US 11,982,567 B2
Light field relay having a microlens array, a transducer array, and an output optics array
Mark E. Lucente, Austin, TX (US); Chris W. Mann, Austin, TX (US); John Sarik, Austin, TX (US); and Zhongjian Hu, Austin, TX (US)
Assigned to Nanohmics, INC., Austin, TX (US)
Filed by Nanohmics, Inc., Austin, TX (US)
Filed on Jan. 25, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/159,202.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/304,583, filed on Jan. 29, 2022.
Prior Publication US 2023/0243696 A1, Aug. 3, 2023
Int. Cl. G02B 3/00 (2006.01); G01J 1/44 (2006.01)
CPC G01J 1/44 (2013.01) [G02B 3/0056 (2013.01)] 19 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A light field relay comprising:
a plurality of microlenses;
a plurality of transducers, wherein each microlens in the plurality of microlenses is coupled to a corresponding different subset of the plurality of transducers and is configured to focus one or more selected portions of an incident light field to the corresponding different subset, and wherein each transducer in the corresponding different subset is positioned and configured to receive and transduce light from a single selected portion of the one or more selected portions of the incident light field focused by the coupled microlens and comprises a detector electrically coupled to an emitter, the detector being positioned between the coupled microlens and the emitter; and,
a plurality of output optics, each output optic in the plurality of output optics comprising a collimating lens, wherein each transducer in the corresponding different subset is associated with a corresponding different output optic in the plurality of output optics, the corresponding different output optic being positioned to receive transduced light from the emitter of the associated transducer and configured to substantially collimate the received, transduced light and to emit the substantially collimated light, and wherein the substantially collimated, emitted light has a direction of travel that is substantially the same as the direction of travel of the single selected portion and has an irradiance that is amplified in comparison to the irradiance of the single selected portion.