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US6753989B2 Expired / Lapsed US ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Recording surface relief microstructure

Assignee: De la Rue International Ltd
•
Filing: 2002-07-24
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Granted: 2004-06-22
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Expires: 2022-07-24
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Abstract

Abstract A method of recording a surface relief microstructure in a record medium includes: i) causing a coherent reconstruction or replay beam to impinge on a holographic optical element assembly, the holographic optical element assembly including a holographic optical element (HOE), the assembly causing selected portions of the beam to interfere at a focal region after diffraction by the holographic optical element so as to reconstruct a real image of an aperture previously used to construct the HOE; ii) locating a record medium at the focal region so that the real image is recorded; and, iii) causing relative movement between the record medium and the interfering beam portions and repeating steps i) and ii) so that the real image is recorded at a plurality of locations or pixels on the record medium.

Inventors

  • 👤 Brian William Holmes
  • 👤 John David Wiltshire

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction US
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-09 22:16
CPC Classifications
G; G03; G03H; G03H1/00; G03H1/04; G03H1/0402; G03H1/0404; G03H2001/0439; G03H1/0465; G03H2001/0473; G03H1/0476; G03H2001/0482; G03H1/0493; G03H2001/0497; G03H2210/00; G03H2210/50; G03H2210/55; G03H2223/00; G03H2223/12; G03H2225/00; G03H2225/30; G03H2225/31; G03H2230/00; G03H2230/10

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim 154 words
A method of recording a surface relief microstructure in a record medium, the method comprising: i) causing a coherent reconstruction or replay beam to impinge on a holographic optical element assembly, the holographic optical element assembly including a holographic optical element (HOE), the assembly causing selected portions of the beam to interfere at a focal region after diffraction by the holographic optical element so as to reconstruct a real image of an aperture previously used to construct the HOE; ii) locating a record medium at the focal region so that the real image is recorded; and, iii) causing relative movement between the record medium and the interfering beam portions and repeating steps i) and ii) so that the real image is recorded at a plurality of locations or pixels on the record medium; wherein the holographic optical element assembly further includes an aperture mask for selecting the beam portions by defining suitable selecting apertures.
Claim 2
Independent Claim 154 words
A method of recording a surface relief microstructure in a record medium, the method comprising: i) causing a coherent reconstruction or replay beam to impinge on a holographic optical element assembly, the holographic optical element assembly including a holographic optical element (HOE), the assembly causing selected portions of the beam to interfere at a focal region after diffraction by the holographic optical element so as to reconstruct a real image of an aperture previously used to construct the HOE; ii) locating a record medium at the focal region so that the real image is recorded; and, iii) causing relative movement between the record medium and the interfering beam portions and repeating steps i) and ii) so that the real image is recorded at a plurality of locations or pixels on the record medium; wherein the holographic optical element assembly further includes an aperture mask for selecting the beam portions by defining suitable selecting apertures.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 28 words
A method according to claim 1 , wherein the holographic optical element is constructed so as to generate a real image of an aperture having a non-circular shape.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 20 words
A method according to claim 2 , wherein the aperture is in the shape of a polygon or an indicium.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 13 words
A method according to claim 1 , wherein the aperture is a pinhole.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 39 words
A method according to claim 1 , wherein the holographic optical element is constructed and illuminated such that the beam portions impinge on the record medium at angles on the same side of a normal to the record medium.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 22 words
A method according to claim 1 , wherein the aperture mask is a spatial light modulator such as a liquid crystal display.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 37 words
A method according to claim 1 , wherein the holographic optical element assembly further includes a diffraction grating and a screen arranged so that only first order diffracted beams from the diffraction grating pass through the HOE.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim 34 words
A method according to claim 1 , wherein only two portions of the beam impinge on the record medium, the portions lying in a plane substantially orthogonal to the plane of the record medium.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim 55 words
A method according to claim 1 , wherein only two portions of the beam impinge on the record medium, the portions lying in a plane which is rotated relative to the record medium for different locations such that resulting interference fringes are recorded in a range of directions of rotation relative to the record medium.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim 20 words
A method according to claim 1 , wherein more than two portions of the beam impinge on the record medium.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim 28 words
A method according to claim 10 , wherein, for a set of locations, a common reference beam portion is caused to interfere with respective different “object” beam portions.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim 71 words
A method according to claim 9 , wherein only two portions of the beam impinge on the record medium, the portions lying in a plane which is rotated relative to the record medium for different locations such that resulting interference fringes are recorded in a range of directions of rotation relative to the record medium, wherein the “object” beam portions originate from positions on the HOE around a reference beam position.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim 14 words
A method according to claim 1 , wherein the beam portions have different intensities.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim 25 words
A method according to claim 1 , further comprising recording a 3D holographic image into the record medium in register with the real image pixels.

References Cited (Backward Citations)

US3677634A Cited
US3630593A Cited
JPH0511454A Cited
US5615022A Cited
US6043913A Cited
US6606432B2 Cited

USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows

Annuity Stage Window Opens Payment Deadline Surcharge Period Until Estimated Fee Status
3.5 Years (Year 4) 2007-06-22 2007-12-22 2008-06-22 $2000.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8) 2011-06-22 2011-12-22 2012-06-22 $3760.00 Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12) 2015-06-22 2015-12-22 2016-06-22 $7700.00 Window Closed / Lapsed

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