Optically Addressable Light Valves (“OALV”) are devices used to control the spatial shape of laser beams. The amount of light required to operate the OALV is so high that it degrades device performance and longevity. What is needed is a method to reduce the light intensity to extend the life of these devices.
The approach is to use appropriately doped semi-insulating gallium nitride to provide a high damage tolerant photoconductor with high responsivity to various pump wavelength light. Mn, C, or Fe are used as dopants to provide a source of electrons or holes that can be excited. This is combined with the use of dichroic antireflection coating at the GaN/polyimide/liquid crystal interface to enable a “double pass” of light through the photoconductor.
Image Caption: GaN:C OALV (left) and GaN:Mn (right)
Current stage of technology development: TRL 3
LLNL has filed for patent protection on this invention.
Value Proposition: Less operating costs relative to other OALVs
• Damage mitigation for high value optics
• Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing (PBF-AM)
• Thermal management for other optical devices
