Holographic optical polarizers and beam splitters

Claim 2

A polarization sensitive holographic optical component for separating out one plane polarized light beam from an incident unpolarized light beam, comprising a thick member of substantially transparent holographic material having a plurality of substantially parallel fringe planes of index of refraction change extending transversely of the member and having a Bragg reflection angle of approximately 45* said planes being the interference pattern formed by a pair of plane wave coherent light beams directed to intersect within the material at a 90* angle, and being both polarized perpendicularly to the plane of incidence on said member.

Claim 3

An optical component as claimed in claim 1 wherein said holographic material is a dichromated gelatin.

Claim 4

A polarization sensitive holographic optical component for separating out one plane polarized light beam from an incident unpolarized light beam, comprising a thick member of substantially transparent holographic material having a first set of substantially parallel fringe planes of index of refraction change extending transversely of the member and having a Bragg reflection angle of approximately 45*, said planes being the interference pattern formed by a first pair of plane wave coherent light beams directed to intersect within the material at a 90* angle, and being both polarized perpendicularly to their plane of incidence on said member, said member further having a second set of substantially parallel fringe planes of index of refraction change extending transversely of the member and having a Bragg reflection angle of approximately 45*, said planes of said second set being the interference pattern formed by a second pair of plane wave coherent light beams, one of the beams of said second pair being one of the beams of said first pair, said second pair of beams being directed to intersect within the material at a 90* angle, and being both polarized perpendicularly to their plane of incidence and parallel to the plane of incidence of said first pair of beams, the plane of said member being oriented equiangularly with respect to all of the beams of both pairs.

Claim 5

A polarization sensitive holographic optical component for separating out one plane polarized light beam from an incident unpolarized light beam, comprising a thick member of substantially transparent holographic material having a first set of substantially parallel fringe planes of index of refraction change extending transversely of the member and having a Bragg reflection angle of approximately 45*, said planes being the interference pattern formed by a first pair of plane wave coherent light beams directed to intersect within the material at a 90* angle, and being both polarized perpendicularly to their plane of incidence on said member, said member further having a second set of substantially parallel fringe planes of index of refraction change extending transversely of the member and having a Bragg reflection angle of approximately 45*, said planes of said second set being the interference pattern formed by a second pair of plane wave coherent light beams, one of the beams of said second pair being one of the beams of said first pair, said second pair of beams being directed to intersect within the material at a 90* angle, and being both polarized perpendicularly to their plane of incidence and parallel to the plane of incidence of said first pair of beams, the plane of said member being oriented equiangularly with respect to all of the beams of both pairs.

Claim 6

An optical component as claimed in claim 3 wherein the other of the beams of said second pair is directed at right angles to both of the beams of said first pair.

Claim 7

An optical component as claimed in claim 3 wherein the plane of said member is oriented at approximately 54.7* to the beams of said first and second pairs.

Claim 8

An optical component as claimed in claim 3 wherein said holographic material is dichromated gelatin.

Claim 9

An optical polarizing system comprising a thick member of substantially transparent dielectric material having a hologram transmission grating formed therein comprising a sinusoidal refractive index variation forming a plurality of equally spaced parallel fringe planes extending across the thickness dimension of said member and having a Bragg reflection angle of approximately 45*, said planes being the interference pattern formed by a pair of plane wave coherent light beams directed to intersect within the material at a 90* angle, and being both polarized perpendicularly to the plane of incidence on said member, means for directing an unpolarized beam of coherent light into said grating at the Bragg angle of incidence on said planes whereby plane polarized light of one orientation is diffracted in one direction by said grating and plane polarized light of different orientation is transmitted in another direction through said grating, and means on the other side of said grating from said directing means to receive the diffracted light.

Claim 10

An optical polarizing system comprising a thick member of substantially transparent dielectric material having a hologram transmission grating formed therein comprising a sinusoidal refractive index variation forming a plurality of equally spaced parallel fringe planes extending across the thickness dimension of said member and having a Bragg reflection angle of approximately 45*, said planes being the interference pattern formed by a pair of plane wave coherent light beams directed to intersect within the material at a 90* angle, and being both polarized perpendicularly to the plane of incidence on said member, means for directing an unpolarized beam of coherent light into said grating at the Bragg angle of incidence on said planes whereby plane polarized light of one orientation is diffracted in one direction by said grating and plane polarized light of different orientation is transmitted in another direction through said grating, and means on the other side of said grating from said directing means to receive the diffracted light.