Jonghoon Yi

Diode-pumped 100-W green Nd:YAG rod laser

We developed a diode-pumped high-average-power Nd:YAG green laser. By use of a monolithic diffusive reflector having three slits and a rod with low doping concentration, uniform distribution of excited Nd ions could be achieved. Uniform distribution in the rod reduced thermal birefringence. We employed a Z-shaped cavity to have a constant beam size at the frequency-doubling crystal independent of thermal lensing in the rod. The pulse width and green power dependence on the pump power were analyzed. A maximum green power of 101 W was obtained when the total pump power was 398 W. The optical-to-optical conversion efficiency was as high as 25.4%.

Cavity-Q-driven spectral shift in a cylindrical whispering-gallery-mode microcavity laser

Cavity-Q-driven spectral shift of lasing was observed in a cylindrical microcavity formed by rhodamine6G-doped quinoline in a capillary. The envelope of lasing spectrum showed a blueshift induced by the decreasing cavity Q of whispering gallery modes as the pump fluence increases. The thermally induced refractive index changes were measured from the shifts of individual lasing modes. The observed cavity-Q-driven spectral shift was well described by a simple dye laser model, which accounts for the dependence of cavity Q on the thermally induced refractive index change.

Improvement of Color and Luminance Uniformity of the Edge-Lit Backlight Using the RGB LEDs

The effect of the M-window color mixing bar on the characteristics of color mixing and hot spots in the edge-lit backlight employing red (R), green (G), blue (G) light emitting diodes (LED) were studied in terms of the structure of the M-window color mixing bar. The rays from RGB LEDs entering the M-window bar were mixed by internal reflection and scattering inside the M-window bar so that the hot spots and color separation were minimized. The M-window bar was designed and fabricated and the simulation results are matched quite well to experimental data.

Enhancement of the Optical Performance by Optimization of Optical Sheets in Direct-illumination LCD Backlight

The structure of the prism sheet and the reflective polarizer sheet in the direct - illumination liquid crystal display (LCD) backlight is optimized and fabricated. The apex angle of the prism sheet was changed from 90 degree to 96.5 and 101.5 degree and the angular spread of the diffuser films attached on the reflective polarizer sheet was changed from 7 to 1.5 degrees. The measured view angle, the normal luminance, and the contrast ratio from the optimized backlight unit showed improved optical performances.

Efficient diffusive reflector-type diode side-pumped Nd:YAG rod laser with an optical slope efficiency of 55%

We fabricated a compact diode side-pumped Nd:YAG laser with a diffusive reflector, in which the diode laser power is transferred directly into the threefold symmetric diffusive cavity through long narrow slits. With a 7.5% output coupler in a linear resonator, we obtained 62.4-W multimode output power with an optical slope efficiency of 53.4% at a diode power of 182 W, which corresponds to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 34.3%. The optical slope efficiency increased to 55.5% when we used an 11% output coupler. From the leakage power analysis method, the pumping efficiency was measured to be approximately 82%. We discuss the thermal lens and the slope efficiency with respect to absorbed power that is derived from the measured pumping efficiency.

Single-cell gap-transflective liquid crystal display using two optical modes of a bistable liquid crystal

We present a single-cell gap-transflective liquid crystal display (LCD) characterized by a π cell having bulk-type liquid crystal (LC) bistability and an optical film configuration. The π cell has two stable states, which are a twisted and a nontwisted LC state. We used the twisted LC state for the reflective part connected with nonpatterned electrodes, producing a vertical field in the proposed transflective LCD. Also the nontwisted LC state was for the transmissive part with interdigitated patterned electrodes driving an in-plane field in the device. The simulated and experimental results show good electro-optical characteristics in both the reflective and transmissive parts.

Flexible Reflective Color Displays using Thermochromic Pigments

This research presents a flexible reflective thermochromic display (TCD) comprised of thermochromic pigments and a patterned indium tin oxide (ITO) film coated on a polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate, and the displays thermo-optical characteristics. The display showed maximum red, green, and blue reflectances of 30%, 38%, and 29%, respectively. Furthermore, the display exhibited a continuous grey color when the temperature was changed continuously. As a flexible display, the display showed reliable thermo-optical performance without image damage even when highly bent. We expect the proposed TCD will be used in outdoor information display applications where low cost is a key factor.

Electro-optical characteristics of two domain normally black-electrically controlled birefringence mode

A normally black ECB mode with two domains is presented to improve the low contrast ratio of the conventional, normally white, electrically controlled birefringence [ECB] and gray inversion of twist nematic [TN] modes. This system requires a λ/2 plate to compensate for optical phase retardation at the liquid crystal layer, and a good dark state is then obtained under no-field, indicating a high contrast ratio. The two domain structure to improve the gray inversion was obtained using the ion beam alignment technique. The simulated and measured results showed that the proposed mode can improve the gray inversion and contrast ratio considerably, compared to the TN mode and normally white ECB mode.

Intracavity frequency doubling of a slab Nd:YAG laser pumped by high power diode laser array

A high power diode-array-pumped slab Nd:YAG laser is described. The resonator consists of three mirrors in folded geometry. The laser is operated in acousto-optic Q-switching mode and intracavity frequency doubling is tried. We demonstrate that the laser exhibits frequency doubling efficiency of ∼60% with a type I LBO crystal.

Effect of Laser Beam Trajectory on Donor Plate in Laser Induced Thermal Printing Process

Organic (Alq3) film, which was coated on a donor plate, was transferred to an organic light emitting diode (OLED) substrate with help of heat generated by a dithering laser beam. The laser beam was diffracted in an acousto-optic modulator (AOM), then focused on the laser-to-heat converting layer of the donor plate; the focused spot followed trajectories guided by rotation of a Galvano-mirror. Three different functional waveforms, sine wave, square wave, and saw tooth wave were applied to the AOM as modulation signal to generate the dithering beam. The fluorescence microscope images of the donor plate showed that the patterns of removed Alq3 film were affected considerably by the modulation waveforms and the phase difference between adjacent dithering beams. Further, the printed images of Alq3 film on the OLED substrate were different from the patterns of removed Alq3 film. Atomic force microscope images indicated that not only direct transfer but also deposition by sublimated vapor of Alq3 contributed to the pattern formation. Printed patterns affected considerably the electricity-to-light conversion characteristics of OLEDs. For uniform transfer, not only the phase relation of dithering beam lines but also adequate waveform were important.