ITN Energy Systems/CSM Invention Enhances Polarization Imaging

January 18, 2012

LITTLETON, Colo.--A team from ITN Energy Systems (ITNES) and the Colorado School of Mines (CSM) has developed a new new circular polarization filter that has the potential to aid in early cancer detection, enhance vision through dust and clouds, and improve a viewer's 3D movie experience.

Polarization is the process wherein rays of light exhibit different properties in different directions, but especially the state in which all the vibration or frequency of the light takes place in one visual plane. “A wealth of knowledge is contained in the polarization information of light and accurately measuring this state of light has a number of interesting applications,” said Mines physics professor David Flammer. When measuring the different properties of light, the naked eye can see in color but cannot differentiate between different polarizations. It is those specific light measurements that provide the unique benefits of this new technology.

What makes getting that wealth of information relatively effortless is what this new filter is all about according to ITN researcher Dr. Russell Hollingsworth: “This is by far the easiest circular micropolarizer to fabricate, which lets us measure all of the properties of light using a simple camera.” This innovation allows users to measure the polarization state of light quickly and efficiently, enabling some interesting applications. One would be to provide the US Military with better target tracking in poor visibility conditions. When light passes through dust or clouds, it typically is polarized in a certain way. ITN/CSM's new technology significantly improves the ability to “see through” these obscurants and more accurately follow the target.

Another important application is biological detection that exploits the concept that an object does not look the same if you rotate it 180 degrees. By detecting the circular polarization of biological materials such as DNA, the helix structure's properties can be analyzed to identify tissue anomalies.

And if that's not enough, this new invention promises improvements in the glasses you wear when enjoying a 3D movie. The circular polarizer enables light filtering in one easy step (removing previously required multilayer elements) and eliminates 3D picture distortion due to lens tilt.

Prof. Flammer and Dr. Hollingsworth, along with Mines physics researchers Katherine Bachman, Jonathan Peltzer, Reuben Collins, and Tom Furtak recently published these findings in “Spiral plasmonic nanoantennas as circular polarization transmission filters” in Optics Express, a journal of The Optical Society.

This work was made possible by a grant from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research.

About ITN Energy Systems:
After working for more than 20 years in aerospace industry, Dr. Mohan Misra founded ITN Energy Systems, Inc. (ITNES) in 1994 to bring aerospace know-how to the commercial marketplace. ITN's primary mission is to identify, develop, and commercialize emerging technologies for defense and commercial markets by establishing successful spinoffs, joint ventures, or licensing arrangements. ITNES focuses on developing advanced products and technologies that address the needs of today‘s competitive business environment, which is driven by the technology revolution. ITNES has built a diverse and growing technology portfolio for CleanTech including energy generation and storage, energy efficiency, and environment applications, which has provided ITNES with an unprecedented growth opportunity in the past as well as in the future. Since 1996, ITNES has successfully spun off four companies: Global Solar Energy, Infinite Power Solutions, Microsat Systems and Ascent Solar Technologies. For more information on ITN Energy Systems, please visit www.itnes.com.

More News