Programmable optical computing device employing LED array transducers, non-quadratic phase optical elements, and stacked light modulator elements

摘要

A monolithic or hybrid integrated optical information processor or optical information processing system having a plurality of non-quadratic phase optical elements, at least one LED array, and plurality of light modulating array elements, each controlled by respective control signals, the system arranged so that each light modulating array element lies in a different plane. In some implementations, at least a portion of the resulting system is implemented in a stack of component materials. In an implementation, an LED array is used as an image source and another LED array is used as an image sensor to transform the processed image into an electrical output.

主权项

1. An integrated optical information processing system comprising:
an image source for providing optical image data, the image source comprising a light emitting diode (LED) array; a first non-quadratic phase optical element having a first side and a second side, the first non-quadratic phase optical element configured to accept the optical image data from the image source at the first side and to alter the optical image according to an imaging process, and to provide a first altered optical image from the second side of the first non-quadratic phase optical element; a plurality of light-modulating element arrays responsive to associated incoming light-modulating control signals associated with non-quadratic phase transfer functions, and adjacently stacked so that consecutive pairs of light-modulating element arrays are immediately adjacent with one another so as to form a stack with a first image passing surface at one edge of the stack and a second image passing surface at a second edge of the stack, the plurality of light-modulating element arrays arranged so that the first image passing surface receives the first altered optical image, the second image passing surface provides a second altered optical image; a second non-quadratic phase optical element arranged to receive the second altered optical image at a first of two sides; and an electronic image sensor facing the second of the two sides of the second non-quadratic phase optical element; wherein the optical image is directed through the first non-quadratic optical element, producing an optical field directed through the stacked plurality of light-modulating element arrays and subsequently directed through the second non-quadratic optical element and sensed by the electronic image sensor, the electronic image sensor to transform the second altered optical image into an electrical output.