LIGHT SOURCE WITH CONTROLLABLE LINEAR POLARISATION

摘要

A light source (11, 30, 40) having first and second wire-grid polarizers (63, 64) and a laser (31, 71) that emits a beam of linearly polarized light that is characterized by a propagation direction is disclosed. The first wire-grid polarization filter (63) is characterized by a first linear polarization pass direction and a first actuator (65) for causing the first linear polarization pass direction to rotate relative to the beam of linearly polarized light. The second wire-grid polarization filter (64) is characterized by a second linear polarization pass direction and a second actuator for causing the second linear polarization pass direction to rotate relative to the beam of linearly polarized light. A controller (29) sets the first and second linear polarization pass directions to provide linearly polarized light having a specified polarization direction.