrast ratio can reach over 200:1. System analysis shows, for a color sequential single panel 1.8' surface plasmon projector, the luminous efficiency can reach 3 Lumens/Watt.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.