A Three-Color, Solid-State, Three-Dimensional Display
Elizabeth Downing,
*
Lambertus Hesselink,
John Ralston,
Roger Macfarlane
A three-color, solid-state, volumetric display based on two-step,
two-frequency upconversion in rare earth-doped heavy metal fluoride
glass is described. The device uses infrared laser beams that intersect
inside a transparent volume of active optical material to address red,
green, and blue voxels by sequential two-step resonant absorption.
Three-dimensional wire-frame images, surface areas, and solids are
drawn by scanning the point of intersection of the lasers around inside
of the material. The prototype device is driven with laser diodes, uses
conventional focusing optics and mechanical scanners, and is bright
enough to be seen in ambient room lighting conditions.
![[Data]](/icons/data.gif)
QuickTime movie of the three-dimensional display.
E. Downing is in the Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford
University, Stanford, CA 94305 and at 3D Technology Laboratories, Post
Office Box 114, 200 Blossom Lane, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA. L. Hesselink is in the Electrical Engineering Department, Stanford
University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. J. Ralston is at SDL Corporation,
90 Rose Orchard Way, San Jose, CA 95134, USA. R. Macfarlane is at IBM
Almaden Research Center, 650 Harry Road, San Jose, CA 95120, USA.
*
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail:
3dlabs{at}pipeline.com
