WO1997026569A2 - Method and apparatus for using an array of grating light valves to produce multicolor optical images - Google Patents

Method and apparatus for using an array of grating light valves to produce multicolor optical images Download PDF

Info

Publication number
WO1997026569A2
WO1997026569A2 PCT/US1997/000854 US9700854W WO9726569A2 WO 1997026569 A2 WO1997026569 A2 WO 1997026569A2 US 9700854 W US9700854 W US 9700854W WO 9726569 A2 WO9726569 A2 WO 9726569A2
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
subpixel
grating elements
pixel unit
light
grating
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1997/000854
Other languages
French (fr)
Other versions
WO1997026569A3 (en
Inventor
David M. Bloom
Andrew Huibers
Original Assignee
The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University filed Critical The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University
Priority to AT97904813T priority Critical patent/ATE217094T1/en
Priority to EP97904813A priority patent/EP0875010B1/en
Priority to DE69712311T priority patent/DE69712311T2/en
Priority to JP52625497A priority patent/JP4053598B2/en
Priority to CA002243347A priority patent/CA2243347C/en
Publication of WO1997026569A2 publication Critical patent/WO1997026569A2/en
Publication of WO1997026569A3 publication Critical patent/WO1997026569A3/en

Links

Classifications

    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B81MICROSTRUCTURAL TECHNOLOGY
    • B81BMICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS, e.g. MICROMECHANICAL DEVICES
    • B81B3/00Devices comprising flexible or deformable elements, e.g. comprising elastic tongues or membranes
    • B81B3/0002Arrangements for avoiding sticking of the flexible or moving parts
    • B81B3/001Structures having a reduced contact area, e.g. with bumps or with a textured surface
    • GPHYSICS
    • G02OPTICS
    • G02BOPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B26/00Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements
    • G02B26/08Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the direction of light
    • G02B26/0808Optical devices or arrangements for the control of light using movable or deformable optical elements for controlling the direction of light by means of one or more diffracting elements
    • GPHYSICS
    • G02OPTICS
    • G02BOPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS
    • G02B5/00Optical elements other than lenses
    • G02B5/18Diffraction gratings
    • G02B5/1828Diffraction gratings having means for producing variable diffraction
    • BPERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B81MICROSTRUCTURAL TECHNOLOGY
    • B81CPROCESSES OR APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR TREATMENT OF MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVICES OR SYSTEMS
    • B81C2201/00Manufacture or treatment of microstructural devices or systems
    • B81C2201/11Treatments for avoiding stiction of elastic or moving parts of MEMS
    • B81C2201/115Roughening a surface

Definitions

  • This invention relates generally to display apparatus for producing optical images, and more particularly to a method and apparatus using an array of sets of grating light valves and a plurality of colored light sources to provide a multicolor image that can be directly viewed or projected onto a screen.
  • This invention was made with Government support under contract DAAL03-88-K-0120 awarded by the U.S. Army Research Office. The Government has certain rights in this invention.
  • SLM spatial light modulator
  • SLMs have seen many different applications from display technology to optical signal processing.
  • SLMs have been used as optical correlators (e.g., pattern recognition devices, programmable holograms), optical matrix processors (e.g., matrix multipliers, optical cross-bar switches with broadcast capabilities, optical neural networks, radar beam forming) , digital optical architectures (e.g., highly parallel optical computers) and displays.
  • optical correlators e.g., pattern recognition devices, programmable holograms
  • optical matrix processors e.g., matrix multipliers, optical cross-bar switches with broadcast capabilities, optical neural networks, radar beam forming
  • digital optical architectures e.g., highly parallel optical computers
  • SLMs with characteristics such as: high resolution, high speed (kHz frame rates) , good gray scale high contrast ratio or modulation depth, optical flatness, VLSI compatible, easy handling capability and low cost.
  • characteristics such as: high resolution, high speed (kHz frame rates) , good gray scale high contrast ratio or modulation depth, optical flatness, VLSI compatible, easy handling capability and low cost.
  • no one SLM design can satisfy all the above requirements.
  • different types of SLMs have been developed for different applications, often resulting in trade-offs.
  • a color video imaging system utilizing a cathode ray device with a target comprising an array of electrostatically deflectable light valves is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,896,338 to Nathanson et al ⁇
  • the light valve structure and the arrangement of light valves as an array permits sequential activation of the light valves in response to a specific primary color video signal.
  • the light valves are arranged in three element groupings, and a schlieren optical means is provided having respective primary color transmissive portions through which the light reflected from the deflected light valves is passed to permit projection of a color image upon a display screen.
  • Texas Instruments has developed a “Deformable Mirror Device (DMD) " that utilizes an electromechanical means of deflecting an optical beam. The mechanical motions needed for the operation of the DMD result in bandwidths limited to tens of kilohertz. However, this device generally provides better contrast ratios than the technologies previously described, provides acceptable "high resolution” and is compatible with conventional semiconductor processing techniques, such as CMOS. Nematic and ferroelectric liquid crystals have also been used as the active layer in several SLMs.
  • Fiber optic modulators are electronically controlled devices that modulate light intensity and are designed to be compatible with optical fibers.
  • lithium niobate (LiNb0 3 ) traveling wave modulators represent the state- of-the-art, but there is a need for low power, high efficiency, low loss, inexpensive fiber optic modulators, that can be integrated with silicon sensors and electronics, for data acquisition and medical applications.
  • a typical use of a modulator combined with fiber optic technology is a data acquisition system on an airplane which consists of a central data processing unit that gathers data from remote sensors.
  • fiber optics provide an ideal communication medium between the processor and the sensors which produce an electrical output that must be converted to an optical signal for transmission. The most efficient way to do this is to have a continuous wave laser at the processor and a modulator operating in reflection at the sensor. In this configuration, it is also possible to deliver power to the sensor over the fiber.
  • the modulator should operate with high contrast and low insertion loss to maximize the signal to noise ratio and have low power consumption. It should further be compatible with silicon technology because the sensors and signal conditioning electronics used in these systems are largely implemented in silicon.
  • modulator combined with fiber optic technology
  • optical fibers are preferred to electrical cables because of their galvanic isolation, and any modulator used in these applications should exhibit high contrast combined with low insertion loss because of signal to noise considerations.
  • the modulator must be integratable with silicon sensors and electronics.
  • Modulators based on the electro-optic, Franz-Keldysh, Quantum-Confined-Stark or annier-Stark effect in III-V semiconductors have high contrast and low insertion loss, but are expensive and not compatible with silicon devices.
  • Waveguide modulators employing glass or epi-layers on silicon require too much area and too complex fabrication to be easily integratable with other silicon devices.
  • An object of the present invention is thus to provide a novel display apparatus using grating light valve modulators that respond to electronic input signals and generate images that can be viewed directly or projected onto a viewing screen.
  • Another object of this invention is to provide a light- modulating display device that exhibits the following characteristics: high resolution, high speed (kHz frame rates) , high contrast ratio or modulation depth, optical flatness, VLSI compatible, easy handling capability and low cost .
  • a further object of this invention is to provide a light- modulating, visual image-generating device that has a tolerance for high optical power and good optical throughput.
  • a presently preferred embodiment of this invention includes a visual image-generating device comprised of an array of grating light valves (GLVs) organized to form light-modulating pixel units for spatially modulating incident rays of light.
  • the pixel units are comprised of three subpixel components, each including a plurality of elongated, equally spaced apart reflective grating elements arranged parallel to each other with their light-reflective surfaces also parallel to each other.
  • Each subpixel component includes means for supporting the grating elements in relation to one another wherein alternate elements are configured to be movable relative to other elements which are non-movable, and between a first configuration wherein the component acts to reflect incident rays of light as a plane mirror, and a second configuration wherein the component diffracts the incident rays of light as they are reflected from the grating elements .
  • the three subpixel components of each pixel unit are designed such that when red, green and blue light sources are trained on the array, colored light diffracted by particular subpixel components operating in the second configuration will be directed through a viewing aperture, and light simply reflected from particular subpixel components operating in the first configuration will not be directed through the viewing aperture.
  • One embodiment of the invention includes an array of deformable grating light valves with grating amplitudes that can be controlled electronically, and is comprised of a reflective substrate with a plurality of the deformable grating elements suspended above it.
  • the deformable grating elements are implemented in silicon technology, using micromachining and sacrificial etching of thin films to fabricate the gratings.
  • the gratings are formed by lithographically etching a film made of silicon nitride, aluminum, silicon dioxide or any other material which can be lithographically etched.
  • Circuitry for addressing and multiplexing the light valves is fabricated on the same silicon substrate and is thus directly integrated with the light-modulating mechanisms.
  • Direct integration with electronics provides an important advantage over non-silicon based technologies like liquid crystal oil-film light valves and electro-optic SLMs, because the device can be made smaller and with greater accuracy.
  • the device demonstrates simplicity of fabrication and can be manufactured with only a few lithographic steps.
  • a further advantage of the present invention is that since the grating light valves utilize diffraction rather than deflection of the light beam as the modulating mechanism, the required mechanical motions are reduced from several microns (as in deformable mirror devices) to tenths of a micron, thus allowing for a potential three orders of magnitude increase in operational speed over other SLM technology. This speed is comparable to the fastest liquid crystal modulators, but without the same complexity in the manufacturing process.
  • a still further advantage of the present invention is that it provides a miniature means for converting video data to an optical image that can be viewed directly, or can be projected onto a screen or film, or the data can be coupled into a fiberoptic cable for optical transmission to a remote location.
  • FIG. 1 is an isometric, partially cut-away view of a single grating light valve or modulator;
  • FIGS. 2 (a) - (d) are cross-sections through a silicon substrate illustrating the manufacturing process of the modulator illustrated in FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of the modulator of FIG. 1 in its "non-diffracting" mode;
  • FIG. 4 illustrates the operation of the modulator of FIG. 3 in its "diffracting” mode;
  • FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of the modulation of a laser beam by the modulator of FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 6 is an illustration of one way in which one modulator can be combined with other modulators to form a complex modulator;
  • FIG. 1 is an isometric, partially cut-away view of a single grating light valve or modulator;
  • FIGS. 2 (a) - (d) are cross-sections through a silicon substrate illustrating the manufacturing process of the modulator illustrated in FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 7 illustrates the operation of the modulator in the modulation of white light to produce colored light
  • FIG. 8 is a cross-section similar to that in FIG. 3, illustrating an alternative embodiment of the modulator in its "non-diffracting" mode
  • FIG. 9 is a cross-section similar to that in FIG. 4, illustrating the modulator of FIG. 8 in its "diffracting" mode
  • FIG. 10 is a pictorial view illustrating a further embodiment of a modulator
  • FIG. 11 is a cross-section taken along line 11-11 in FIG. 10
  • FIGS. 12a to 20 are sections illustrating further embodiments of the modulator
  • FIGS. 21, 22 and 28 are schematic diagrams illustrating embodiments of the present invention using either a white light source or colored light sources
  • FIGS. 23-26 illustrate arrays of three color pixel units and show several alternative grating element configurations in accordance with the present invention
  • FIG. 27 is a partially broken perspective view of a pager-style communication device in accordance with the present invention
  • the grating light valve (GLV) or modulator is generally indicated at 10 in FIG. 1.
  • the modulator 10 includes a number of elongated beam-like elements 18 which define a grating that, as will be later explained, can be used to spatially modulate an incident light beam.
  • the elements 18 are formed integrally with an encompassing frame 21 which provides a relatively rigid supporting structure and maintains the tensile stress within the elongated elements 18.
  • This structure defines a grating 20 which is supported by a partially etched silicon dioxide film 12 at a predetermined distance of 213 nm above the surface of a silicon substrate 16.
  • each of the elements 18 are 213 nm thick and are suspended a distance of 213 nm clear of the substrate 16. This means that the distance from the top of each element to the top of the substrate is 426 nm. This distance is known as the grating amplitude.
  • One method of fabricating the modulator 10 is illustrated in FIG. 2(a) - (d) .
  • the first step, as illustrated in FIG. 2(a) is the deposition of an insulating layer 11 made of stoichiometric silicon nitride topped with a buffer layer of silicon dioxide.
  • the low-stress silicon nitride film 14 is achieved by incorporating extra silicon (beyond the stoichiometric balance) into the film, during the deposition process. This reduces the tensile stress in the silicon nitride film to roughly 200 MPa.
  • the silicon nitride film 14 is lithographically patterned and dry-etched into a grid of grating elements in the form of elongated beam-like elements 18.
  • a peripheral silicon nitride frame 21 remains around the entire perimeter of the upper surface of the silicon substrate 16.
  • all of the elements are of the same dimension and are arranged parallel to one another with the spacing between adjacent elements equal to the width thereof. Depending on the design of the modulator, however, elements could typically be 1, 1.5 or 2 ⁇ m wide with a length that ranges from lO ⁇ m to 120 ⁇ m.
  • the sacrificial silicon dioxide film 12 is etched in hydrofluoric acid, resulting in the configuration illustrated in FIG. 2(c) .
  • each element 18 now forms a free standing silicon nitride bridge, 213 nm thick, which is suspended a distance of 213 nm (this being the thickness of the etched away sacrificial film 12) clear of the silicon substrate.
  • the silicon dioxide film 12 is not entirely etched away below the frame 21, and so the frame is supported, at a distance of 213 nm, above the silicon substrate 16 by this remaining portion of the silicon dioxide film 12.
  • the elements 18 are stretched within the frame and kept straight by the tensile stress imparted to the silicon nitride film 14 during the deposition of that film.
  • FIG. 2(d) is sputtering, through a stencil mask, of a 50 nm thick aluminum film 22 to enhance the reflectance of both the elements 18 and the substrate 16 and to provide a first electrode for applying a voltage between the elements and the substrate.
  • a second electrode is formed by sputtering an aluminum film 24, of similar thickness, onto the base of the silicon substrate 16.
  • the grating amplitude of 426 nm is therefore equal to half of the wavelength of the incident light with the result that the total path length difference for the light reflected from the elements and from the substrate equals the wavelength of the incident light. Consequently, light reflected from the elements and from the substrate add in phase and the modulator 10 acts to reflect the light as a flat mirror.
  • the grating amplitude of 426 nm is therefore equal to half of the wavelength of the incident light with the result that the total path length difference for the light reflected from the elements and from the substrate equals the wavelength of the incident light. Consequently, light reflected from the elements and from the substrate add in phase and the modulator 10 acts to reflect the light as a flat mirror.
  • the electrostatic forces pull the elements 18 down onto the substrate 16, with the result that the distance between the top of the elements and the top of the substrate is now 213 nm.
  • the total path length difference for the light reflected from the elements and from the substrate is now one half of the wavelength (426 nm) of the incident light and the reflections interfere destructively, causing the light to be diffracted, as indicated at 28.
  • this modulator is used in combination with a system, for detecting the diffracted light, which has a numerical aperture sized to detect one order of diffracted light from the grating e.g., the zero order, it can be used to modulate the reflected light with high contrast.
  • the electrical, optical and mechanical characteristics of a number of modulators, similar in design to the modulator illustrated above but of different dimensions were investigated by using a Helium Neon laser (of 633 nm wavelength) focused to a spot size of 36 ⁇ m on the center portion of each modulator.
  • This spot size is small enough so that the curvature of the elements in the region where the modulator was illuminated can be neglected, but is large enough to allow the optical wave to be regarded as a plane wave and covering enough grating periods to give good separation between the zero and first order diffraction modes resulting from the operation of the modulator. It was discovered that grating periods (i.e., the distance between the centerlines of two adjacent elements in the grating) of 2,3 and 4 ⁇ m and a wavelength of 633 nm resulted in first order diffraction angles of 18D, 14D and 9D respectively.
  • One of these first order diffracted light beams was produced by using a grating modulator with 120 ⁇ m-long and 1.5 ⁇ m-wide elements at atmospheric pressure together with a HeNe light beam modulated at a bit rate of 500 kHz detected by a low-noise photoreceiver and viewed on an oscilloscope.
  • the resulting display screen 27 of the oscilloscope is illustrated in FIG. 5.
  • the resonant frequency of the grating elements should first be considered.
  • the resonant frequency of the mechanical structure of the diffraction grating of the modulator was measured by driving the modulator with a step function and observing the ringing frequency.
  • the area of the aluminum on the modulator is roughly 0.2 cm , which corresponds to an RC limited 3-dB bandwidth of 1 MHz with roughly 100 ohms of series resistance.
  • This large RC time constant slowed down the step function, however, enough power existed at the resonant frequency to excite vibrations, even in the shorter elements.
  • the Q-factor was too low (approximately 1.5) for accurate measurements, so the measurements were made at a pressure of 150 mbar. At this pressure, the Q-factor rose to 8.6, demonstrating that air resistance is the major damping mechanism, for a grating of this nature, in a normal atmosphere.
  • the range of bandwidths for these gratings is therefore from 1.8 MHz for the deformable grating modulator with 120 ⁇ m long elements to 6.1 MHz for the deformable grating modulator with 40 ⁇ m long elements.
  • a contrast of 16dB for the 120 ⁇ m-long bridges could be observed.
  • modulation depth is taken to mean the ratio of the change in optical intensity to peak intensity.
  • the input (lower trace 29a) on the screen 27 represents a pseudo-random bit stream switching between 0 and -2.7 V across a set of grating devices on a 1 cm by 1 cm die.
  • the observed switching transient with an initial fast part followed by a RC dominated part is caused by the series resistance of the deformable grating modulator, which is comparable to a 50 ohm source resistance.
  • the output (upper trace 29b) on the screen corresponds to the optical output of a low-noise photoreceiver detecting the first diffraction order of the grating used.
  • the output (upper trace 29b) from the photoreceiver is inverted relative to the light detected from the deformable grating and is high when the elements are relaxed and low when the elements are deflected.
  • the switching voltage was found to be 3.2 V for gratings with 120 ⁇ m long elements and, if it is assumed that tension dominates the restoring forces, the switching voltage is inversely proportional to the element length and therefore, the predicted switching voltage for 40 ⁇ m long elements will be 9.6 V.
  • the importance of the switching voltage is that below this voltage, the deformable grating modulator can be operated in an analog fashion, however, if a voltage greater than the switching voltage is applied to the modulator it acts in a digital manner. Nonetheless, it is important to note that operating the modulator to the point of contact is desirable from an applications point of view, because as discussed above when the elements are deflected electrostatically, an instability exists once the element deflection goes beyond the one-third point.
  • This latching feature gives the modulator the advantages of an active matrix design without the need for active components.
  • a further advantage of this latching feature is that once the element has “latched” it requires only a very small “holding voltage”, much smaller than the original applied voltage, to keep the element in its latched configuration. This feature is particularly valuable in low power applications where efficient use of available power is very important.
  • the use of the modulator of this invention in displays requires high yield integration of individual modulator units into 2-D arrays such as that illustrated in FIG. 6. This figure shows a plurality of contiguous grating modulator units which can be' used to provide a gray-scale operation.
  • Each of the individual modulators consists of a different number of elements, and gray-scale can be obtained by addressing each modulator in a binary-weighted manner.
  • the hysteresis characteristic for latching (as described above) can be used to provide gray-scale variation without analog control of the voltage supplied to individual grating modulator elements.
  • FIG. 7 the use of the GLV, in combination with other gratings (GLVs) , for modulating white light to produce colored light is illustrated. This approach takes advantage of the ability of a GLV to separate or disperse a light spectrum into its constituent colors.
  • FIGS. 8 and 9 an alternative embodiment of the diffraction modulator 30 of the invention is illustrated.
  • the modulator 30 consists of a plurality of equally spaced, equally sized, fixed elements 32 and a plurality of equally spaced, equally sized, movable beam-like elements 34 in which the movable elements 34 lie in the spaces between the fixed elements 32.
  • Each fixed element 32 is supported on and held in position by a body of supporting material 36 which runs the entire length of the fixed element 32.
  • the bodies of material 36 are formed during a lithographic etching process in which the material between the bodies 36 is removed. As can be seen from FIG.
  • the fixed elements 32 are arranged to be coplanar with the movable elements 34 and present a flat upper surface which is coated with a reflective layer 38.
  • the modulator 30 acts as a flat mirror when it reflects incident light, however, when a voltage is applied between the elements and an electrode 40 at the base of the modulator 30 the movable elements 34 move downwards as is illustrated in FIG. 9.
  • the resultant forces on the elements 34 and, therefore, the amount of deflection of the movable elements 34 can be varied.
  • this modulator 41 consists of a sacrificial silicon dioxide film 42, a silicon nitride film 44 and a substrate 46.
  • the substrate 46 has no reflective layer formed thereon and only the silicon nitride film 44 has a reflective coating 45 formed thereon.
  • the deformable elements 48 are coplanar in their undeformed state and lie close to one another so that together they provide a substantially flat reflective surface.
  • the elements 48 are, however, formed with a neck 50 at either end, which is off-center of the longitudinal center line of each of the elements 48.
  • each element 48 When a uniformly distributed force, as a result of an applied voltage for example, is applied to the elements 48 the resultant force F, for each element 48, will act at the geometric center 52 of that element.
  • Each resultant force F is off-set from the axis of rotation 54 (which coincides with the centeriine of each neck 50) , resulting a moment of rotation or torque being applied to each element 48.
  • This causes a rotation of each element 48 about its axis 54 to the position 48' indicated in broken lines. This is known as "blazing" a diffraction grating. As can be seen from FIG.
  • FIGS. 12 (a) - (c) The basic fabrication procedure of yet another embodiment of the modulator 68 is illustrated in FIGS. 12 (a) - (c) .
  • 132 nm of silicon dioxide layer 70 followed by 132 nm of silicon nitride layer 72 are deposited on a boron-doped wafer 74 using low pressure chemical vapor deposition techniques.
  • the tensile stress in the silicon nitride layer 72 ranges from 40 to 800 MPa, depending on the ratio of the dichlorosilane and ammonia gases present during the deposition process. Tensile stress effects the performance of the modulator of the invention as higher tensile stress results in stiffer elements and, therefore, faster switching speeds but also requires higher voltages to operate the modulator.
  • a photoresist (not shown) is layered onto the silicon nitride layer 72 and patterned after which the silicon nitride layer 72 is dry-etched down to the silicon dioxide layer 70 (FIG. 12(a)) .
  • the oxide layer 70 is also partially dry-etched as shown in FIG. 12(b) . Then the photoresist is stripped.
  • Photoresist removal is followed by a buffered oxide etch which isotropically undercuts the silicon dioxide 70 from beneath the silicon nitride. Since the nitride frame (not shown) is wider than the remaining nitride elements 76, some oxide is left beneath it to act as an oxide spacer. Processing is completed when 30 nm layer of aluminum is evaporated onto the elements 76 and the substrate 74 to form the top and bottom electrodes and to enhance the reflectivity. Typically the elongated elements formed by this process would be either 1.0, 1.25 or 1.50 ⁇ m wide, which respectively can be used for blue, green and red light modulators. It is possible that, when the released element structures are dried, the surface tension forces of the solvents could bring the elements down and cause them to stick.
  • the elements when the modulators are operated the elements could come down into intimate contact with the substrate and stick.
  • Various methods could be used to prevent the sticking of the nitride elements to the substance: freeze-drying, dry etching of a photoresist-acetone sacrificial layer, and OTS monolayer treatments. These techniques seek to limit stiction by reducing the strength of the sticking-specific-force (that is, force per unit of contact area) .
  • the use of stiffer elements by using shorter elements and tenser nitride films, is possible.
  • contact area can be reduced by patterning lines 79 on the substrate or on the bottoms of the elements. These lines 79 are typically 1 ⁇ m wide, 200A high and spaced at 5 ⁇ m centers. As shown, the lines are arranged perpendicular to the direction of the elements and located on the substrate. Alternatively the lines could be parallel to the direction of the elements.
  • the procedure is to first pattern and dry etch a blank silicon wafer. Then a low temperature oxide layer 80 or other planar film is deposited followed by processing as above to yield the configuration in FIG. 13(b) . A different way of obtaining the same result is illustrated in FIGS.
  • FIGS. 15 (a) -(c) Yet another method of reducing the geometric area of contacting surfaces is illustrated in FIGS. 15 (a) -(c) . After photoresist removal (FIG. 15(a)) , a second layer 100 of about 50 nm nitride is deposited. As shown in FIG.
  • this second layer also coats the side-walls, such that a following anisotropic plasma etch which removes all of the second layer nitride 100 in the vertically exposed areas, leaves at least one side-wall 102 that extends below the bottom of each nitride element 104. It is at this point that the buffered oxide etch can be done to release the elements to yield the structure of FIG. 15(c) . With the side-wall spacer acting as inverted rails for lateral support, contact surfaces are minimized preventing sticking. In operation, it is believed that the elements, when deformed downwards, will only contact the substrate at the areas of the downwardly protruding rails.
  • the adhesion forces are proportional to the area in contact, they are substantially reduced by this configuration resulting in operational gratings with elements having a tensile stress on the order 200 MPa and being up to 30 ⁇ m long.
  • the rail structures also operate to maintain optically flat surfaces and have the advantage of not requiring additional masking steps during their manufacture. Sticking can also be addressed by changing the materials of the areas that will come into contact. It is thought that although the level of sticking between different materials will be similar, the surface roughness of films differs significantly, effectively changing the contact area.
  • One method of achieving this is that the element material can be changed to polycrystalline silicon. This material will have to be annealed to make it tensile. It can also use silicon dioxide as its sacrificial layer underneath.
  • Another method is to use a metallic element material (e.g. aluminum) and an organic polymer such as polyamide as the sacrificial layer.
  • Yet another method is to use polymorphic element material. This results in an initial multilayer structure which can be patterned, as described in FIGS. 16 (a) -16(c) to form a element structure mostly made of silicon nitride but which has contact areas of other engineered materials. This is done by: (i) First depositing a substrate 108 covering layer 110 with low or high-stress silicon nitride or fine- or course- grained polymorphic element material. This layer should be approximately lOOA and acts as a first (lower) contact surface. (ii) Depositing a layer 112 of low temperature oxide at 400°C.
  • the oxide layer 120 is only partially removed by timing the etch to leave a thin column 124 of material supporting the structures from underneath (see FIG. 17(c) ) . Thereafter the wafers are placed back into a selective tungsten deposition chamber to get a layer 126 of tungsten covering the exposed silicon areas but not on the oxide columns 124 nor on the silicon nitride elements 128. After depositing a thin layer 126 of tungsten as a new contact area, the oxide etch can be continued to fully release the elements 128 which, when deflected will come down onto a tungsten base. Individual diffraction grating modulators in all of the above embodiments are approximately 25 ⁇ m square.
  • Two-dimensional arrays of diffraction gratings may be constructed by defining two sets of conductive electrodes: the top, which are constructed as in the one-dimensional arrays out of metal or conductive silicon lithographically defined on the element, and the bottom. Two methods may be used to define the bottom electrodes.
  • an oxide layer 140 is grown or deposited on a bare P- or N-type silicon wafer 142. The oxide is patterned and the wafer 142 subjected to a dopant diffusion of the opposite conductivity type, respectively N- or P-type, to produce a doped region 144.
  • a second method shown in FIG. 20 is to use a non- conductive substrate 150 and pattern a refractory metal such as tungsten 152 over it. The wafer is then thermally oxidized and nitride or other element material is deposited over it. The elements are then patterned and released as above.
  • the reflective, deformable grating light modulator or GLV is a device which exhibits high resolution (25 by 8 ⁇ m 2 to 100 ⁇ m 2 ) ; high response times/large bandwidth (2 to 10 MHz) ; high contrast ratio (close to 100% modulation with a 3V switching voltage) ; is polarization independent and easy to use.
  • This device also has tolerance for high optical power, has good optical throughput, is simple to manufacture, semiconductor-processing compatible, and has application in a wide range of fields including use as an SLM and with fiber optic technology. As generally described above, and as depicted in simplistic fashion in FIG.
  • a combination of GLVs can be used to provide a visual display by exploiting the grating dispersion of white light to isolate the three primary color components of each pixel in a color display system.
  • This type of schlieren optical system employs an array 160 of pixel units 161, each including three subpixel grating components (162, 164, 166) respectively having different grating periods selected to diffract red, green and blue spectral illumination from a white light source 168 through a slit 169 placed at a specific location relative to the source and the array. For each pixel unit in the array only a small but different part of the optical spectrum will be directed by each of the three subpixel components of each pixel unit through the slit 169 to the viewer.
  • each pixel unit will be integrated by the viewer's eye so that the viewer perceives a color image that spans the face of the entire array 160.
  • all of the subpixel components have gratings with beam-like elements that are oriented in the same direction.
  • the optical system can thus be analyzed in a single plane that passes through the source 168, the center of the pixel unit 161 under consideration, and the center of the viewer's pupil. Suitable lenses (not shown) could also be used to ensure that the light diffracted and reflected from the array is focused onto the plane of the slit (aperture) and that the pixel plane is imaged onto the viewer's retina or onto a projection screen.
  • the array could be implemented to include fixed grating elements fabricated using photolithographic techniques to in effect "program" each pixel unit.
  • the array 160 can be implemented as an active device in which appropriately routed address lines extend to each subpixel so that each such subpixel can be dynamically programmed by the application of suitable voltages to the subpixel components as described above.
  • three subpixel components are needed for generating a full-color pixel unit, only two subpixel components are needed to generate a multi- colored pixel, i.e., a pixel that can display a first color, a second color, a third color which is a combination of the first and second colors, or no color.
  • each pixel unit is comprised of three subpixel grating components of substantially equal period but of different angular orientation, and each subpixel component is operatively combined with one of three primary color light sources.
  • the array 170 includes a plurality of pixel units 171, each of which is comprised of subpixel components 172, 174 and 176, oriented at 120 angles relative to each other. At least three monochromatic light sources are then positioned and trained on the array such that when a corresponding subpixel component of any pixel unit is in its diffraction mode, it will cause light from a particular source to be diffracted and directed through a viewing aperture. Red light from a red source 178 might for example be diffracted from subpixel component 172 and directed through aperture 184; blue light generated by a source 180 might be diffracted by a
  • FIG. 23 wherein sets of the three rhombus-configured subpixel components 172, 174 and 176 are collectively joined to form hexagonal pixel units 171 which can be tiled into a silicon chip array with a 100% filling factor.
  • the grating elements of the three subpixel components 172, 174 and 176 are oriented 120 ° relative to each other as depicted and, except for the rhombus-shaped grating in the outer boundary, all have grating elements configured as described above. Other angular separations of subpixel gratings can also be chosen, as depicted in FIGS. 24, 25 and 26. In FIG.
  • an alternative three-component pixel unit 200 is illustrated, including three subpixel components 202, 204, and 206 aligned in a row and including grating elements which have relative angular separations of vertical, horizontal and 45 ° . While this configuration does not have the uniform grating element length advantage of the previous embodiment, it is based on the conventional rectangular coordinate system and is easier to manufacture than other embodiments. There are some possible GLV implementations, such as one in which an underlying mirror is the movable element rather than the grating elements, for which this design would be excellent. A hybrid compromise scheme is to use angular orientation to distinguish between red-green and green-blue. Red and blue would still be distinguished by their different grating periods.
  • the slit or aperture can be made significantly wider (by a factor of approximately 2) .
  • Exemplary layouts of such schemes are shown in FIGS. 25 and 26.
  • FIG. 25 note that there are twice as many green subpixel components (210) as red (212) and blue (214) subpixel components. This would actually be desirable in certain small direct-view devices, since LEDs would be used as the ono- chromatic illumination sources.
  • red and blue LEDs are much brighter than green LEDs, thus one would want to design the display with more green area to compensate and have the colors balance.
  • the layout depicted in FIG. 26 has equal numbers of red, green and blue subpixels. Three subpixel components can be combined into one L-shaped, full color pixel unit.
  • the device includes a housing 222 about the size of that of a standard telephone pager.
  • the housing 222 is partially broken away to reveal a viewing aperture 224 and the various internal components comprising a GLV chip 226, including an array of pixel units having subpixel grating components as described above, a suitable support and lead frame structure 228 for supporting the chip 226 and providing addressable electrical connection to each grating thereof, an electronic module 230 for receiving communicated data and generating drive signals for input to the chip 226, a red LED 232, a blue LED 234, and a pair of green LEDs 236 and 238, an LED-powering module 240, and a power supply battery 242.
  • appropriate lenses may also be included.
  • the relative positioning of the LEDs 232-238 is of course determined by the grating configuration as suggested above.
  • a typical distance between the chip 226 and the aperture 224 might be on the order of 2-10cm, the aperture 224 might have a diameter in the range of 3mm-1.5cm, and suitable lens structures may be used in association with the LEDs, the chip face and/or the aperture.
  • each subpixel component is operatively combined with one of three primary color light sources.
  • the array 250 includes a plurality of pixel units 251, each of which is comprised of three subpixel components 252, 254, and 256 having gratings with beam-like elements that are oriented in the same direction.
  • At least three monochromatic light sources 258, 260, and 262 are positioned and trained on the array. The sources and the aperture 264 are coplanar.
  • Each of the three subpixel components (252, 254, and 256) has a different grating period selected to cause light from a particular source (258, 260, and 262 respectively) to be diffracted and directed through the aperture 264 to the viewer when such subpixel component is in its diffraction mode.
  • a particular source (258, 260, and 262 respectively)
  • blue light from a blue source 258 might be diffracted from subpixel component 252 and directed through aperture 264
  • green light generated by a source 260 might be diffracted from subpixel component 254 through aperture 264
  • red light from a source 262 might be diffracted from subpixel component 256 through the opening 264 to the viewer's pupil.
  • This implementation is an improvement over previously described implementations using a white light source and a slit, because fewer grating elements are required to generate color, the dimensions of the grating elements are less critical, the aperture can be significantly larger than the slit and the viewing angle can be widened significantly, for example, at least 3X. Suitable lenses (not shown) could also be used in this embodiment to ensure that the light diffracted and reflected from the array focuses onto the plane of the aperture and that the pixel plane is imaged onto the viewer's retina or onto a projection screen. It should be noted that in the embodiments of FIGS.
  • data communicated to the device 220 will be received and processed by the module 230 and used to actuate the subpixel grating components in chip 226.
  • Light diffracted from the pixel units of the GLV array will be directed through the aperture 224 to generate an image that can be viewed by the eye of an observer, input to a camera, or projected onto a screen.
  • the image will be full color and can either be static for a fixed or selectable duration, or dynamic in that it changes with time and can even be a video-type image.
  • the actual implementation depicted is a pager- like communications viewer and can alternatively perform in a projection mode, it will be appreciated that the same technique can be employed in a goggle application to provide a display for one or both eyes of a user.
  • goggles can be provided for generating three-dimensional video images to create a virtual reality implementation. Quite clearly, such apparatus would also find utility as a viewing device for many remote manipulation, positioning and control applications.
  • Still another application of the present invention is to use the array of pixel units as a static information storage medium which can be "read out” by either sweeping a trio of colored layer beams across its surface, or by fixing the trio of light sources and moving the storage medium relative thereto, or by using any combination of moving lights and moving media.

Abstract

A multicolor optical image-generating device comprised of an array of grating light valves (GLVs) organized to form light-modulating pixel units for spatially modulating incident rays of light. The pixel units are comprised of three subpixel components each including a plurality of elongated, equally spaced apart reflective grating elements arranged parallel to each other with their light-reflective surfaces also parallel to each other. Each subpixel component includes means for supporting the grating elements in relation to one another, and means for moving alternate elements relative to the other elements and between a first configuration wherein the component acts to reflect incident rays of light as a plane mirror, and a second configuration wherein the component diffracts the incident rays of light as they are reflected from the grating elements. The three subpixel components of each pixel unit are designed such that when red, green and blue light sources are trained on the array, colored light diffracted by particular subpixel components operating in the second configuration will be directed through a viewing aperture, and light simply reflected from particular subpixel components operating in the first configuration will not be directed through the viewing aperture.

Description

Specification
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USING AN ARRAY OF GRATING LIGHT VALVES TO PRODUCE MULTICOLOR OPTICAL IMAGES
RELATED CASES This application is a continuation-in-part of United States Patent Application Serial No. 08/404,139 filed on March 13, 1995, which is a division of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08/062,688 filed on May 20, 1993, which is a continuation- in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 07/876,078 filed on April 28, 1992.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to display apparatus for producing optical images, and more particularly to a method and apparatus using an array of sets of grating light valves and a plurality of colored light sources to provide a multicolor image that can be directly viewed or projected onto a screen. This invention was made with Government support under contract DAAL03-88-K-0120 awarded by the U.S. Army Research Office. The Government has certain rights in this invention.
Brief Description of the Prior Art Devices which modulate a light beam, e.g. by altering the amplitude, frequency or phase of the light, find a number of applications. An example of such a device is a spatial light modulator (SLM) which is an electronically or optically controlled device that consists of one or two-dimensional reconfigurable patterns of pixel elements, each of which can individually modulate the amplitude, phase or polarization of an optical wavefront. These devices have been extensively developed, particularly for applications in the areas of optical processing and computing. They can perform a variety of functions such as: analog multiplication and addition, signal conversion (electrical-to-optical, incoherent-to-coherent, amplification, etc.), nonlinear operations and short term storage. Utilizing these functions, SLMs have seen many different applications from display technology to optical signal processing. For example, SLMs have been used as optical correlators (e.g., pattern recognition devices, programmable holograms), optical matrix processors (e.g., matrix multipliers, optical cross-bar switches with broadcast capabilities, optical neural networks, radar beam forming) , digital optical architectures (e.g., highly parallel optical computers) and displays. The requirements for SLM technology depend strongly on the application in mind: for example, a display requires low bandwidth but a high dynamic range while optical computers benefit from high response times but don't require such high dynamic ranges. Generally, systems designers require SLMs with characteristics such as: high resolution, high speed (kHz frame rates) , good gray scale high contrast ratio or modulation depth, optical flatness, VLSI compatible, easy handling capability and low cost. To date, no one SLM design can satisfy all the above requirements. As a result, different types of SLMs have been developed for different applications, often resulting in trade-offs. A color video imaging system utilizing a cathode ray device with a target comprising an array of electrostatically deflectable light valves is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 3,896,338 to Nathanson et al■ The light valve structure and the arrangement of light valves as an array permits sequential activation of the light valves in response to a specific primary color video signal. The light valves are arranged in three element groupings, and a schlieren optical means is provided having respective primary color transmissive portions through which the light reflected from the deflected light valves is passed to permit projection of a color image upon a display screen. Texas Instruments has developed a "Deformable Mirror Device (DMD) " that utilizes an electromechanical means of deflecting an optical beam. The mechanical motions needed for the operation of the DMD result in bandwidths limited to tens of kilohertz. However, this device generally provides better contrast ratios than the technologies previously described, provides acceptable "high resolution" and is compatible with conventional semiconductor processing techniques, such as CMOS. Nematic and ferroelectric liquid crystals have also been used as the active layer in several SLMs. Since the electro- optic effect in liquid crystals is based on the mechanical reorientation of molecular dipoles, it is generally found that liquid crystals are faster than the DMD-type devices. Modulators using ferroelectric liquid crystals have exhibited moderate switching speeds (150 ' μsec to 100 nsec) , low-power consumption, VLSI compatible switching voltages (5-10 V) , high extinction ratios, high resolution and large apertures. However, these devices suffer from the drawbacks of limited liquid crystal lifetimes and operating temperature ranges. In addition, the manufacturing process is complicated by alignment problems and film thickness uniformity issues. Magneto-optic modulation schemes have been used to achieve faster switching speeds and to provide an optical pattern memory cell. Although these devices, in addition to achieving fast switching speeds, can achieve large contrast ratios, they suffer from a low (<10%) throughput efficiency and are, therefore, often unsuitable for many applications. The need is therefore for a light modulation device which overcomes these drawbacks. Beside SLMs, another area of use of light modulators is in association with fiber optics apparatus. Fiber optic modulators are electronically controlled devices that modulate light intensity and are designed to be compatible with optical fibers. For high speed communication applications, lithium niobate (LiNb03) traveling wave modulators represent the state- of-the-art, but there is a need for low power, high efficiency, low loss, inexpensive fiber optic modulators, that can be integrated with silicon sensors and electronics, for data acquisition and medical applications. A typical use of a modulator combined with fiber optic technology, for example, is a data acquisition system on an airplane which consists of a central data processing unit that gathers data from remote sensors. Because of their lightweight and electro-magnetic immunity characteristics, fiber optics provide an ideal communication medium between the processor and the sensors which produce an electrical output that must be converted to an optical signal for transmission. The most efficient way to do this is to have a continuous wave laser at the processor and a modulator operating in reflection at the sensor. In this configuration, it is also possible to deliver power to the sensor over the fiber. In this type of application the modulator should operate with high contrast and low insertion loss to maximize the signal to noise ratio and have low power consumption. It should further be compatible with silicon technology because the sensors and signal conditioning electronics used in these systems are largely implemented in silicon. Another use of a modulator combined with fiber optic technology is in the monitoring of sensors that are surgically implanted in the human body. Here optical fibers are preferred to electrical cables because of their galvanic isolation, and any modulator used in these applications should exhibit high contrast combined with low insertion loss because of signal to noise considerations. Furthermore, as size is important in implanted devices, the modulator must be integratable with silicon sensors and electronics. Modulators based on the electro-optic, Franz-Keldysh, Quantum-Confined-Stark or annier-Stark effect in III-V semiconductors have high contrast and low insertion loss, but are expensive and not compatible with silicon devices. Waveguide modulators employing glass or epi-layers on silicon, require too much area and too complex fabrication to be easily integratable with other silicon devices. Silicon modulators that do not employ waveguides and that are based on the plasma effect, require high electrical drive power and do not achieve high contrast. A need therefore exists for improved light modulator apparatus having low power requirements, high efficiency, low loss, low cost and compatibility with silicon technology. A need also exists for a multicolor display device using light modulator technology of the type described herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Objects of the Invention An object of the present invention is thus to provide a novel display apparatus using grating light valve modulators that respond to electronic input signals and generate images that can be viewed directly or projected onto a viewing screen. Another object of this invention is to provide a light- modulating display device that exhibits the following characteristics: high resolution, high speed (kHz frame rates) , high contrast ratio or modulation depth, optical flatness, VLSI compatible, easy handling capability and low cost . A further object of this invention is to provide a light- modulating, visual image-generating device that has a tolerance for high optical power and good optical throughput. Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical display device using groupings of grating light valves as light-modulating, pixel-forming elements. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a light modulator which is compatible with semiconductor processing. Still another object of this invention is to provide a light modulator capable of use with fiber optic technology. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a light modulator which is capable of modulating white light to produce colored light.
Summary Briefly, a presently preferred embodiment of this invention includes a visual image-generating device comprised of an array of grating light valves (GLVs) organized to form light-modulating pixel units for spatially modulating incident rays of light. The pixel units are comprised of three subpixel components, each including a plurality of elongated, equally spaced apart reflective grating elements arranged parallel to each other with their light-reflective surfaces also parallel to each other. Each subpixel component includes means for supporting the grating elements in relation to one another wherein alternate elements are configured to be movable relative to other elements which are non-movable, and between a first configuration wherein the component acts to reflect incident rays of light as a plane mirror, and a second configuration wherein the component diffracts the incident rays of light as they are reflected from the grating elements . In operation, the light-reflective surfaces of the elements of each subpixel component remain parallel to each other in both the first and the second configurations, and the perpendicular spacing at rest between the planes of the reflective surfaces of adjacent elements is equal to m/4 times the wavelength of the incident rays of light, wherein m = an even whole number or zero when the elements are in the first configuration and m = an odd number when the elements are in the second configuration. The three subpixel components of each pixel unit are designed such that when red, green and blue light sources are trained on the array, colored light diffracted by particular subpixel components operating in the second configuration will be directed through a viewing aperture, and light simply reflected from particular subpixel components operating in the first configuration will not be directed through the viewing aperture. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that the fundamentals of the present invention can be similarly implemented by diffracting the light away from the viewing aperture and reflecting to the aperture. One embodiment of the invention includes an array of deformable grating light valves with grating amplitudes that can be controlled electronically, and is comprised of a reflective substrate with a plurality of the deformable grating elements suspended above it. The deformable grating elements are implemented in silicon technology, using micromachining and sacrificial etching of thin films to fabricate the gratings. Typically the gratings are formed by lithographically etching a film made of silicon nitride, aluminum, silicon dioxide or any other material which can be lithographically etched. Circuitry for addressing and multiplexing the light valves is fabricated on the same silicon substrate and is thus directly integrated with the light-modulating mechanisms. Direct integration with electronics provides an important advantage over non-silicon based technologies like liquid crystal oil-film light valves and electro-optic SLMs, because the device can be made smaller and with greater accuracy. Moreover, the device demonstrates simplicity of fabrication and can be manufactured with only a few lithographic steps. A further advantage of the present invention is that since the grating light valves utilize diffraction rather than deflection of the light beam as the modulating mechanism, the required mechanical motions are reduced from several microns (as in deformable mirror devices) to tenths of a micron, thus allowing for a potential three orders of magnitude increase in operational speed over other SLM technology. This speed is comparable to the fastest liquid crystal modulators, but without the same complexity in the manufacturing process. A still further advantage of the present invention is that it provides a miniature means for converting video data to an optical image that can be viewed directly, or can be projected onto a screen or film, or the data can be coupled into a fiberoptic cable for optical transmission to a remote location. These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art after having read the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment which is illustrated in the several figures of the drawing.
IN THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an isometric, partially cut-away view of a single grating light valve or modulator; FIGS. 2 (a) - (d) are cross-sections through a silicon substrate illustrating the manufacturing process of the modulator illustrated in FIG. 1; FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of the modulator of FIG. 1 in its "non-diffracting" mode; FIG. 4 illustrates the operation of the modulator of FIG. 3 in its "diffracting" mode; FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of the modulation of a laser beam by the modulator of FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is an illustration of one way in which one modulator can be combined with other modulators to form a complex modulator; FIG. 7 illustrates the operation of the modulator in the modulation of white light to produce colored light; FIG. 8 is a cross-section similar to that in FIG. 3, illustrating an alternative embodiment of the modulator in its "non-diffracting" mode; FIG. 9 is a cross-section similar to that in FIG. 4, illustrating the modulator of FIG. 8 in its "diffracting" mode; FIG. 10 is a pictorial view illustrating a further embodiment of a modulator; FIG. 11 is a cross-section taken along line 11-11 in FIG. 10; FIGS. 12a to 20 are sections illustrating further embodiments of the modulator; FIGS. 21, 22 and 28 are schematic diagrams illustrating embodiments of the present invention using either a white light source or colored light sources; FIGS. 23-26 illustrate arrays of three color pixel units and show several alternative grating element configurations in accordance with the present invention; and FIG. 27 is a partially broken perspective view of a pager-style communication device in accordance with the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment The grating light valve (GLV) or modulator is generally indicated at 10 in FIG. 1. The modulator 10 includes a number of elongated beam-like elements 18 which define a grating that, as will be later explained, can be used to spatially modulate an incident light beam. The elements 18 are formed integrally with an encompassing frame 21 which provides a relatively rigid supporting structure and maintains the tensile stress within the elongated elements 18. This structure defines a grating 20 which is supported by a partially etched silicon dioxide film 12 at a predetermined distance of 213 nm above the surface of a silicon substrate 16. Before commencing the description of how the modulator 10 is fabricated, it should be noted that, in this case, each of the elements 18 are 213 nm thick and are suspended a distance of 213 nm clear of the substrate 16. This means that the distance from the top of each element to the top of the substrate is 426 nm. This distance is known as the grating amplitude. One method of fabricating the modulator 10 is illustrated in FIG. 2(a) - (d) . The first step, as illustrated in FIG. 2(a) , is the deposition of an insulating layer 11 made of stoichiometric silicon nitride topped with a buffer layer of silicon dioxide. This is followed by the deposition of a sacrificial silicon dioxide film 12 and a low-stress silicon nitride film 14, both 213 nm thick, on a silicon substrate 16. The low-stress silicon nitride film 14 is achieved by incorporating extra silicon (beyond the stoichiometric balance) into the film, during the deposition process. This reduces the tensile stress in the silicon nitride film to roughly 200 MPa. In the second step, which is illustrated in FIG. 2(b) , the silicon nitride film 14 is lithographically patterned and dry-etched into a grid of grating elements in the form of elongated beam-like elements 18. After this lithographic patterning and etching process a peripheral silicon nitride frame 21 remains around the entire perimeter of the upper surface of the silicon substrate 16. In an individual modulator, all of the elements are of the same dimension and are arranged parallel to one another with the spacing between adjacent elements equal to the width thereof. Depending on the design of the modulator, however, elements could typically be 1, 1.5 or 2μm wide with a length that ranges from lOμm to 120μm. After the patterning process of the second step, the sacrificial silicon dioxide film 12 is etched in hydrofluoric acid, resulting in the configuration illustrated in FIG. 2(c) . It can be seen that each element 18 now forms a free standing silicon nitride bridge, 213 nm thick, which is suspended a distance of 213 nm (this being the thickness of the etched away sacrificial film 12) clear of the silicon substrate. As can further be seen from this figure, the silicon dioxide film 12 is not entirely etched away below the frame 21, and so the frame is supported, at a distance of 213 nm, above the silicon substrate 16 by this remaining portion of the silicon dioxide film 12. The elements 18 are stretched within the frame and kept straight by the tensile stress imparted to the silicon nitride film 14 during the deposition of that film. The last fabrication step, illustrated in FIG. 2(d) , is sputtering, through a stencil mask, of a 50 nm thick aluminum film 22 to enhance the reflectance of both the elements 18 and the substrate 16 and to provide a first electrode for applying a voltage between the elements and the substrate. A second electrode is formed by sputtering an aluminum film 24, of similar thickness, onto the base of the silicon substrate 16. It should be realized that the above described manufacturing process illustrates only one type of modulator and only one fabrication process. A more detailed description of other fabrication possibilities will be given below with reference to FIGS. 12 to 18. The operation of the modulator 10 is illustrated with respect to FIGS. 3 and 4. In FIG. 3 the modulator 10 is shown with no voltage applied between the substrate 16 and the individual elements 18 and with a lightwave, generally indicated as 26, of a wavelength λ = 852 nm is incident upon the it. The grating amplitude of 426 nm is therefore equal to half of the wavelength of the incident light with the result that the total path length difference for the light reflected from the elements and from the substrate equals the wavelength of the incident light. Consequently, light reflected from the elements and from the substrate add in phase and the modulator 10 acts to reflect the light as a flat mirror. However, as illustrated in FIG. 4, when a voltage is applied between the elements 18 and the substrate 16 the electrostatic forces pull the elements 18 down onto the substrate 16, with the result that the distance between the top of the elements and the top of the substrate is now 213 nm. As this is one quarter of the wavelength of the incident lights, the total path length difference for the light reflected from the elements and from the substrate is now one half of the wavelength (426 nm) of the incident light and the reflections interfere destructively, causing the light to be diffracted, as indicated at 28. Thus, if this modulator is used in combination with a system, for detecting the diffracted light, which has a numerical aperture sized to detect one order of diffracted light from the grating e.g., the zero order, it can be used to modulate the reflected light with high contrast. The electrical, optical and mechanical characteristics of a number of modulators, similar in design to the modulator illustrated above but of different dimensions were investigated by using a Helium Neon laser (of 633 nm wavelength) focused to a spot size of 36μm on the center portion of each modulator. This spot size is small enough so that the curvature of the elements in the region where the modulator was illuminated can be neglected, but is large enough to allow the optical wave to be regarded as a plane wave and covering enough grating periods to give good separation between the zero and first order diffraction modes resulting from the operation of the modulator. It was discovered that grating periods (i.e., the distance between the centerlines of two adjacent elements in the grating) of 2,3 and 4 μm and a wavelength of 633 nm resulted in first order diffraction angles of 18D, 14D and 9D respectively. One of these first order diffracted light beams was produced by using a grating modulator with 120 μm-long and 1.5 μm-wide elements at atmospheric pressure together with a HeNe light beam modulated at a bit rate of 500 kHz detected by a low-noise photoreceiver and viewed on an oscilloscope. The resulting display screen 27 of the oscilloscope is illustrated in FIG. 5. However, before proceeding with a discussion of the features illustrated in this figure, the resonant frequency of the grating elements should first be considered. The resonant frequency of the mechanical structure of the diffraction grating of the modulator was measured by driving the modulator with a step function and observing the ringing frequency. The area of the aluminum on the modulator is roughly 0.2 cm , which corresponds to an RC limited 3-dB bandwidth of 1 MHz with roughly 100 ohms of series resistance. This large RC time constant slowed down the step function, however, enough power existed at the resonant frequency to excite vibrations, even in the shorter elements. Although the ringing could be observed in normal atmosphere, the Q-factor was too low (approximately 1.5) for accurate measurements, so the measurements were made at a pressure of 150 mbar. At this pressure, the Q-factor rose to 8.6, demonstrating that air resistance is the major damping mechanism, for a grating of this nature, in a normal atmosphere. Nonetheless, it was found that due to the high tensile stress in the beam-like elements, tension is the dominant restoring force, and the elements could therefore be modeled as vibrating strings. When this was done and the measured and theoretically predicted resonance frequencies were compared, it was found that the theory was in good agreement with the experimental values, particularly when considering the uncertainty in tensile stress and density of the elements. As it is known that the bandwidth of forced vibrations of a mechanical structure is simply related to the resonance frequency and Q-factor, a Q-factor of 1.5 yields a 1.5 dB bandwidth of the deformable grating modulator 1.4 times larger than the resonance frequency. The range of bandwidths for these gratings is therefore from 1.8 MHz for the deformable grating modulator with 120 μm long elements to 6.1 MHz for the deformable grating modulator with 40 μm long elements. Returning now to FIG. 5, it should be noted that with an applied voltage swing of 3 V, a contrast of 16dB for the 120 μm-long bridges could be observed. Here the term "modulation depth" is taken to mean the ratio of the change in optical intensity to peak intensity. The input (lower trace 29a) on the screen 27 represents a pseudo-random bit stream switching between 0 and -2.7 V across a set of grating devices on a 1 cm by 1 cm die. The observed switching transient with an initial fast part followed by a RC dominated part, is caused by the series resistance of the deformable grating modulator, which is comparable to a 50 ohm source resistance. The output (upper trace 29b) on the screen corresponds to the optical output of a low-noise photoreceiver detecting the first diffraction order of the grating used. The output (upper trace 29b) from the photoreceiver is inverted relative to the light detected from the deformable grating and is high when the elements are relaxed and low when the elements are deflected. Ringing is observed only after the rising transient, because of the quadratic dependence of the electro-static force on the voltage (during switching from a voltage of -2.7 V to 0 V, the initial, faster part of the charging of the capacitor corresponds to a larger change in electro-static force, than when switching the opposite way) . This ringing in the received signal indicates a decay close to critical damping. Furthermore, it was found that because the capacitance increases as the beam-like elements are pulled toward the substrate, the voltage needed for a certain deflection is not a linearly increasing function of this deflection. At a certain applied voltage condition, an incremental increase in the applied voltage causes the elements to be pulled spontaneously to the substrate (to latch) and this voltage is known as the "switching voltage" of the modulator. The switching voltage was found to be 3.2 V for gratings with 120 μm long elements and, if it is assumed that tension dominates the restoring forces, the switching voltage is inversely proportional to the element length and therefore, the predicted switching voltage for 40 μm long elements will be 9.6 V. The importance of the switching voltage is that below this voltage, the deformable grating modulator can be operated in an analog fashion, however, if a voltage greater than the switching voltage is applied to the modulator it acts in a digital manner. Nonetheless, it is important to note that operating the modulator to the point of contact is desirable from an applications point of view, because as discussed above when the elements are deflected electrostatically, an instability exists once the element deflection goes beyond the one-third point. This results in hysteretic behavior which will "latch" the element in the down position. This latching feature gives the modulator the advantages of an active matrix design without the need for active components. A further advantage of this latching feature is that once the element has "latched" it requires only a very small "holding voltage", much smaller than the original applied voltage, to keep the element in its latched configuration. This feature is particularly valuable in low power applications where efficient use of available power is very important. The use of the modulator of this invention in displays requires high yield integration of individual modulator units into 2-D arrays such as that illustrated in FIG. 6. This figure shows a plurality of contiguous grating modulator units which can be' used to provide a gray-scale operation. Each of the individual modulators consists of a different number of elements, and gray-scale can be obtained by addressing each modulator in a binary-weighted manner. The hysteresis characteristic for latching (as described above) can be used to provide gray-scale variation without analog control of the voltage supplied to individual grating modulator elements. In FIG. 7 the use of the GLV, in combination with other gratings (GLVs) , for modulating white light to produce colored light is illustrated. This approach takes advantage of the ability of a GLV to separate or disperse a light spectrum into its constituent colors. By constructing an array of pixel units, each including separate but contiguous red, green and blue modulation units of GLVs, each with a grating period designed to diffract the appropriate color into a single optical system, a color display that is illuminated by white light can be achieved. This approach may be attractive for large area projection displays.
Alternative Embodiments In FIGS. 8 and 9 an alternative embodiment of the diffraction modulator 30 of the invention is illustrated. In this embodiment the modulator 30 consists of a plurality of equally spaced, equally sized, fixed elements 32 and a plurality of equally spaced, equally sized, movable beam-like elements 34 in which the movable elements 34 lie in the spaces between the fixed elements 32. Each fixed element 32 is supported on and held in position by a body of supporting material 36 which runs the entire length of the fixed element 32. The bodies of material 36 are formed during a lithographic etching process in which the material between the bodies 36 is removed. As can be seen from FIG. 8 the fixed elements 32 are arranged to be coplanar with the movable elements 34 and present a flat upper surface which is coated with a reflective layer 38. As such the modulator 30 acts as a flat mirror when it reflects incident light, however, when a voltage is applied between the elements and an electrode 40 at the base of the modulator 30 the movable elements 34 move downwards as is illustrated in FIG. 9. By applying different voltages the resultant forces on the elements 34 and, therefore, the amount of deflection of the movable elements 34 can be varied. Accordingly, when the grating amplitude (defined as the perpendicular distance d between the reflective layers 38 on adjacent elements) is m/4 times the wavelength of the light incident on the grating 30, the modulator 30 will act as a plane mirror when m = 0, 2 , 4... (i.e., an even number or zero) and as a reflecting diffraction grating when m = l, 3, 5... (i.e., an odd number) . In this manner the modulator 30 can operate to modulate incident light in the same manner as the modulator illustrated as the first embodiment. Yet another embodiment of the modulator of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 10 and 11. As with the other embodiments, this modulator 41 consists of a sacrificial silicon dioxide film 42, a silicon nitride film 44 and a substrate 46. In this embodiment, however, the substrate 46 has no reflective layer formed thereon and only the silicon nitride film 44 has a reflective coating 45 formed thereon. As is illustrated in FIG. 10 the deformable elements 48 are coplanar in their undeformed state and lie close to one another so that together they provide a substantially flat reflective surface. The elements 48 are, however, formed with a neck 50 at either end, which is off-center of the longitudinal center line of each of the elements 48. When a uniformly distributed force, as a result of an applied voltage for example, is applied to the elements 48 the resultant force F, for each element 48, will act at the geometric center 52 of that element. Each resultant force F is off-set from the axis of rotation 54 (which coincides with the centeriine of each neck 50) , resulting a moment of rotation or torque being applied to each element 48. This causes a rotation of each element 48 about its axis 54 to the position 48' indicated in broken lines. This is known as "blazing" a diffraction grating. As can be seen from FIG. 11, the reflective planes 56 of the elements 48 remain parallel to each other even in this "blazed" configuration and therefore, the grating amplitude d is the perpendicular distance between the reflective surfaces of adjacent elements. This "blazed grating" will operate to diffract light in the same manner as a sawtooth grating. The basic fabrication procedure of yet another embodiment of the modulator 68 is illustrated in FIGS. 12 (a) - (c) . First, 132 nm of silicon dioxide layer 70 followed by 132 nm of silicon nitride layer 72 are deposited on a boron-doped wafer 74 using low pressure chemical vapor deposition techniques. The tensile stress in the silicon nitride layer 72 ranges from 40 to 800 MPa, depending on the ratio of the dichlorosilane and ammonia gases present during the deposition process. Tensile stress effects the performance of the modulator of the invention as higher tensile stress results in stiffer elements and, therefore, faster switching speeds but also requires higher voltages to operate the modulator. Thereafter a photoresist (not shown) is layered onto the silicon nitride layer 72 and patterned after which the silicon nitride layer 72 is dry-etched down to the silicon dioxide layer 70 (FIG. 12(a)) . The oxide layer 70 is also partially dry-etched as shown in FIG. 12(b) . Then the photoresist is stripped. Photoresist removal is followed by a buffered oxide etch which isotropically undercuts the silicon dioxide 70 from beneath the silicon nitride. Since the nitride frame (not shown) is wider than the remaining nitride elements 76, some oxide is left beneath it to act as an oxide spacer. Processing is completed when 30 nm layer of aluminum is evaporated onto the elements 76 and the substrate 74 to form the top and bottom electrodes and to enhance the reflectivity. Typically the elongated elements formed by this process would be either 1.0, 1.25 or 1.50 μm wide, which respectively can be used for blue, green and red light modulators. It is possible that, when the released element structures are dried, the surface tension forces of the solvents could bring the elements down and cause them to stick. In addition, when the modulators are operated the elements could come down into intimate contact with the substrate and stick. Various methods could be used to prevent the sticking of the nitride elements to the substance: freeze-drying, dry etching of a photoresist-acetone sacrificial layer, and OTS monolayer treatments. These techniques seek to limit stiction by reducing the strength of the sticking-specific-force (that is, force per unit of contact area) . Furthermore, the use of stiffer elements by using shorter elements and tenser nitride films, is possible. Since the force causing the elements to stick to the underlying material is the product of the contact area between the two surfaces and the specific force, however, other methods to reduce sticking could include: (a) reducing the area of contact by roughening or corrugating; and (b) reducing the specific force by changing the chemical nature of the surfaces. One method of reducing the contact area could be by providing a composite element in which the top of the element is aluminum to enhance reflectivity, the second layer is stressed nitride to provide a restoring force, and the third layer is course-grained polysilicon to reduce effective contact area. Still other methods of reducing the contact area between the bottoms of the elements and the substrate exist and are described below with reference to FIGS. 13 (a) -15(c) . As is illustrated in FIGS. 13(a) and (b) , contact area can be reduced by patterning lines 79 on the substrate or on the bottoms of the elements. These lines 79 are typically 1 μm wide, 200A high and spaced at 5 μm centers. As shown, the lines are arranged perpendicular to the direction of the elements and located on the substrate. Alternatively the lines could be parallel to the direction of the elements. The procedure is to first pattern and dry etch a blank silicon wafer. Then a low temperature oxide layer 80 or other planar film is deposited followed by processing as above to yield the configuration in FIG. 13(b) . A different way of obtaining the same result is illustrated in FIGS. 14(a) and (b) , in which oxide is grown on a bare silicon substrate 94, and patterned and dry or wet etched to form grooves 89, 1 μm wide on 5 μm centers, 20θA deep after which processing continues as described above. This yields the final structure shown in FIG. 14(b) . Yet another method of reducing the geometric area of contacting surfaces is illustrated in FIGS. 15 (a) -(c) . After photoresist removal (FIG. 15(a)) , a second layer 100 of about 50 nm nitride is deposited. As shown in FIG. 15(b) , this second layer also coats the side-walls, such that a following anisotropic plasma etch which removes all of the second layer nitride 100 in the vertically exposed areas, leaves at least one side-wall 102 that extends below the bottom of each nitride element 104. It is at this point that the buffered oxide etch can be done to release the elements to yield the structure of FIG. 15(c) . With the side-wall spacer acting as inverted rails for lateral support, contact surfaces are minimized preventing sticking. In operation, it is believed that the elements, when deformed downwards, will only contact the substrate at the areas of the downwardly protruding rails. As the adhesion forces are proportional to the area in contact, they are substantially reduced by this configuration resulting in operational gratings with elements having a tensile stress on the order 200 MPa and being up to 30 μm long. The rail structures also operate to maintain optically flat surfaces and have the advantage of not requiring additional masking steps during their manufacture. Sticking can also be addressed by changing the materials of the areas that will come into contact. It is thought that although the level of sticking between different materials will be similar, the surface roughness of films differs significantly, effectively changing the contact area. One method of achieving this is that the element material can be changed to polycrystalline silicon. This material will have to be annealed to make it tensile. It can also use silicon dioxide as its sacrificial layer underneath. Another method is to use a metallic element material (e.g. aluminum) and an organic polymer such as polyamide as the sacrificial layer. Yet another method is to use polymorphic element material. This results in an initial multilayer structure which can be patterned, as described in FIGS. 16 (a) -16(c) to form a element structure mostly made of silicon nitride but which has contact areas of other engineered materials. This is done by: (i) First depositing a substrate 108 covering layer 110 with low or high-stress silicon nitride or fine- or course- grained polymorphic element material. This layer should be approximately lOOA and acts as a first (lower) contact surface. (ii) Depositing a layer 112 of low temperature oxide at 400°C. (iii) Depositing a second contacting surface layer 114. This layer should be thin (about lOOA) so as not to change the mechanical properties of the silicon nitride element . (iv) Finally, depositing the silicon nitride element material 116, after which dry-etching and undercutting similar to that described above is done. One slight variation on the above process, which is illustrated in FIGS. 17 (a) - (e) , is to deposit on the substrate a layer 120 of silicon dioxide over which a layer 122 of tungsten can be selectively deposited (e.g. by depositing only over exposed silicon surfaces) . Instead of fully releasing the elements, as before, the oxide layer 120 is only partially removed by timing the etch to leave a thin column 124 of material supporting the structures from underneath (see FIG. 17(c) ) . Thereafter the wafers are placed back into a selective tungsten deposition chamber to get a layer 126 of tungsten covering the exposed silicon areas but not on the oxide columns 124 nor on the silicon nitride elements 128. After depositing a thin layer 126 of tungsten as a new contact area, the oxide etch can be continued to fully release the elements 128 which, when deflected will come down onto a tungsten base. Individual diffraction grating modulators in all of the above embodiments are approximately 25 μm square. To produce a device capable of modulating colored light (which contains red, green, and blue modulator regions) would therefore require a device 25 x 75 μm2. To reduce this to a square device, each of the individual modulators must be reduced to 25 x 8 μm2 by shortening the elements. Reduction of size in the other dimension is not possible because of diffraction limitations. However, calculations reveal that 8 μm elements would, if constructed as described above, be too stiff to switch with practical voltages. A possible solution to this, as illustrated in FIGS. 18 (a) -18 (b) , is the use of cantilever elements 130 rather than elements which are supported at either end. This is because elements that are supported at both ends are twice as stiff as cantilevers, which are supported at only one end. Two-dimensional arrays of diffraction gratings may be constructed by defining two sets of conductive electrodes: the top, which are constructed as in the one-dimensional arrays out of metal or conductive silicon lithographically defined on the element, and the bottom. Two methods may be used to define the bottom electrodes. In the first method, illustrated in FIGS. 19(a) and (b) , an oxide layer 140 is grown or deposited on a bare P- or N-type silicon wafer 142. The oxide is patterned and the wafer 142 subjected to a dopant diffusion of the opposite conductivity type, respectively N- or P-type, to produce a doped region 144. The beam-like elements are then fabricated on top of the diffused areas as previously described and aluminum is evaporated onto the surfaces as before. The diffused regions are held at ground and the PN junction formed with the substrate is reverse biased. This isolates the diffused regions from one another. A second method shown in FIG. 20 is to use a non- conductive substrate 150 and pattern a refractory metal such as tungsten 152 over it. The wafer is then thermally oxidized and nitride or other element material is deposited over it. The elements are then patterned and released as above. In summary, the reflective, deformable grating light modulator or GLV is a device which exhibits high resolution (25 by 8 μm2 to 100 μm2) ; high response times/large bandwidth (2 to 10 MHz) ; high contrast ratio (close to 100% modulation with a 3V switching voltage) ; is polarization independent and easy to use. This device also has tolerance for high optical power, has good optical throughput, is simple to manufacture, semiconductor-processing compatible, and has application in a wide range of fields including use as an SLM and with fiber optic technology. As generally described above, and as depicted in simplistic fashion in FIG. 21 of the drawing, a combination of GLVs can be used to provide a visual display by exploiting the grating dispersion of white light to isolate the three primary color components of each pixel in a color display system. This type of schlieren optical system employs an array 160 of pixel units 161, each including three subpixel grating components (162, 164, 166) respectively having different grating periods selected to diffract red, green and blue spectral illumination from a white light source 168 through a slit 169 placed at a specific location relative to the source and the array. For each pixel unit in the array only a small but different part of the optical spectrum will be directed by each of the three subpixel components of each pixel unit through the slit 169 to the viewer. As a result, the three color constituents of each pixel unit will be integrated by the viewer's eye so that the viewer perceives a color image that spans the face of the entire array 160. In this implementation, all of the subpixel components have gratings with beam-like elements that are oriented in the same direction. The optical system can thus be analyzed in a single plane that passes through the source 168, the center of the pixel unit 161 under consideration, and the center of the viewer's pupil. Suitable lenses (not shown) could also be used to ensure that the light diffracted and reflected from the array is focused onto the plane of the slit (aperture) and that the pixel plane is imaged onto the viewer's retina or onto a projection screen. The array could be implemented to include fixed grating elements fabricated using photolithographic techniques to in effect "program" each pixel unit. Alternatively, the array 160 can be implemented as an active device in which appropriately routed address lines extend to each subpixel so that each such subpixel can be dynamically programmed by the application of suitable voltages to the subpixel components as described above. It should also be noted that whereas three subpixel components are needed for generating a full-color pixel unit, only two subpixel components are needed to generate a multi- colored pixel, i.e., a pixel that can display a first color, a second color, a third color which is a combination of the first and second colors, or no color. In an embodiment depicted in FIG. 22, instead of varying the periods of the gratings and using a white light source to generate color, each pixel unit is comprised of three subpixel grating components of substantially equal period but of different angular orientation, and each subpixel component is operatively combined with one of three primary color light sources. More particularly, the array 170 includes a plurality of pixel units 171, each of which is comprised of subpixel components 172, 174 and 176, oriented at 120 angles relative to each other. At least three monochromatic light sources are then positioned and trained on the array such that when a corresponding subpixel component of any pixel unit is in its diffraction mode, it will cause light from a particular source to be diffracted and directed through a viewing aperture. Red light from a red source 178 might for example be diffracted from subpixel component 172 and directed through aperture 184; blue light generated by a source 180 might be diffracted by a
25 - subpixel component 176 through aperture 184; and green light from a source 182 might be diffracted by a subpixel component 174 and directed through the opening 184 to the viewer's pupil. This system is an improvement over previously described implementations requiring a slit, because the viewing aperture 184 can be widened significantly, for example, at least 10X. Suitable lenses (not shown) could also be used in the embodiments of FIGS. 21 and 22 to ensure that the light diffracted and reflected from the array focuses onto the plane of the slit (aperture) and that the pixel plane is imaged onto the viewer's retina or onto a projection screen. The GLV layout of array 170 is more clearly depicted in FIG. 23 wherein sets of the three rhombus-configured subpixel components 172, 174 and 176 are collectively joined to form hexagonal pixel units 171 which can be tiled into a silicon chip array with a 100% filling factor. The grating elements of the three subpixel components 172, 174 and 176 are oriented 120 ° relative to each other as depicted and, except for the rhombus-shaped grating in the outer boundary, all have grating elements configured as described above. Other angular separations of subpixel gratings can also be chosen, as depicted in FIGS. 24, 25 and 26. In FIG. 24, an alternative three-component pixel unit 200 is illustrated, including three subpixel components 202, 204, and 206 aligned in a row and including grating elements which have relative angular separations of vertical, horizontal and 45°. While this configuration does not have the uniform grating element length advantage of the previous embodiment, it is based on the conventional rectangular coordinate system and is easier to manufacture than other embodiments. There are some possible GLV implementations, such as one in which an underlying mirror is the movable element rather than the grating elements, for which this design would be excellent. A hybrid compromise scheme is to use angular orientation to distinguish between red-green and green-blue. Red and blue would still be distinguished by their different grating periods. In this scheme, the slit or aperture can be made significantly wider (by a factor of approximately 2) . Exemplary layouts of such schemes are shown in FIGS. 25 and 26. In FIG. 25, note that there are twice as many green subpixel components (210) as red (212) and blue (214) subpixel components. This would actually be desirable in certain small direct-view devices, since LEDs would be used as the ono- chromatic illumination sources. Presently, red and blue LEDs are much brighter than green LEDs, thus one would want to design the display with more green area to compensate and have the colors balance. The layout depicted in FIG. 26 has equal numbers of red, green and blue subpixels. Three subpixel components can be combined into one L-shaped, full color pixel unit. An advantage of both of these systems is that they use right-angle geometry, thereby simplifying design. Referring now to FIG. 27, an actual implementation of a small communication apparatus embodying the present invention is depicted at 220. The device includes a housing 222 about the size of that of a standard telephone pager. As illustrated, the housing 222 is partially broken away to reveal a viewing aperture 224 and the various internal components comprising a GLV chip 226, including an array of pixel units having subpixel grating components as described above, a suitable support and lead frame structure 228 for supporting the chip 226 and providing addressable electrical connection to each grating thereof, an electronic module 230 for receiving communicated data and generating drive signals for input to the chip 226, a red LED 232, a blue LED 234, and a pair of green LEDs 236 and 238, an LED-powering module 240, and a power supply battery 242. As suggested above with regard to FIGS. 21 and 22, appropriate lenses (not shown) may also be included. The relative positioning of the LEDs 232-238 is of course determined by the grating configuration as suggested above. Two green LEDs are used in this embodiment to ensure that the green light output is roughly equivalent to the output intensity of the red and blue light sources. In the preferred embodiment, a typical distance between the chip 226 and the aperture 224 might be on the order of 2-10cm, the aperture 224 might have a diameter in the range of 3mm-1.5cm, and suitable lens structures may be used in association with the LEDs, the chip face and/or the aperture.
In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 28, instead of using a white light source to generate color, each subpixel component is operatively combined with one of three primary color light sources. More particularly, the array 250 includes a plurality of pixel units 251, each of which is comprised of three subpixel components 252, 254, and 256 having gratings with beam-like elements that are oriented in the same direction. At least three monochromatic light sources 258, 260, and 262 are positioned and trained on the array. The sources and the aperture 264 are coplanar. Each of the three subpixel components (252, 254, and 256) has a different grating period selected to cause light from a particular source (258, 260, and 262 respectively) to be diffracted and directed through the aperture 264 to the viewer when such subpixel component is in its diffraction mode. For example, blue light from a blue source 258 might be diffracted from subpixel component 252 and directed through aperture 264, green light generated by a source 260 might be diffracted from subpixel component 254 through aperture 264, and red light from a source 262 might be diffracted from subpixel component 256 through the opening 264 to the viewer's pupil. This implementation is an improvement over previously described implementations using a white light source and a slit, because fewer grating elements are required to generate color, the dimensions of the grating elements are less critical, the aperture can be significantly larger than the slit and the viewing angle can be widened significantly, for example, at least 3X. Suitable lenses (not shown) could also be used in this embodiment to ensure that the light diffracted and reflected from the array focuses onto the plane of the aperture and that the pixel plane is imaged onto the viewer's retina or onto a projection screen. It should be noted that in the embodiments of FIGS. 21 through 28 whereas three subpixel components and at least three sources having different colors are needed for generating a full-color pixel unit, only two subpixel components and two light sources are needed to generate a multi-colored pixel, i.e., a pixel that can display a first color, a second color, a third color which is a combination of the first and second colors, or no color. In operation, data communicated to the device 220 will be received and processed by the module 230 and used to actuate the subpixel grating components in chip 226. Light diffracted from the pixel units of the GLV array will be directed through the aperture 224 to generate an image that can be viewed by the eye of an observer, input to a camera, or projected onto a screen. The image will be full color and can either be static for a fixed or selectable duration, or dynamic in that it changes with time and can even be a video-type image. Although the actual implementation depicted is a pager- like communications viewer and can alternatively perform in a projection mode, it will be appreciated that the same technique can be employed in a goggle application to provide a display for one or both eyes of a user. Moreover, by using two coordinated units, goggles can be provided for generating three-dimensional video images to create a virtual reality implementation. Quite clearly, such apparatus would also find utility as a viewing device for many remote manipulation, positioning and control applications. Still another application of the present invention is to use the array of pixel units as a static information storage medium which can be "read out" by either sweeping a trio of colored layer beams across its surface, or by fixing the trio of light sources and moving the storage medium relative thereto, or by using any combination of moving lights and moving media. Although the present invention has been described above in terms of specific embodiments, it is anticipated that alterations and modifications thereof will no doubt become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is therefore intended that the following claims be interpreted as covering all such alterations and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention. What is claimed is:

Claims

1. Display apparatus for generating multi-colored optical images, comprising: housing means having an optical aperture through which light may be passed; light valve means disposed within said housing means and forming an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including a plurality of subpixel components having elongated grating elements, the grating elements of at least two subpixel components of each pixel unit being oriented such that the grating elements of a first of said two subpixel components extend in a direction different from that of the grating elements of a second of said two subpixel components, each said subpixel component being adapted to selectively have a reflective state and a diffractive state; and a plurality of colored light sources respectively positioned to illuminate particular subpixel components of each pixel unit of said array such that no light reflected from any of said subpixel components in a reflective state passes through said aperture, but such that light diffracted from corresponding ones of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit in a diffractive state is directed through said aperture.
2. Display apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the grating elements of a first of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit have a first orientation and the grating elements of a second of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation.
3. Display apparatus as recited in claim 2 wherein each said pixel unit has a third subpixel component, and wherein the grating elements of said third subpixel component of each said pixel unit have an orientation that is neither said first orientation nor said second orientation.
4. Display apparatus as recited in claim 3 wherein the grating periods of the grating elements of the three subpixel components of each pixel unit are equal .
5. Display apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the grating elements of the first of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit have a first orientation and a first grating period, wherein the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation and said first grating period, and wherein the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit have said first orientation and a second grating period different from said first grating period.
6. Display apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein the grating elements of the first subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a first angular orientation, wherein the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a second angular orientation relative to the grating elements of said first subpixel component, and wherein the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a third angular orientation relative to the angular orientations of the grating elements of said first and second subpixel components.
7. Display apparatus as recited in claim 6 wherein said first angular orientation, said second angular orientation and said third angular orientation are respectively separated by angles of 120°.
8. Display apparatus as recited in claim 7 wherein said first, second and third subpixel components each have rhombic perimetric boundaries and are positioned contiguous to each other, such that the collective perimetric boundary of each pixel unit has a generally hexagonal shape.
9. Display apparatus as recited in any one of claims 1-8 wherein the grating elements of each said subpixel component are arranged parallel to each other, with the light-reflective surfaces of the grating elements normally lying in a first plane, and wherein each said subpixel component includes means for supporting alternate ones of the grating elements in a fixed position, and means for moving the remaining grating elements relative to the fixed grating elements and between a first configuration wherein all of the grating elements lie in the first plane and the subpixel component acts to reflect incident light as a plane mirror, and a second configuration wherein said remaining grating elements lie in a second plane parallel to the first plane and the subpixel component diffracts incident light as it is reflected from the planar surfaces of the grating elements.
10. Display apparatus as recited in claim 9 wherein said means for moving said remaining grating elements includes means for applying an electrostatic force to said remaining grating elements .
11. Display apparatus as recited in claim 9 and further comprising electronic communication means for receiving transmitted data and for generating signals for causing certain ones of said subpixel components to assume a reflective state and other ones of said subpixel components to assume a diffractive state.
12. Display apparatus for generating multi-colored optical images, comprising: housing means having an optical aperture through which light may be passed; light valve means disposed within said housing means and forming an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units each including a plurality of subpixel components having elongated grating elements, the grating elements of at least two subpixel components of each pixel unit being oriented such that the grating elements of a first of said two subpixel components extend in a direction different from that of the grating elements of a second of said two subpixel components, each said subpixel component being adapted to selectively have a reflective state and a diffractive state; and a plurality of colored light sources respectively positioned to illuminate particular subpixel components of each pixel unit of said array such that no light diffracted from any of said subpixel components in a diffractive state passes through said aperture, but such that light reflected from corresponding ones of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit in a reflective state is directed through said aperture.
13. Display apparatus as recited in claim 12 wherein the grating elements of the first of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit have a first orientation and the grating elements of the second of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation.
14. Display apparatus as recited in claim 13 wherein each said pixel unit has a third subpixel component, wherein the grating elements of said third subpixel component of each said pixel unit have an orientation that is neither said first orientation nor said second orientation.
15. Display apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein the grating periods of the grating elements of the three subpixel components of each pixel unit are equal.
16. Display apparatus as recited in claim 12 wherein the grating elements of the first of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit have a first orientation and a first grating period, wherein the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation and said first grating period, and wherein the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit have said first orientation and a second grating period different from said first grating period.
17. Display apparatus as recited in claim 12 wherein the grating elements of the first subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a first angular orientation, wherein the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a second angular orientation relative to the grating elements of said first subpixel component, and wherein the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a third angular orientation relative to the angular orientations of the grating elements of said first and second subpixel components.
18. Display apparatus as recited in claim 17 wherein said first angular orientation, said second angular orientation and said third angular orientation are respectively separated by angles of 120 .
19. Display apparatus as recited in claim 18 wherein said first, second and third subpixel components each have rhombic perimetric boundaries and are positioned contiguous to each other, such that the collective perimetric boundary of each pixel unit has a generally hexagonal shape.
20. Display apparatus as recited in any one of claims 12-19 wherein the grating elements of each said subpixel component are arranged parallel to each other, with the light-reflective surfaces of the grating elements normally lying in a first plane, and wherein each said subpixel component includes means for supporting alternate ones of the grating elements in a fixed position, and means for moving the remaining grating elements relative to the fixed grating elements and between a first configuration wherein all of the grating elements lie in the first plane and the subpixel component acts to reflect incident light as a plane mirror, and a second configuration wherein said remaining grating elements lie in a second plane parallel to the first plane and the subpixel component diffracts incident light as it is reflected from the planar surfaces of the grating elements.
21. Display apparatus as recited in claim 20 wherein said means for moving said remaining grating elements includes means for applying an electrostatic force to said remaining grating elements.
22. Display apparatus as recited in claim 20 and further comprising electronic communication means for receiving transmitted data and for generating signals for causing certain ones of said subpixel components to assume a reflective state and other ones of said subpixel components to assume a diffractive state.
23. Apparatus for generating a multi-colored optical image, comprising: means forming an optical aperture through which light may be passed; means forming an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including a plurality of subpixel components having elongated grating elements, the grating elements of at least two subpixel components of each said pixel unit being oriented such that the grating elements of a first of said two subpixel components extend in a direction different from that of the grating elements of a second of said two subpixel components, each said subpixel component having a fixed configuration, wherein said subpixel component either completely reflects incident light, completely diffracts incident light, or partially diffracts and partially reflects incident light; and a plurality of colored light sources respectively positioned to simultaneously illuminate at least one pixel unit of said array such that no light reflected from any illuminated subpixel component in a reflective state passes through said aperture, but such that light diffracted from any illuminated subpixel component in a diffractive state is directed through said aperture.
24. Apparatus for generating a multi-colored optical image, comprising: means forming an optical aperture through which light may be passed; means forming an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including a plurality of subpixel components having elongated grating elements, the grating elements of at least two subpixel components of each said pixel unit being oriented such that the grating elements of a first of said two subpixel components extend in a direction different from that of the grating elements of a second of said two subpixel components, each said subpixel component having a fixed configuration in either a reflective state or a refractive state, wherein said subpixel component either completely reflects incident light, completely diffracts incident light, or partially diffracts and partially reflects incident light; and a plurality of colored light sources respectively positioned to simultaneously illuminate at least one pixel unit of said array such that no light diffracted from any illuminated subpixel component in a diffractive state passes through said aperture, but such that light reflected from any illuminated subpixel component in a reflective state is directed through said aperture.
25. Apparatus as recited in claim 23 or 24 wherein the grating elements of the first of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit have a first orientation and the grating elements of the second of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation.
26. Apparatus as recited in claim 25 wherein each said pixel unit has a third subpixel component, wherein the grating elements of said third subpixel component of each said pixel unit have an orientation that is neither said first orientation nor said second orientation.
27. Apparatus as recited in claim 26 wherein the grating periods of the grating elements of the three subpixel components of each pixel unit are equal.
28. Apparatus as recited in claim 23 or 24 wherein the grating elements of the first of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit have a first orientation and a first grating period, wherein the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation and said first grating period, and wherein the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit have said first orientation and a second grating period different from said first grating period.
29. Display apparatus as recited in claim 23 or 24 wherein the grating elements of the first subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a first angular orientation, wherein the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a second angular orientation relative to the grating elements of said first subpixel component, and wherein the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit have a third angular orientation relative to the angular orientations of the grating elements of said first and second subpixel components.
30. Display apparatus as recited in claim 29 wherein said first angular orientation, said second angular orientation and said third angular orientation are respectively separated by angles of 120°.
31. Display apparatus as recited in claim 30 wherein said first, second and third subpixel components each have rhombic perimetric boundaries and are positioned contiguous to each other, such that the collective perimetric boundary of each pixel unit has a generally hexagonal shape.
32. A method of generating multi-colored optical images, comprising the steps of : providing an optical aperture through which light may be passed; forming an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including a plurality of subpixel components having elongated grating elements, the grating elements of at least two subpixel components of each pixel unit being oriented such that the grating elements of a first of said two subpixel components extend in a direction different from that of the grating elements of a second of said two subpixel components, each said subpixel component being adapted to selectively have a reflective state and a diffractive state; causing each said subpixel component to assume either said reflective state or said diffractive state; and positioning a plurality of colored light sources to respectively illuminate particular subpixel components of each pixel unit of said array such that no light reflected from any of said subpixel components in a reflective state passes through said aperture, but such that light diffracted from subpixel components in a diffractive state is directed through said aperture, whereby an optical image corresponding to the states of said pixel units is viewable through said optical aperture.
33. A method as recited in claim 32 including causing the grating elements of the first of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit to have a first orientation and causing the grating elements of the second of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit to have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation.
34. A method as recited in claim 33 including causing each said pixel unit to have a third subpixel component, and causing the grating elements of said third subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have an orientation that is different from the orientations of said first and second subpixel components.
35. A method as recited in claim 34 and further including causing the grating periods of the grating elements of the three subpixel components of each pixel unit to be equal .
36. A method as recited in claim 32 including causing the grating elements of the first of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit to have a first orientation and a first grating period, causing the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation and said first grating period, and causing the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have said first orientation and a second grating period different from said first grating period.
37. A method as recited in claim 32 including causing the grating elements of the first subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have a first angular orientation, causing the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have a second angular orientation relative to the grating elements of said first subpixel component, and causing the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have a third angular orientation relative to the angular orientations of the grating elements of said first and second subpixel components.
38. A method as recited in claim 37 wherein said first angular orientation, said second angular orientation and said third angular orientation are respectively separated by angles of 120°.
39. A method as recited in claim 38 and further including causing said first, second and third subpixel components to each have rhombic perimetric boundaries and to be positioned contiguous to each other, such that the collective perimetric boundary of each pixel unit has a generally hexagonal shape.
40. A method for generating multi-colored optical images, comprising the steps of: providing a housing means having an optical aperture through which light may be passed; disposing a light valve means disposed within said housing means and forming an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including a plurality of subpixel components having elongated grating elements, the grating elements of at least two subpixel components of each pixel unit being oriented such that the grating elements of a first of said two subpixel components extend in a direction different from that of the grating elements of a second of said two subpixel components, each said subpixel component being adapted to selectively have a reflective state and a diffractive state; and positioning a plurality of colored light sources to respectively illuminate particular subpixel components of each pixel unit of said array such that no light reflected from any of said subpixel components in a reflective state passes through said aperture, but such that light diffracted from corresponding ones of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit in a diffractive state is directed through said aperture.
41. A method as recited in any one of claims 32-40 wherein the grating elements of each said subpixel component are arranged parallel to each other, with the light-reflective surfaces of the grating elements normally lying in a first plane, and further including supporting alternate ones of the grating elements in a fixed position, and moving the remaining grating elements relative to the fixed grating elements and between a first configuration wherein all of the grating elements lie in the first plane and the subpixel component acts to reflect incident light as a plane mirror, and a second configuration wherein said remaining grating elements lie in a second plane parallel to the first plane and the subpixel component diffracts incident light as it is reflected from the planar surfaces of the grating elements.
42. A method of generating multi-colored optical images, comprising the steps of: providing an optical aperture through which light may be passed; forming an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including a plurality of subpixel components having elongated grating elements, the grating elements of at least two subpixel components of each pixel unit being oriented such that the grating elements of a first of said two subpixel components extend in a direction different from that of the grating elements of a second of said two subpixel components, each said subpixel component being adapted to selectively have a reflective state and a diffractive state; causing each said subpixel component to assume either said reflective state or said diffractive state; and positioning a plurality of colored light sources to respectively illuminate particular subpixel components of each pixel unit of said array such that no light diffracted from any of said subpixel components in a diffractive state passes through said aperture, but such that light reflected from subpixel components in a reflective state is directed through said aperture, whereby an optical image corresponding to the states of said pixel units is viewable through said optical aperture.
43. A method as recited in claim 42 including causing the grating elements of the first of said subpixel components of each said pixel to have a first orientation and causing the grating elements of the second of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit to have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation.
44. A method as recited in claim 43 including causing each said pixel unit to have a third subpixel component, and causing the grating elements of said third subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have an orientation that is different from the orientations of said first and second subpixel components .
45. A method as recited in claim 44 and further including causing the grating periods of the grating elements of the three subpixel components of each pixel unit to be equal.
46. A method as recited in claim 42 including causing the grating elements of the first of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit to have a first orientation and a first grating period, causing the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have a second orientation which is at 90 degrees relative to the first orientation and said first grating period, and causing the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have said first orientation and a second grating period different from said first grating period.
47. A method as recited in claim 42 including causing the grating elements of the first subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have a first angular orientation, causing the grating elements of the second subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have a second angular orientation relative to the grating elements of said first subpixel component, and causing the grating elements of a third subpixel component of each said pixel unit to have a third angular orientation relative to the angular orientations of the grating elements of said first and second subpixel components.
48. A method as recited in claim 47 wherein said first angular orientation, said second angular orientation and said third orientation are respectively separated by angles of 120 degrees.
49. A method as recited in claim 48 and further including causing said first, second and third subpixel components to each have rhombic perimetric boundaries and to be positioned contiguous to each other, such that the collective perimetric boundary of each pixel unit has a generally hexagonal shape.
50. A method for generating multi-colored optical images, comprising the steps of : providing a housing means having an optical aperture through which light may be passed; disposing a light valve means within said housing means and forming an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including a plurality of subpixel components having elongated grating elements, the grating elements of at least two subpixel components of each pixel unit being oriented such that the grating elements of a first of said two subpixel components extend in a direction different from that of the grating elements of a second of said two subpixel components, each said subpixel component being adapted to selectively have a reflective state and a diffractive state; and positioning a plurality of colored light sources to respectively illuminate particular subpixel components of each pixel unit of said array such that no light diffracted from any of said subpixel components in a diffractive state passes through said aperture, but such that light reflected from corresponding ones of said subpixel components of each said pixel unit in a reflective state is directed through said aperture.
51. A method as recited in any one of claims 42-50 wherein the grating elements of each said subpixel component are arranged parallel to each other, with the light-reflective surfaces of the grating elements normally lying in a first plane, and further including supporting alternate ones of the grating elements in a fixed position, and moving the remaining grating elements relative to the fixed grating elements and between a first configuration wherein all of the grating elements lie in a first plane and the subpixel component acts to reflect incident light as a plane mirror, and a second configuration wherein said remaining grating elements lie in a second plane parallel to the first plane and the subpixel component diffracts incident light as it is reflected from the planar surfaces of the grating elements.
52. Display apparatus for generating multi-colored optical images, comprising: means forming an optical aperture through which light may be passed; light valve means disposed with a predetermined relationship to said aperture and consisting of an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including at least two subpixel components having elongated grating elements, each said subpixel component being adapted to selectively have a reflective state and a diffractive state; and at least two different colored light sources positioned to illuminate the pixel units of said array, the apparatus being characterized in that the grating elements of each subpixel component of each pixel unit selectively cause light from a particular source to be diffracted and directed through said aperture when in said diffractive state or to be reflected away from said aperture when in said reflective state.
53. Display apparatus for generating multi-colored optical images, comprising: means forming an optical aperture through which light may be passed; light valve means disposed with a predetermined relationship to said aperture and consisting of an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including at least two subpixel components having elongated grating elements, each said subpixel component being adapted to selectively have a reflective state and a diffractive state; and at least two different colored light sources positioned to illuminate the pixel units of said array, the apparatus being characterized in that the grating elements of each subpixel component of each pixel unit selectively cause light from a particular source to be reflected through said aperture when in said reflective state or to be diffracted and directed away from said aperture when in said diffractive state.
54. Display apparatus for generating multi-colored optical images, comprising: means forming an optical aperture through which light may be passed; light valve means disposed with a predetermined relationship to said aperture and consisting of an array of discrete light-modulating pixel units, each including at least two subpixel components having elongated grating elements, each said subpixel component being configured to have either a reflective state or a diffractive state; and at least two different colored light sources positioned to illuminate the pixel units of said array, the apparatus being characterized in that the grating elements of each subpixel component of each pixel unit having said diffractive state cause light from a particular source to be diffracted and directed through said aperture and subpixel components having said reflective state cause light from the particular source to be reflected away from said aperture.
55. Display apparatus as recited in any one of claims 52-54 wherein the grating elements of each subpixel component extend in a different direction relative to the grating elements of the other subpixel components of the same pixel unit.
56. Display apparatus as recited in any one of claims 52-54 wherein the subpixel components of each pixel unit have different grating periods.
PCT/US1997/000854 1996-01-18 1997-01-17 Method and apparatus for using an array of grating light valves to produce multicolor optical images WO1997026569A2 (en)

Priority Applications (5)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
AT97904813T ATE217094T1 (en) 1996-01-18 1997-01-17 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR GENERATING OPTICAL COLOR IMAGES USING A GRID LIGHT VALVE ARRAY
EP97904813A EP0875010B1 (en) 1996-01-18 1997-01-17 Method and apparatus for using an array of grating light valves to produce multicolor optical images
DE69712311T DE69712311T2 (en) 1996-01-18 1997-01-17 METHOD AND DEVICE FOR PRODUCING OPTICAL COLOR IMAGES BY MEANS OF A GRID LIGHT VALVE ARRAY
JP52625497A JP4053598B2 (en) 1996-01-18 1997-01-17 Method and apparatus for generating multicolor optical images using an array of grating light valves
CA002243347A CA2243347C (en) 1996-01-18 1997-01-17 Method and apparatus for using an array of grating light valves to produce multicolor optical images

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US08/591,231 US6219015B1 (en) 1992-04-28 1996-01-18 Method and apparatus for using an array of grating light valves to produce multicolor optical images
US08/591,231 1996-01-18

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO1997026569A2 true WO1997026569A2 (en) 1997-07-24
WO1997026569A3 WO1997026569A3 (en) 1997-10-09

Family

ID=24365635

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
PCT/US1997/000854 WO1997026569A2 (en) 1996-01-18 1997-01-17 Method and apparatus for using an array of grating light valves to produce multicolor optical images

Country Status (7)

Country Link
US (2) US6219015B1 (en)
EP (1) EP0875010B1 (en)
JP (1) JP4053598B2 (en)
AT (1) ATE217094T1 (en)
CA (1) CA2243347C (en)
DE (1) DE69712311T2 (en)
WO (1) WO1997026569A2 (en)

Cited By (15)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1999023520A1 (en) * 1997-10-31 1999-05-14 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Display apparatus including grating light-valve array and interferometric optical system
EP0961174A2 (en) * 1998-05-29 1999-12-01 Affymetrix, Inc. (a California Corporation) Compositions and methods involving direct write optical lithography
EP1180111A1 (en) * 1999-02-10 2002-02-20 Macrogen Inc. Method and apparatus for compound library preparation using optical modulator
EP1202550A2 (en) * 2000-10-31 2002-05-02 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Laser irradiation device and image recorder
JP2002162599A (en) * 2000-11-24 2002-06-07 Sony Corp Stereoscopic image display device
WO2002084397A2 (en) * 2001-04-10 2002-10-24 Silicon Light Machines Angled illumination for a single order glv based projection system
JP2002539472A (en) * 1999-03-08 2002-11-19 シーゲイト テクノロジィ リミテッド ライアビリティ カンパニー Improved optical reflector for micro-machined mirror
WO2003055788A1 (en) * 2001-12-26 2003-07-10 Sony Corporation Electrostatic drive mems element, manufacturing method thereof, optical mems element, optical modulation element, glv device, and laser display
US6773113B2 (en) 2000-08-25 2004-08-10 Carl Zeiss Jena Gmbh Projection arrangement for projecting an image onto a projection surface
US6785001B2 (en) 2001-08-21 2004-08-31 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Method and apparatus for measuring wavelength jitter of light signal
EP1460036A1 (en) * 2001-12-26 2004-09-22 Sony Corporation Mems element manufacturing method
DE10041722B4 (en) * 2000-08-25 2004-11-25 Carl Zeiss Jena Gmbh Projection arrangement with a projector for projecting an image onto a projection surface and projection unit for coupling to a projector
CN1297830C (en) * 2003-06-05 2007-01-31 华新丽华股份有限公司 Producing method for raster structure
US7491680B2 (en) 1998-02-11 2009-02-17 The Regents Of The University Of Michigan Device for chemical and biochemical reactions using photo-generated reagents
US9641826B1 (en) 2011-10-06 2017-05-02 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation System and method for displaying distant 3-D stereo on a dome surface

Families Citing this family (319)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6969635B2 (en) 2000-12-07 2005-11-29 Reflectivity, Inc. Methods for depositing, releasing and packaging micro-electromechanical devices on wafer substrates
US20080248046A1 (en) * 1997-03-17 2008-10-09 Human Genome Sciences, Inc. Death domain containing receptor 5
US6512502B2 (en) * 1998-05-27 2003-01-28 International Business Machines Corporation Lightvalve projection system in which red, green, and blue image subpixels are projected from two lightvalves and recombined using total reflection prisms
US5953161A (en) * 1998-05-29 1999-09-14 General Motors Corporation Infra-red imaging system using a diffraction grating array
US6215579B1 (en) * 1998-06-24 2001-04-10 Silicon Light Machines Method and apparatus for modulating an incident light beam for forming a two-dimensional image
US6303986B1 (en) 1998-07-29 2001-10-16 Silicon Light Machines Method of and apparatus for sealing an hermetic lid to a semiconductor die
US6080994A (en) * 1998-07-30 2000-06-27 Litton Systems, Inc. High output reflective optical correlator having a folded optical axis using ferro-electric liquid crystal spatial light modulators
US6962419B2 (en) 1998-09-24 2005-11-08 Reflectivity, Inc Micromirror elements, package for the micromirror elements, and projection system therefor
US6144481A (en) * 1998-12-18 2000-11-07 Eastman Kodak Company Method and system for actuating electro-mechanical ribbon elements in accordance to a data stream
US6243194B1 (en) 1998-12-18 2001-06-05 Eastman Kodak Company Electro-mechanical grating device
US6335831B2 (en) 1998-12-18 2002-01-01 Eastman Kodak Company Multilevel mechanical grating device
US6181458B1 (en) 1998-12-18 2001-01-30 Eastman Kodak Company Mechanical grating device with optical coating and method of making mechanical grating device with optical coating
US6172796B1 (en) 1998-12-18 2001-01-09 Eastman Kodak Company Multilevel electro-mechanical grating device and a method for operating a multilevel mechanical and electro-mechanical grating device
US6724125B2 (en) 1999-03-30 2004-04-20 Massachusetts Institute Of Technology Methods and apparatus for diffractive optical processing using an actuatable structure
US6501600B1 (en) 1999-08-11 2002-12-31 Lightconnect, Inc. Polarization independent grating modulator
US6674563B2 (en) 2000-04-13 2004-01-06 Lightconnect, Inc. Method and apparatus for device linearization
US6826330B1 (en) 1999-08-11 2004-11-30 Lightconnect, Inc. Dynamic spectral shaping for fiber-optic application
US6497490B1 (en) 1999-12-14 2002-12-24 Silicon Light Machines Laser beam attenuator and method of attenuating a laser beam
US6888983B2 (en) 2000-04-14 2005-05-03 Lightconnect, Inc. Dynamic gain and channel equalizers
US6480634B1 (en) * 2000-05-18 2002-11-12 Silicon Light Machines Image projector including optical fiber which couples laser illumination to light modulator
JP2002082652A (en) * 2000-05-18 2002-03-22 Canon Inc Image display device and method
CA2352729A1 (en) 2000-07-13 2002-01-13 Creoscitex Corporation Ltd. Blazed micro-mechanical light modulator and array thereof
US7012731B2 (en) 2000-08-30 2006-03-14 Reflectivity, Inc Packaged micromirror array for a projection display
US7136159B2 (en) * 2000-09-12 2006-11-14 Kla-Tencor Technologies Corporation Excimer laser inspection system
US6411425B1 (en) * 2000-09-27 2002-06-25 Eastman Kodak Company Electromechanical grating display system with spatially separated light beams
US6693930B1 (en) * 2000-12-12 2004-02-17 Kla-Tencor Technologies Corporation Peak power and speckle contrast reduction for a single laser pulse
US6387723B1 (en) 2001-01-19 2002-05-14 Silicon Light Machines Reduced surface charging in silicon-based devices
US6804429B2 (en) * 2001-02-09 2004-10-12 The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford Junior University Reconfigurable wavelength multiplexers and filters employing micromirror array in a gires-tournois interferometer
US6567584B2 (en) 2001-02-12 2003-05-20 Silicon Light Machines Illumination system for one-dimensional spatial light modulators employing multiple light sources
US20020167695A1 (en) * 2001-03-02 2002-11-14 Senturia Stephen D. Methods and apparatus for diffractive optical processing using an actuatable structure
US7903337B1 (en) 2001-03-08 2011-03-08 Silicon Light Machines High contrast grating light valve
US7177081B2 (en) * 2001-03-08 2007-02-13 Silicon Light Machines Corporation High contrast grating light valve type device
US6614580B2 (en) 2001-04-10 2003-09-02 Silicon Light Machines Modulation of light out of the focal plane in a light modulator based projection system
FI20010917A (en) * 2001-05-03 2002-11-04 Nokia Corp Electrically reconfigurable optical devices and methods for their formation
US7081928B2 (en) * 2001-05-16 2006-07-25 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. Optical system for full color, video projector using single light valve with plural sub-pixel reflectors
EP1404501B1 (en) 2001-06-05 2012-08-01 Mikro Systems Inc. Method and mold system for manufacturing three-dimensional devices
US7785098B1 (en) 2001-06-05 2010-08-31 Mikro Systems, Inc. Systems for large area micro mechanical systems
US7141812B2 (en) * 2002-06-05 2006-11-28 Mikro Systems, Inc. Devices, methods, and systems involving castings
US6782205B2 (en) 2001-06-25 2004-08-24 Silicon Light Machines Method and apparatus for dynamic equalization in wavelength division multiplexing
US6747781B2 (en) 2001-06-25 2004-06-08 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Method, apparatus, and diffuser for reducing laser speckle
US6485150B1 (en) 2001-07-03 2002-11-26 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Tunable spectral source
US6646778B2 (en) 2001-08-01 2003-11-11 Silicon Light Machines Grating light valve with encapsulated dampening gas
US7023606B2 (en) 2001-08-03 2006-04-04 Reflectivity, Inc Micromirror array for projection TV
US6639722B2 (en) 2001-08-15 2003-10-28 Silicon Light Machines Stress tuned blazed grating light valve
US6930364B2 (en) * 2001-09-13 2005-08-16 Silicon Light Machines Corporation Microelectronic mechanical system and methods
US6750998B2 (en) * 2001-09-20 2004-06-15 Eastman Kodak Company Electro-mechanical grating device having a continuously controllable diffraction efficiency
KR100486495B1 (en) * 2001-09-28 2005-04-29 엘지전자 주식회사 Optical modulator and manufacturing method for thereof
US6532097B1 (en) 2001-10-11 2003-03-11 Applied Materials, Inc. Image registration apparatus having an adjustable reflective diffraction grating and method
US7046410B2 (en) 2001-10-11 2006-05-16 Polychromix, Inc. Actuatable diffractive optical processor
US6800238B1 (en) 2002-01-15 2004-10-05 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Method for domain patterning in low coercive field ferroelectrics
US6767751B2 (en) * 2002-05-28 2004-07-27 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Integrated driver process flow
US6728023B1 (en) 2002-05-28 2004-04-27 Silicon Light Machines Optical device arrays with optimized image resolution
US6822797B1 (en) 2002-05-31 2004-11-23 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Light modulator structure for producing high-contrast operation using zero-order light
US6829258B1 (en) 2002-06-26 2004-12-07 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Rapidly tunable external cavity laser
US6714337B1 (en) 2002-06-28 2004-03-30 Silicon Light Machines Method and device for modulating a light beam and having an improved gamma response
US6908201B2 (en) * 2002-06-28 2005-06-21 Silicon Light Machines Corporation Micro-support structures
US6813059B2 (en) 2002-06-28 2004-11-02 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Reduced formation of asperities in contact micro-structures
US6801354B1 (en) 2002-08-20 2004-10-05 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. 2-D diffraction grating for substantially eliminating polarization dependent losses
US6712480B1 (en) 2002-09-27 2004-03-30 Silicon Light Machines Controlled curvature of stressed micro-structures
US7729030B2 (en) 2002-10-21 2010-06-01 Hrl Laboratories, Llc Optical retro-reflective apparatus with modulation capability
US7113320B2 (en) * 2003-02-06 2006-09-26 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation GLV based fiber optic transmitter
US7042622B2 (en) 2003-10-30 2006-05-09 Reflectivity, Inc Micromirror and post arrangements on substrates
US7869121B2 (en) 2003-02-21 2011-01-11 Kla-Tencor Technologies Corporation Small ultra-high NA catadioptric objective using aspheric surfaces
US7639419B2 (en) * 2003-02-21 2009-12-29 Kla-Tencor Technologies, Inc. Inspection system using small catadioptric objective
US7884998B2 (en) 2003-02-21 2011-02-08 Kla - Tencor Corporation Catadioptric microscope objective employing immersion liquid for use in broad band microscopy
US7672043B2 (en) * 2003-02-21 2010-03-02 Kla-Tencor Technologies Corporation Catadioptric imaging system exhibiting enhanced deep ultraviolet spectral bandwidth
US7646533B2 (en) * 2003-02-21 2010-01-12 Kla-Tencor Technologies Corporation Small ultra-high NA catadioptric objective
JP4366961B2 (en) * 2003-02-25 2009-11-18 ソニー株式会社 Optical MEMS element, method for manufacturing the same, and diffractive optical MEMS element
US6829077B1 (en) 2003-02-28 2004-12-07 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Diffractive light modulator with dynamically rotatable diffraction plane
US6806997B1 (en) 2003-02-28 2004-10-19 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Patterned diffractive light modulator ribbon for PDL reduction
US7042611B1 (en) * 2003-03-03 2006-05-09 Silicon Light Machines Corporation Pre-deflected bias ribbons
US7063920B2 (en) * 2003-05-16 2006-06-20 Asml Holding, N.V. Method for the generation of variable pitch nested lines and/or contact holes using fixed size pixels for direct-write lithographic systems
US6873398B2 (en) * 2003-05-21 2005-03-29 Esko-Graphics A/S Method and apparatus for multi-track imaging using single-mode beams and diffraction-limited optics
EP1480080A1 (en) * 2003-05-22 2004-11-24 ASML Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7183566B2 (en) * 2003-05-28 2007-02-27 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus for manufacturing a device
US7061591B2 (en) * 2003-05-30 2006-06-13 Asml Holding N.V. Maskless lithography systems and methods utilizing spatial light modulator arrays
US6989920B2 (en) * 2003-05-29 2006-01-24 Asml Holding N.V. System and method for dose control in a lithographic system
EP1482373A1 (en) * 2003-05-30 2004-12-01 ASML Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
SG118283A1 (en) * 2003-06-20 2006-01-27 Asml Netherlands Bv Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
EP1489449A1 (en) * 2003-06-20 2004-12-22 ASML Netherlands B.V. Spatial light modulator
JP4411875B2 (en) * 2003-06-20 2010-02-10 ソニー株式会社 Light modulation element and image display apparatus using the same
US7110082B2 (en) * 2003-06-24 2006-09-19 Asml Holding N.V. Optical system for maskless lithography
SG119224A1 (en) * 2003-06-26 2006-02-28 Asml Netherlands Bv Calibration method for a lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7158215B2 (en) * 2003-06-30 2007-01-02 Asml Holding N.V. Large field of view protection optical system with aberration correctability for flat panel displays
US7154587B2 (en) * 2003-06-30 2006-12-26 Asml Netherlands B.V Spatial light modulator, lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US6856449B2 (en) * 2003-07-10 2005-02-15 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation Ultra-high resolution light modulation control system and method
US7224504B2 (en) 2003-07-30 2007-05-29 Asml Holding N. V. Deformable mirror using piezoelectric actuators formed as an integrated circuit and method of use
US6831768B1 (en) * 2003-07-31 2004-12-14 Asml Holding N.V. Using time and/or power modulation to achieve dose gray-scaling in optical maskless lithography
US7012669B2 (en) * 2003-08-18 2006-03-14 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation Reflection barrier for panoramic display
US6871958B2 (en) * 2003-08-18 2005-03-29 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation Wide angle scanner for panoramic display
US7334902B2 (en) 2003-08-18 2008-02-26 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation Wide angle scanner for panoramic display
US7414701B2 (en) * 2003-10-03 2008-08-19 Asml Holding N.V. Method and systems for total focus deviation adjustments on maskless lithography systems
SG110196A1 (en) * 2003-09-22 2005-04-28 Asml Netherlands Bv Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US6876440B1 (en) * 2003-09-30 2005-04-05 Asml Holding N.V. Methods and systems to compensate for a stitching disturbance of a printed pattern in a maskless lithography system utilizing overlap of exposure zones with attenuation of the aerial image in the overlap region
US7410736B2 (en) * 2003-09-30 2008-08-12 Asml Holding N.V. Methods and systems to compensate for a stitching disturbance of a printed pattern in a maskless lithography system not utilizing overlap of the exposure zones
US7023526B2 (en) * 2003-09-30 2006-04-04 Asml Holding N.V. Methods and systems to compensate for a stitching disturbance of a printed pattern in a maskless lithography system utilizing overlap without an explicit attenuation
US7109498B2 (en) * 2003-10-09 2006-09-19 Asml Netherlands B.V. Radiation source, lithographic apparatus, and device manufacturing method
US7116398B2 (en) * 2003-11-07 2006-10-03 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7196772B2 (en) * 2003-11-07 2007-03-27 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7001232B2 (en) * 2003-12-11 2006-02-21 Montgomery Robert E Personal watercraft air intake assembly
US6995830B2 (en) * 2003-12-22 2006-02-07 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic projection apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7012674B2 (en) * 2004-01-13 2006-03-14 Asml Holding N.V. Maskless optical writer
JP4083751B2 (en) * 2004-01-29 2008-04-30 エーエスエムエル ホールディング エヌ.ブイ. System for calibrating a spatial light modulator array and method for calibrating a spatial light modulator array
US7580559B2 (en) * 2004-01-29 2009-08-25 Asml Holding N.V. System and method for calibrating a spatial light modulator
US6847461B1 (en) * 2004-01-29 2005-01-25 Asml Holding N.V. System and method for calibrating a spatial light modulator array using shearing interferometry
US7133118B2 (en) * 2004-02-18 2006-11-07 Asml Netherlands, B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7190434B2 (en) * 2004-02-18 2007-03-13 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7016014B2 (en) * 2004-02-27 2006-03-21 Asml Netherlands B.V Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7081947B2 (en) * 2004-02-27 2006-07-25 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7061586B2 (en) * 2004-03-02 2006-06-13 Asml Netherlands Bv Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
USRE43515E1 (en) 2004-03-09 2012-07-17 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US6967711B2 (en) * 2004-03-09 2005-11-22 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7094506B2 (en) * 2004-03-09 2006-08-22 Asml Netherlands B.V Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7561251B2 (en) * 2004-03-29 2009-07-14 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7153616B2 (en) * 2004-03-31 2006-12-26 Asml Holding N.V. System and method for verifying and controlling the performance of a maskless lithography tool
US7053981B2 (en) * 2004-03-31 2006-05-30 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7002666B2 (en) * 2004-04-16 2006-02-21 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7173751B2 (en) * 2004-04-29 2007-02-06 Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co., Ltd. Open hole-based diffractive light modulator
US20050243295A1 (en) * 2004-04-30 2005-11-03 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing
US6963434B1 (en) * 2004-04-30 2005-11-08 Asml Holding N.V. System and method for calculating aerial image of a spatial light modulator
US20050259269A1 (en) * 2004-05-19 2005-11-24 Asml Holding N.V. Shearing interferometer with dynamic pupil fill
US7242456B2 (en) * 2004-05-26 2007-07-10 Asml Holdings N.V. System and method utilizing a lithography tool having modular illumination, pattern generator, and projection optics portions
US7477403B2 (en) * 2004-05-27 2009-01-13 Asml Netherlands B.V. Optical position assessment apparatus and method
US6989886B2 (en) * 2004-06-08 2006-01-24 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7123348B2 (en) * 2004-06-08 2006-10-17 Asml Netherlands B.V Lithographic apparatus and method utilizing dose control
US7016016B2 (en) * 2004-06-25 2006-03-21 Asml Netherlands Bv Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7116403B2 (en) * 2004-06-28 2006-10-03 Asml Netherlands B.V Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7116404B2 (en) * 2004-06-30 2006-10-03 Asml Netherlands B.V Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7158208B2 (en) * 2004-06-30 2007-01-02 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US20060001890A1 (en) * 2004-07-02 2006-01-05 Asml Holding N.V. Spatial light modulator as source module for DUV wavefront sensor
US20060012779A1 (en) * 2004-07-13 2006-01-19 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7573574B2 (en) * 2004-07-13 2009-08-11 Asml Netherlands Bv Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7259829B2 (en) * 2004-07-26 2007-08-21 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7335398B2 (en) * 2004-07-26 2008-02-26 Asml Holding N.V. Method to modify the spatial response of a pattern generator
US7227613B2 (en) * 2004-07-26 2007-06-05 Asml Holding N.V. Lithographic apparatus having double telecentric illumination
US7142286B2 (en) * 2004-07-27 2006-11-28 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US20060026431A1 (en) * 2004-07-30 2006-02-02 Hitachi Global Storage Technologies B.V. Cryptographic letterheads
US7251020B2 (en) * 2004-07-30 2007-07-31 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7538855B2 (en) * 2004-08-10 2009-05-26 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7102733B2 (en) * 2004-08-13 2006-09-05 Asml Holding N.V. System and method to compensate for static and dynamic misalignments and deformations in a maskless lithography tool
US7500218B2 (en) * 2004-08-17 2009-03-03 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus, method, and computer program product for generating a mask pattern and device manufacturing method using same
US7304718B2 (en) * 2004-08-17 2007-12-04 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7079225B2 (en) * 2004-09-14 2006-07-18 Asml Netherlands B.V Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7373026B2 (en) 2004-09-27 2008-05-13 Idc, Llc MEMS device fabricated on a pre-patterned substrate
US7405861B2 (en) 2004-09-27 2008-07-29 Idc, Llc Method and device for protecting interferometric modulators from electrostatic discharge
US7078323B2 (en) 2004-09-29 2006-07-18 Sharp Laboratories Of America, Inc. Digital light valve semiconductor processing
US7177012B2 (en) 2004-10-18 2007-02-13 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7388663B2 (en) 2004-10-28 2008-06-17 Asml Netherlands B.V. Optical position assessment apparatus and method
JP4445373B2 (en) * 2004-10-29 2010-04-07 富士通株式会社 Light switch
US7423732B2 (en) * 2004-11-04 2008-09-09 Asml Holding N.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing placement of a patterning device at a pupil plane
US7609362B2 (en) * 2004-11-08 2009-10-27 Asml Netherlands B.V. Scanning lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7170584B2 (en) * 2004-11-17 2007-01-30 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7474384B2 (en) * 2004-11-22 2009-01-06 Asml Holding N.V. Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method, and a projection element for use in the lithographic apparatus
US7061581B1 (en) * 2004-11-22 2006-06-13 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7643192B2 (en) 2004-11-24 2010-01-05 Asml Holding N.V. Pattern generator using a dual phase step element and method of using same
US7713667B2 (en) * 2004-11-30 2010-05-11 Asml Holding N.V. System and method for generating pattern data used to control a pattern generator
US7333177B2 (en) * 2004-11-30 2008-02-19 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7365848B2 (en) * 2004-12-01 2008-04-29 Asml Holding N.V. System and method using visible and infrared light to align and measure alignment patterns on multiple layers
US7391499B2 (en) * 2004-12-02 2008-06-24 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7362415B2 (en) * 2004-12-07 2008-04-22 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7355677B2 (en) * 2004-12-09 2008-04-08 Asml Netherlands B.V. System and method for an improved illumination system in a lithographic apparatus
US7349068B2 (en) * 2004-12-17 2008-03-25 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7180577B2 (en) * 2004-12-17 2007-02-20 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a microlens array at an image plane
US7391676B2 (en) * 2004-12-22 2008-06-24 Asml Netherlands B.V. Ultrasonic distance sensors
US7274502B2 (en) * 2004-12-22 2007-09-25 Asml Holding N.V. System, apparatus and method for maskless lithography that emulates binary, attenuating phase-shift and alternating phase-shift masks
US7202939B2 (en) * 2004-12-22 2007-04-10 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7230677B2 (en) * 2004-12-22 2007-06-12 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing hexagonal image grids
US7256867B2 (en) * 2004-12-22 2007-08-14 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7375795B2 (en) * 2004-12-22 2008-05-20 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method, and device manufactured thereby
US7656506B2 (en) * 2004-12-23 2010-02-02 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a substrate handler
US7538857B2 (en) * 2004-12-23 2009-05-26 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a substrate handler
US7242458B2 (en) * 2004-12-23 2007-07-10 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a multiple substrate carrier for flat panel display substrates
US7426076B2 (en) * 2004-12-23 2008-09-16 Asml Holding N.V. Projection system for a lithographic apparatus
US20060138349A1 (en) * 2004-12-27 2006-06-29 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7126672B2 (en) * 2004-12-27 2006-10-24 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7459247B2 (en) * 2004-12-27 2008-12-02 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7317510B2 (en) * 2004-12-27 2008-01-08 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7279110B2 (en) * 2004-12-27 2007-10-09 Asml Holding N.V. Method and apparatus for creating a phase step in mirrors used in spatial light modulator arrays
US7145636B2 (en) * 2004-12-28 2006-12-05 Asml Netherlands Bv System and method for determining maximum operational parameters used in maskless applications
US7403865B2 (en) * 2004-12-28 2008-07-22 Asml Netherlands B.V. System and method for fault indication on a substrate in maskless applications
US7756660B2 (en) 2004-12-28 2010-07-13 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7274029B2 (en) * 2004-12-28 2007-09-25 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7342644B2 (en) * 2004-12-29 2008-03-11 Asml Netherlands B.V. Methods and systems for lithographic beam generation
US7253881B2 (en) * 2004-12-29 2007-08-07 Asml Netherlands Bv Methods and systems for lithographic gray scaling
US7567368B2 (en) * 2005-01-06 2009-07-28 Asml Holding N.V. Systems and methods for minimizing scattered light in multi-SLM maskless lithography
US7542013B2 (en) * 2005-01-31 2009-06-02 Asml Holding N.V. System and method for imaging enhancement via calculation of a customized optimal pupil field and illumination mode
US7460208B2 (en) * 2005-02-18 2008-12-02 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7286137B2 (en) * 2005-02-28 2007-10-23 Asml Holding N.V. Method and system for constrained pixel graytones interpolation for pattern rasterization
US7499146B2 (en) * 2005-03-14 2009-03-03 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method, an integrated circuit, a flat panel display, and a method of compensating for cupping
US7812930B2 (en) * 2005-03-21 2010-10-12 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using repeated patterns in an LCD to reduce datapath volume
US7209216B2 (en) * 2005-03-25 2007-04-24 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing dynamic correction for magnification and position in maskless lithography
US7403265B2 (en) 2005-03-30 2008-07-22 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing data filtering
US7728956B2 (en) * 2005-04-05 2010-06-01 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing multiple die designs on a substrate using a data buffer that stores pattern variation data
US7330239B2 (en) * 2005-04-08 2008-02-12 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a blazing portion of a contrast device
US7209217B2 (en) 2005-04-08 2007-04-24 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing plural patterning devices
US7221514B2 (en) 2005-04-15 2007-05-22 Asml Netherlands B.V. Variable lens and exposure system
US20060244805A1 (en) * 2005-04-27 2006-11-02 Ming-Hsiang Yeh Multicolor pen
US7400382B2 (en) * 2005-04-28 2008-07-15 Asml Holding N.V. Light patterning device using tilting mirrors in a superpixel form
US7738081B2 (en) * 2005-05-06 2010-06-15 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a flat panel display handler with conveyor device and substrate handler
US7197828B2 (en) * 2005-05-31 2007-04-03 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing FPD chuck Z position measurement
US7477772B2 (en) * 2005-05-31 2009-01-13 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing 2D run length encoding for image data compression
US7292317B2 (en) * 2005-06-08 2007-11-06 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing substrate stage compensating
US7742148B2 (en) * 2005-06-08 2010-06-22 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method for writing a digital image
US7233384B2 (en) * 2005-06-13 2007-06-19 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method, and device manufactured thereby for calibrating an imaging system with a sensor
US7321416B2 (en) * 2005-06-15 2008-01-22 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method, device manufactured thereby, and controllable patterning device utilizing a spatial light modulator with distributed digital to analog conversion
US7408617B2 (en) * 2005-06-24 2008-08-05 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a large area FPD chuck equipped with encoders an encoder scale calibration method
US7965373B2 (en) * 2005-06-28 2011-06-21 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a datapath having a balanced calculation load
US7522258B2 (en) * 2005-06-29 2009-04-21 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing movement of clean air to reduce contamination
US7307694B2 (en) * 2005-06-29 2007-12-11 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus, radiation beam inspection device, method of inspecting a beam of radiation and device manufacturing method
US20070013889A1 (en) * 2005-07-12 2007-01-18 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus, device manufacturing method and device manufactured thereby having an increase in depth of focus
US7251019B2 (en) * 2005-07-20 2007-07-31 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a continuous light beam in combination with pixel grid imaging
EP2495212A3 (en) * 2005-07-22 2012-10-31 QUALCOMM MEMS Technologies, Inc. Mems devices having support structures and methods of fabricating the same
US7606430B2 (en) * 2005-08-30 2009-10-20 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a multiple dictionary compression method for FPD
US20070046917A1 (en) * 2005-08-31 2007-03-01 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method that compensates for reticle induced CDU
JP2007114750A (en) * 2005-09-09 2007-05-10 Asml Netherlands Bv Projection system design method, lithography apparatus, and device manufacturing method
WO2007041302A2 (en) 2005-09-30 2007-04-12 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Mems device and interconnects for same
US7830493B2 (en) * 2005-10-04 2010-11-09 Asml Netherlands B.V. System and method for compensating for radiation induced thermal distortions in a substrate or projection system
US7391503B2 (en) * 2005-10-04 2008-06-24 Asml Netherlands B.V. System and method for compensating for thermal expansion of lithography apparatus or substrate
KR20070037864A (en) * 2005-10-04 2007-04-09 엘지.필립스 엘시디 주식회사 Liquid crystal display panel and fabrication method thereof
US7332733B2 (en) * 2005-10-05 2008-02-19 Asml Netherlands B.V. System and method to correct for field curvature of multi lens array
US20070127005A1 (en) * 2005-12-02 2007-06-07 Asml Holding N.V. Illumination system
US7626181B2 (en) * 2005-12-09 2009-12-01 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US20070133007A1 (en) * 2005-12-14 2007-06-14 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using laser trimming of a multiple mirror contrast device
US7440078B2 (en) * 2005-12-20 2008-10-21 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using interferometric and maskless exposure units
US20070153249A1 (en) * 2005-12-20 2007-07-05 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using multiple exposures and multiple exposure types
US7466394B2 (en) * 2005-12-21 2008-12-16 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using a compensation scheme for a patterning array
US8356905B2 (en) * 2005-12-21 2013-01-22 Parellel Consulting Limited Liability Company Optically enhanced image sequences
US7652814B2 (en) 2006-01-27 2010-01-26 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. MEMS device with integrated optical element
US20070194239A1 (en) * 2006-01-31 2007-08-23 Mcallister Abraham Apparatus and method providing a hand-held spectrometer
US7532403B2 (en) * 2006-02-06 2009-05-12 Asml Holding N.V. Optical system for transforming numerical aperture
US7547568B2 (en) * 2006-02-22 2009-06-16 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Electrical conditioning of MEMS device and insulating layer thereof
US7450295B2 (en) * 2006-03-02 2008-11-11 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Methods for producing MEMS with protective coatings using multi-component sacrificial layers
US7528933B2 (en) * 2006-04-06 2009-05-05 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilizing a MEMS mirror with large deflection using a non-linear spring arrangement
US7508491B2 (en) * 2006-04-12 2009-03-24 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method utilized to reduce quantization influence of datapath SLM interface to dose uniformity
US7839487B2 (en) * 2006-04-13 2010-11-23 Asml Holding N.V. Optical system for increasing illumination efficiency of a patterning device
US7948606B2 (en) * 2006-04-13 2011-05-24 Asml Netherlands B.V. Moving beam with respect to diffractive optics in order to reduce interference patterns
US7623287B2 (en) * 2006-04-19 2009-11-24 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Non-planar surface structures and process for microelectromechanical systems
US7711239B2 (en) 2006-04-19 2010-05-04 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Microelectromechanical device and method utilizing nanoparticles
US7527996B2 (en) * 2006-04-19 2009-05-05 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Non-planar surface structures and process for microelectromechanical systems
US8264667B2 (en) * 2006-05-04 2012-09-11 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using interferometric and other exposure
US8934084B2 (en) * 2006-05-31 2015-01-13 Asml Holding N.V. System and method for printing interference patterns having a pitch in a lithography system
US7728954B2 (en) * 2006-06-06 2010-06-01 Asml Netherlands B.V. Reflective loop system producing incoherent radiation
US7649676B2 (en) * 2006-06-14 2010-01-19 Asml Netherlands B.V. System and method to form unpolarized light
US7936445B2 (en) * 2006-06-19 2011-05-03 Asml Netherlands B.V. Altering pattern data based on measured optical element characteristics
US8896808B2 (en) * 2006-06-21 2014-11-25 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and method
US7697115B2 (en) * 2006-06-23 2010-04-13 Asml Holding N.V. Resonant scanning mirror
US7593094B2 (en) * 2006-06-26 2009-09-22 Asml Netherlands B.V. Patterning device
US20080002174A1 (en) * 2006-06-30 2008-01-03 Asml Netherlands B.V. Control system for pattern generator in maskless lithography
US7630136B2 (en) 2006-07-18 2009-12-08 Asml Holding N.V. Optical integrators for lithography systems and methods
US7548315B2 (en) * 2006-07-27 2009-06-16 Asml Netherlands B.V. System and method to compensate for critical dimension non-uniformity in a lithography system
US7738077B2 (en) * 2006-07-31 2010-06-15 Asml Netherlands B.V. Patterning device utilizing sets of stepped mirrors and method of using same
US7626182B2 (en) * 2006-09-05 2009-12-01 Asml Netherlands B.V. Radiation pulse energy control system, lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method
US7628875B2 (en) * 2006-09-12 2009-12-08 Asml Netherlands B.V. MEMS device and assembly method
US8049865B2 (en) * 2006-09-18 2011-11-01 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic system, device manufacturing method, and mask optimization method
US7683300B2 (en) * 2006-10-17 2010-03-23 Asml Netherlands B.V. Using an interferometer as a high speed variable attenuator
US7738079B2 (en) * 2006-11-14 2010-06-15 Asml Netherlands B.V. Radiation beam pulse trimming
US20080111977A1 (en) * 2006-11-14 2008-05-15 Asml Holding N.V. Compensation techniques for fluid and magnetic bearings
US7453551B2 (en) * 2006-11-14 2008-11-18 Asml Netherlands B.V. Increasing pulse-to-pulse radiation beam uniformity
US8054449B2 (en) * 2006-11-22 2011-11-08 Asml Holding N.V. Enhancing the image contrast of a high resolution exposure tool
US7891818B2 (en) 2006-12-12 2011-02-22 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation System and method for aligning RGB light in a single modulator projector
US8259285B2 (en) * 2006-12-14 2012-09-04 Asml Holding N.V. Lithographic system, device manufacturing method, setpoint data optimization method, and apparatus for producing optimized setpoint data
US7706042B2 (en) * 2006-12-20 2010-04-27 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. MEMS device and interconnects for same
US7965378B2 (en) * 2007-02-20 2011-06-21 Asml Holding N.V Optical system and method for illumination of reflective spatial light modulators in maskless lithography
US8009269B2 (en) 2007-03-14 2011-08-30 Asml Holding N.V. Optimal rasterization for maskless lithography
US8009270B2 (en) * 2007-03-22 2011-08-30 Asml Netherlands B.V. Uniform background radiation in maskless lithography
WO2008124397A1 (en) * 2007-04-03 2008-10-16 David Fishbaine Inspection system and method
US7719752B2 (en) 2007-05-11 2010-05-18 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. MEMS structures, methods of fabricating MEMS components on separate substrates and assembly of same
US7714986B2 (en) * 2007-05-24 2010-05-11 Asml Netherlands B.V. Laser beam conditioning system comprising multiple optical paths allowing for dose control
US20080304034A1 (en) * 2007-06-07 2008-12-11 Asml Netherlands B.V. Dose control for optical maskless lithography
US8692974B2 (en) * 2007-06-14 2014-04-08 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and device manufacturing method using pupil filling by telecentricity control
US8189172B2 (en) * 2007-06-14 2012-05-29 Asml Netherlands B.V. Lithographic apparatus and method
US7768627B2 (en) * 2007-06-14 2010-08-03 Asml Netherlands B.V. Illumination of a patterning device based on interference for use in a maskless lithography system
US8665536B2 (en) * 2007-06-19 2014-03-04 Kla-Tencor Corporation External beam delivery system for laser dark-field illumination in a catadioptric optical system
US7570415B2 (en) * 2007-08-07 2009-08-04 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. MEMS device and interconnects for same
JP5205113B2 (en) * 2008-04-08 2013-06-05 浜松ホトニクス株式会社 Grating element and manufacturing method thereof
US8358317B2 (en) 2008-05-23 2013-01-22 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation System and method for displaying a planar image on a curved surface
US8702248B1 (en) 2008-06-11 2014-04-22 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation Projection method for reducing interpixel gaps on a viewing surface
EP2559535A3 (en) 2008-09-26 2016-09-07 Mikro Systems Inc. Systems, devices, and/or methods for manufacturing castings
US8077378B1 (en) 2008-11-12 2011-12-13 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation Calibration system and method for light modulation device
US7864403B2 (en) * 2009-03-27 2011-01-04 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Post-release adjustment of interferometric modulator reflectivity
NO333724B1 (en) * 2009-08-14 2013-09-02 Sintef A micromechanical series with optically reflective surfaces
US8547626B2 (en) * 2010-03-25 2013-10-01 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Mechanical layer and methods of shaping the same
JP2013524287A (en) 2010-04-09 2013-06-17 クォルコム・メムズ・テクノロジーズ・インコーポレーテッド Mechanical layer of electromechanical device and method for forming the same
US9134527B2 (en) 2011-04-04 2015-09-15 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Pixel via and methods of forming the same
US8963159B2 (en) 2011-04-04 2015-02-24 Qualcomm Mems Technologies, Inc. Pixel via and methods of forming the same
US8813824B2 (en) 2011-12-06 2014-08-26 Mikro Systems, Inc. Systems, devices, and/or methods for producing holes
US8970827B2 (en) * 2012-09-24 2015-03-03 Alces Technology, Inc. Structured light and time of flight depth capture with a MEMS ribbon linear array spatial light modulator
KR102136275B1 (en) * 2013-07-22 2020-07-22 삼성디스플레이 주식회사 Organic light emitting device and method for manufacturing the same
TWI511282B (en) * 2013-08-05 2015-12-01 Ye Xin Technology Consulting Co Ltd Organic light emitting diode panel
US20160202488A1 (en) * 2013-08-06 2016-07-14 Bae Systems Plc Display system
US9967546B2 (en) 2013-10-29 2018-05-08 Vefxi Corporation Method and apparatus for converting 2D-images and videos to 3D for consumer, commercial and professional applications
US20150116458A1 (en) 2013-10-30 2015-04-30 Barkatech Consulting, LLC Method and apparatus for generating enhanced 3d-effects for real-time and offline appplications
US9232172B2 (en) 2013-11-04 2016-01-05 Christie Digital Systems Usa, Inc. Two-stage light modulation for high dynamic range
US9195122B2 (en) 2013-11-28 2015-11-24 Christie Digital Systems Usa, Inc. Light modulator system including relay optics for correcting optical distortions
CN104036700B (en) * 2014-05-30 2016-02-03 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 Display panel, display packing and display device
CN106415346B (en) * 2014-06-03 2019-05-10 华为技术有限公司 Two-dimensional grating polarization beam apparatus and light coherent receiver
US10158847B2 (en) 2014-06-19 2018-12-18 Vefxi Corporation Real—time stereo 3D and autostereoscopic 3D video and image editing
CN105720074B (en) * 2014-12-03 2018-12-04 上海和辉光电有限公司 Dot structure, metal mask plate and OLED display screen
NZ773844A (en) 2015-03-16 2022-07-01 Magic Leap Inc Methods and systems for diagnosing and treating health ailments
KR102630100B1 (en) 2015-06-15 2024-01-25 매직 립, 인코포레이티드 Virtual and augmented reality systems and methods
EP3357058B1 (en) 2015-10-02 2021-05-19 Aptiv Technologies Limited Method and system for performing color filter offsets in order to reduce moiré interference in a display system including multiple displays
CN108474943B (en) * 2015-10-02 2021-04-27 安波福技术有限公司 Method and system for performing sub-pixel compression to reduce moire interference in a display system including multiple displays
US10477196B2 (en) 2015-10-02 2019-11-12 Pure Depth Limited Method and system using refractive bam mapper to reduce moire interference in a display system including multiple displays
WO2017176898A1 (en) 2016-04-08 2017-10-12 Magic Leap, Inc. Augmented reality systems and methods with variable focus lens elements
AU2017363081B2 (en) 2016-11-18 2022-01-13 Magic Leap, Inc. Multilayer liquid crystal diffractive gratings for redirecting light of wide incident angle ranges
EP4152085A1 (en) 2016-11-18 2023-03-22 Magic Leap, Inc. Spatially variable liquid crystal diffraction gratings
KR20230144116A (en) 2016-11-18 2023-10-13 매직 립, 인코포레이티드 Waveguide light multiplexer using crossed gratings
US11067860B2 (en) 2016-11-18 2021-07-20 Magic Leap, Inc. Liquid crystal diffractive devices with nano-scale pattern and methods of manufacturing the same
EP3552057B1 (en) 2016-12-08 2022-01-05 Magic Leap, Inc. Diffractive devices based on cholesteric liquid crystal
IL301448A (en) 2016-12-14 2023-05-01 Magic Leap Inc Patterning of liquid crystals using soft-imprint replication of surface alignment patterns
US10451799B2 (en) 2017-01-23 2019-10-22 Magic Leap, Inc. Eyepiece for virtual, augmented, or mixed reality systems
CN114690429A (en) 2017-02-23 2022-07-01 奇跃公司 Variable-focus virtual image device based on polarization conversion
EP3602173A4 (en) 2017-03-21 2021-01-13 Magic Leap, Inc. Stacked waveguides having different diffraction gratings for combined field of view
AU2018239264B2 (en) 2017-03-21 2023-05-18 Magic Leap, Inc. Eye-imaging apparatus using diffractive optical elements
JP7280250B2 (en) 2017-09-21 2023-05-23 マジック リープ, インコーポレイテッド Augmented reality display with waveguide configured to capture images of the eye and/or environment
JP7407111B2 (en) 2017-12-15 2023-12-28 マジック リープ, インコーポレイテッド Eyepiece for augmented reality display system
CN110223644B (en) * 2018-03-02 2020-08-04 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 Display device, virtual reality apparatus, and driving method
WO2020106824A1 (en) 2018-11-20 2020-05-28 Magic Leap, Inc. Eyepieces for augmented reality display system
JP7373594B2 (en) 2019-06-20 2023-11-02 マジック リープ, インコーポレイテッド Eyepiece for augmented reality display system

Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1993022694A1 (en) * 1992-04-28 1993-11-11 Leland Stanford Junior University Modulating a light beam
EP0689078A1 (en) * 1994-06-21 1995-12-27 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Diffractive optical modulator and method for producing the same

Family Cites Families (297)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
USRE16767E (en) * 1927-10-11 Charles prancis jenkins
USRE16757E (en) * 1922-10-31 1927-10-04 knight
US1548262A (en) * 1924-07-02 1925-08-04 Freedman Albert Manufacture of bicolored spectacles
US1814701A (en) * 1930-05-31 1931-07-14 Perser Corp Method of making viewing gratings for relief or stereoscopic pictures
US2415226A (en) * 1943-11-29 1947-02-04 Rca Corp Method of and apparatus for producing luminous images
US2991690A (en) * 1953-09-04 1961-07-11 Polaroid Corp Stereoscopic lens-prism optical system
US2783406A (en) * 1954-02-09 1957-02-26 John J Vanderhooft Stereoscopic television means
US3553364A (en) * 1968-03-15 1971-01-05 Texas Instruments Inc Electromechanical light valve
US3576394A (en) * 1968-07-03 1971-04-27 Texas Instruments Inc Apparatus for display duration modulation
US3600798A (en) * 1969-02-25 1971-08-24 Texas Instruments Inc Process for fabricating a panel array of electromechanical light valves
BE757764A (en) * 1969-10-21 1971-04-21 Itt SOLID STATE EXPLORATION SYSTEM
US3802769A (en) * 1972-08-28 1974-04-09 Harris Intertype Corp Method and apparatus for unaided stereo viewing
US4093346A (en) * 1973-07-13 1978-06-06 Minolta Camera Kabushiki Kaisha Optical low pass filter
US3886310A (en) * 1973-08-22 1975-05-27 Westinghouse Electric Corp Electrostatically deflectable light valve with improved diffraction properties
US3947105A (en) * 1973-09-21 1976-03-30 Technical Operations, Incorporated Production of colored designs
US3896338A (en) * 1973-11-01 1975-07-22 Westinghouse Electric Corp Color video display system comprising electrostatically deflectable light valves
US3969611A (en) * 1973-12-26 1976-07-13 Texas Instruments Incorporated Thermocouple circuit
JPS5742849B2 (en) * 1974-06-05 1982-09-10
US3912386A (en) 1974-06-14 1975-10-14 Rca Corp Color image intensification and projection using deformable mirror light valve
US4001663A (en) * 1974-09-03 1977-01-04 Texas Instruments Incorporated Switching regulator power supply
US4020381A (en) * 1974-12-09 1977-04-26 Texas Instruments Incorporated Cathode structure for a multibeam cathode ray tube
US3935500A (en) * 1974-12-09 1976-01-27 Texas Instruments Incorporated Flat CRT system
US4090219A (en) * 1974-12-09 1978-05-16 Hughes Aircraft Company Liquid crystal sequential color display
US3935499A (en) * 1975-01-03 1976-01-27 Texas Instruments Incorporated Monolythic staggered mesh deflection systems for use in flat matrix CRT's
US4017158A (en) * 1975-03-17 1977-04-12 E. I. Du Pont De Nemours And Company Spatial frequency carrier and process of preparing same
US4012116A (en) * 1975-05-30 1977-03-15 Personal Communications, Inc. No glasses 3-D viewer
US4084437A (en) * 1975-11-07 1978-04-18 Texas Instruments Incorporated Thermocouple circuit
CH595664A5 (en) * 1975-11-17 1978-02-15 Landis & Gyr Ag
US4184700A (en) * 1975-11-17 1980-01-22 Lgz Landis & Gyr Zug Ag Documents embossed with optical markings representing genuineness information
US4127322A (en) * 1975-12-05 1978-11-28 Hughes Aircraft Company High brightness full color image light valve projection system
CH594495A5 (en) * 1976-05-04 1978-01-13 Landis & Gyr Ag
US4135502A (en) * 1976-09-07 1979-01-23 Donald Peck Stereoscopic patterns and method of making same
US4139257A (en) * 1976-09-28 1979-02-13 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Synchronizing signal generator
US4067129A (en) * 1976-10-28 1978-01-10 Trans-World Manufacturing Corporation Display apparatus having means for creating a spectral color effect
CH604279A5 (en) * 1976-12-21 1978-08-31 Landis & Gyr Ag
US4093922A (en) * 1977-03-17 1978-06-06 Texas Instruments Incorporated Microcomputer processing approach for a non-volatile TV station memory tuning system
US4093921A (en) * 1977-03-17 1978-06-06 Texas Instruments Incorporated Microcomputer processing approach for a non-volatile TV station memory tuning system
CH616253A5 (en) * 1977-06-21 1980-03-14 Landis & Gyr Ag
CH622896A5 (en) * 1978-03-20 1981-04-30 Landis & Gyr Ag
US4225913A (en) * 1978-09-19 1980-09-30 Texas Instruments Incorporated Self-referencing power converter
US4338660A (en) * 1979-04-13 1982-07-06 Relational Memory Systems, Inc. Relational break signal generating device
US4327966A (en) * 1980-02-25 1982-05-04 Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated Variable attenuator for laser radiation
US4327411A (en) * 1980-03-04 1982-04-27 Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated High capacity elastic store having continuously variable delay
US4454591A (en) * 1980-05-29 1984-06-12 Texas Instruments Incorporated Interface system for bus line control
US4447881A (en) * 1980-05-29 1984-05-08 Texas Instruments Incorporated Data processing system integrated circuit having modular memory add-on capacity
US4430584A (en) * 1980-05-29 1984-02-07 Texas Instruments Incorporated Modular input/output system
US4418397A (en) * 1980-05-29 1983-11-29 Texas Instruments Incorporated Address decode system
US4443845A (en) * 1980-06-26 1984-04-17 Texas Instruments Incorporated Memory system having a common interface
US4503494A (en) * 1980-06-26 1985-03-05 Texas Instruments Incorporated Non-volatile memory system
US4420717A (en) * 1980-10-06 1983-12-13 Texas Instruments Incorporated Use of motor winding as integrator to generate sawtooth for switch mode current regulator
US4594501A (en) * 1980-10-09 1986-06-10 Texas Instruments Incorporated Pulse width modulation of printhead voltage
JPS57122981U (en) * 1981-01-27 1982-07-31
US4440839A (en) * 1981-03-18 1984-04-03 United Technologies Corporation Method of forming laser diffraction grating for beam sampling device
US4408884A (en) * 1981-06-29 1983-10-11 Rca Corporation Optical measurements of fine line parameters in integrated circuit processes
US4571603A (en) * 1981-11-03 1986-02-18 Texas Instruments Incorporated Deformable mirror electrostatic printer
US4571041A (en) * 1982-01-22 1986-02-18 Gaudyn Tad J Three dimensional projection arrangement
US4484188A (en) * 1982-04-23 1984-11-20 Texas Instruments Incorporated Graphics video resolution improvement apparatus
US4468725A (en) * 1982-06-18 1984-08-28 Texas Instruments Incorporated Direct AC converter for converting a balanced AC polyphase input to an output voltage
US4492435A (en) * 1982-07-02 1985-01-08 Xerox Corporation Multiple array full width electro mechanical modulator
EP0124302A3 (en) * 1983-04-06 1986-02-19 Texas Instruments Incorporated A.c. supply converter
US4655539A (en) * 1983-04-18 1987-04-07 Aerodyne Products Corporation Hologram writing apparatus and method
CH661683A5 (en) * 1983-09-19 1987-08-14 Landis & Gyr Ag DEVICE FOR MAINTAINING HIGH-RESOLUTION RELIEF PATTERNS.
US4561044A (en) * 1983-09-22 1985-12-24 Citizen Watch Co., Ltd. Lighting device for a display panel of an electronic device
US4809078A (en) * 1983-10-05 1989-02-28 Casio Computer Co., Ltd. Liquid crystal television receiver
FR2553893B1 (en) * 1983-10-19 1986-02-07 Texas Instruments France METHOD AND DEVICE FOR DETECTING A TRANSITION OF THE CONTINUOUS COMPONENT OF A PERIODIC SIGNAL, IN PARTICULAR FOR A TELEPHONE TRUNK
JPS60127888A (en) * 1983-12-15 1985-07-08 Citizen Watch Co Ltd Liquid crystal display device
JPS60214684A (en) * 1984-04-10 1985-10-26 Citizen Watch Co Ltd Liquid crystal television device
CH664030A5 (en) * 1984-07-06 1988-01-29 Landis & Gyr Ag METHOD FOR GENERATING A MACROSCOPIC SURFACE PATTERN WITH A MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE, IN PARTICULAR A STRUCTURALLY EFFECTIVE STRUCTURE.
US4710732A (en) * 1984-07-31 1987-12-01 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator and method
US4566935A (en) * 1984-07-31 1986-01-28 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator and method
US5096279A (en) 1984-08-31 1992-03-17 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator and method
US4596992A (en) * 1984-08-31 1986-06-24 Texas Instruments Incorporated Linear spatial light modulator and printer
US4662746A (en) * 1985-10-30 1987-05-05 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator and method
US5061049A (en) 1984-08-31 1991-10-29 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator and method
JPS6188676A (en) * 1984-10-05 1986-05-06 Citizen Watch Co Ltd Liquid crystal television device
US4615595A (en) * 1984-10-10 1986-10-07 Texas Instruments Incorporated Frame addressed spatial light modulator
US5281957A (en) 1984-11-14 1994-01-25 Schoolman Scientific Corp. Portable computer and head mounted display
US4772094A (en) * 1985-02-05 1988-09-20 Bright And Morning Star Optical stereoscopic system and prism window
US4866488A (en) * 1985-03-29 1989-09-12 Texas Instruments Incorporated Ballistic transport filter and device
US4623219A (en) * 1985-04-15 1986-11-18 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Navy Real-time high-resolution 3-D large-screen display using laser-activated liquid crystal light valves
US4719507A (en) * 1985-04-26 1988-01-12 Tektronix, Inc. Stereoscopic imaging system with passive viewing apparatus
US4751509A (en) * 1985-06-04 1988-06-14 Nec Corporation Light valve for use in a color display unit with a diffraction grating assembly included in the valve
US4772593A (en) * 1985-07-01 1988-09-20 The Dow Chemical Company Alkoxysilane compounds in the treatment of swine dysentery
US4728185A (en) * 1985-07-03 1988-03-01 Texas Instruments Incorporated Imaging system
US5299037A (en) 1985-08-07 1994-03-29 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Diffraction grating type liquid crystal display device in viewfinder
US5172262A (en) 1985-10-30 1992-12-15 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator and method
US4811210A (en) * 1985-11-27 1989-03-07 Texas Instruments Incorporated A plurality of optical crossbar switches and exchange switches for parallel processor computer
IT209019Z2 (en) * 1986-01-24 1988-09-02 Filiberti Antonio BALL VALVE, IN PARTICULAR FOR GAS.
US4744633A (en) * 1986-02-18 1988-05-17 Sheiman David M Stereoscopic viewing system and glasses
US4803560A (en) * 1986-02-21 1989-02-07 Casio Computer Co., Ltd. Liquid-crystal television receiver with cassette tape recorder
US4829365A (en) * 1986-03-07 1989-05-09 Dimension Technologies, Inc. Autostereoscopic display with illuminating lines, light valve and mask
US4856869A (en) * 1986-04-08 1989-08-15 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Display element and observation apparatus having the same
GB2198867A (en) * 1986-12-17 1988-06-22 Philips Electronic Associated A liquid crystal display illumination system
US4807965A (en) * 1987-05-26 1989-02-28 Garakani Reza G Apparatus for three-dimensional viewing
US4814759A (en) * 1987-07-08 1989-03-21 Clinicom Incorporated Flat panel display monitor apparatus
US4859012A (en) * 1987-08-14 1989-08-22 Texas Instruments Incorporated Optical interconnection networks
US5072418A (en) 1989-05-04 1991-12-10 Texas Instruments Incorporated Series maxium/minimum function computing devices, systems and methods
US5142677A (en) 1989-05-04 1992-08-25 Texas Instruments Incorporated Context switching devices, systems and methods
US5155812A (en) 1989-05-04 1992-10-13 Texas Instruments Incorporated Devices and method for generating and using systems, software waitstates on address boundaries in data processing
US5024494A (en) 1987-10-07 1991-06-18 Texas Instruments Incorporated Focussed light source pointer for three dimensional display
HU197469B (en) 1987-10-23 1989-03-28 Laszlo Holakovszky Spectacle like, wearable on head stereoscopic reproductor of the image
US5155604A (en) 1987-10-26 1992-10-13 Van Leer Metallized Products (Usa) Limited Coated paper sheet embossed with a diffraction or holographic pattern
US4952925A (en) * 1988-01-25 1990-08-28 Bernd Haastert Projectable passive liquid-crystal flat screen information centers
US4956619A (en) * 1988-02-19 1990-09-11 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator
DE3866230D1 (en) * 1988-03-03 1991-12-19 Landis & Gyr Betriebs Ag DOCUMENT.
JPH01296214A (en) * 1988-05-25 1989-11-29 Canon Inc Display device
US4827391A (en) * 1988-06-01 1989-05-02 Texas Instruments Incorporated Apparatus for implementing output voltage slope in current mode controlled power supplies
JPH01306886A (en) 1988-06-03 1989-12-11 Canon Inc Volume phase type diffraction grating
JP2585717B2 (en) * 1988-06-03 1997-02-26 キヤノン株式会社 Display device
US4856863A (en) * 1988-06-22 1989-08-15 Texas Instruments Incorporated Optical fiber interconnection network including spatial light modulator
US5028939A (en) 1988-08-23 1991-07-02 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator system
US5058992A (en) 1988-09-07 1991-10-22 Toppan Printing Co., Ltd. Method for producing a display with a diffraction grating pattern and a display produced by the method
DE58906429D1 (en) 1988-09-30 1994-01-27 Landis & Gyr Business Support Diffraction element.
US4915463A (en) * 1988-10-18 1990-04-10 The United States Of America As Represented By The Department Of Energy Multilayer diffraction grating
JPH07121097B2 (en) 1988-11-18 1995-12-20 株式会社日立製作所 Liquid crystal television and manufacturing method thereof
US4982184A (en) * 1989-01-03 1991-01-01 General Electric Company Electrocrystallochromic display and element
US5214420A (en) 1989-02-27 1993-05-25 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator projection system with random polarity light
US5162787A (en) 1989-02-27 1992-11-10 Texas Instruments Incorporated Apparatus and method for digitized video system utilizing a moving display surface
US5272473A (en) 1989-02-27 1993-12-21 Texas Instruments Incorporated Reduced-speckle display system
US5206629A (en) 1989-02-27 1993-04-27 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator and memory for digitized video display
US5214419A (en) 1989-02-27 1993-05-25 Texas Instruments Incorporated Planarized true three dimensional display
US5446479A (en) 1989-02-27 1995-08-29 Texas Instruments Incorporated Multi-dimensional array video processor system
KR100202246B1 (en) 1989-02-27 1999-06-15 윌리엄 비. 켐플러 Apparatus and method for digital video system
US5287096A (en) 1989-02-27 1994-02-15 Texas Instruments Incorporated Variable luminosity display system
US5128660A (en) 1989-02-27 1992-07-07 Texas Instruments Incorporated Pointer for three dimensional display
US5079544A (en) 1989-02-27 1992-01-07 Texas Instruments Incorporated Standard independent digitized video system
US5192946A (en) 1989-02-27 1993-03-09 Texas Instruments Incorporated Digitized color video display system
US5170156A (en) 1989-02-27 1992-12-08 Texas Instruments Incorporated Multi-frequency two dimensional display system
US4978202A (en) * 1989-05-12 1990-12-18 Goldstar Co., Ltd. Laser scanning system for displaying a three-dimensional color image
US5060058A (en) 1989-06-07 1991-10-22 U.S. Philips Corporation Modulation system for projection display
US5046827C1 (en) * 1989-07-20 2001-08-07 Honeywell Inc Optical reconstruction filter for color mosaic displays
US5022750A (en) * 1989-08-11 1991-06-11 Raf Electronics Corp. Active matrix reflective projection system
JPH0343682U (en) 1989-09-06 1991-04-24
US4954789A (en) * 1989-09-28 1990-09-04 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator
JP2508387B2 (en) 1989-10-16 1996-06-19 凸版印刷株式会社 Method of manufacturing display having diffraction grating pattern
US5037173A (en) 1989-11-22 1991-08-06 Texas Instruments Incorporated Optical interconnection network
US5237340A (en) 1989-12-21 1993-08-17 Texas Instruments Incorporated Replaceable elements for xerographic printing process and method of operation
US5072239A (en) 1989-12-21 1991-12-10 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator exposure unit and method of operation
US5101236A (en) 1989-12-21 1992-03-31 Texas Instruments Incorporated Light energy control system and method of operation
US5105369A (en) 1989-12-21 1992-04-14 Texas Instruments Incorporated Printing system exposure module alignment method and apparatus of manufacture
US5142303A (en) 1989-12-21 1992-08-25 Texas Instruments Incorporated Printing system exposure module optic structure and method of operation
US5041851A (en) 1989-12-21 1991-08-20 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator printer and method of operation
DE4001448C1 (en) 1990-01-19 1991-07-11 Mercedes-Benz Aktiengesellschaft, 7000 Stuttgart, De
JPH03217814A (en) 1990-01-24 1991-09-25 Canon Inc Liquid crystal projector
US5121231A (en) 1990-04-06 1992-06-09 University Of Southern California Incoherent/coherent multiplexed holographic recording for photonic interconnections and holographic optical elements
US5291473A (en) 1990-06-06 1994-03-01 Texas Instruments Incorporated Optical storage media light beam positioning system
US5502481A (en) 1992-11-16 1996-03-26 Reveo, Inc. Desktop-based projection display system for stereoscopic viewing of displayed imagery over a wide field of view
US5165013A (en) 1990-09-26 1992-11-17 Faris Sadeg M 3-D stereo pen plotter
JP2622185B2 (en) 1990-06-28 1997-06-18 シャープ株式会社 Color liquid crystal display
US5083857A (en) 1990-06-29 1992-01-28 Texas Instruments Incorporated Multi-level deformable mirror device
US5099353A (en) 1990-06-29 1992-03-24 Texas Instruments Incorporated Architecture and process for integrating DMD with control circuit substrates
US5018256A (en) * 1990-06-29 1991-05-28 Texas Instruments Incorporated Architecture and process for integrating DMD with control circuit substrates
US5142405A (en) 1990-06-29 1992-08-25 Texas Instruments Incorporated Bistable dmd addressing circuit and method
US5216537A (en) 1990-06-29 1993-06-01 Texas Instruments Incorporated Architecture and process for integrating DMD with control circuit substrates
DE69113150T2 (en) 1990-06-29 1996-04-04 Texas Instruments Inc Deformable mirror device with updated grid.
US5291317A (en) 1990-07-12 1994-03-01 Applied Holographics Corporation Holographic diffraction grating patterns and methods for creating the same
US5121343A (en) 1990-07-19 1992-06-09 Faris Sadeg M 3-D stereo computer output printer
US5148157A (en) 1990-09-28 1992-09-15 Texas Instruments Incorporated Spatial light modulator with full complex light modulation capability
US5113285A (en) 1990-09-28 1992-05-12 Honeywell Inc. Full color three-dimensional flat panel display
US5331454A (en) 1990-11-13 1994-07-19 Texas Instruments Incorporated Low reset voltage process for DMD
US5231363A (en) 1990-11-26 1993-07-27 Texas Instruments Incorporated Pulse width modulating producing signals centered in each cycle interval
US5181231A (en) 1990-11-30 1993-01-19 Texas Instruments, Incorporated Non-volatile counting method and apparatus
US5105299A (en) 1990-12-31 1992-04-14 Texas Instruments Incorporated Unfolded optics for multiple row deformable mirror device
US5105207A (en) 1990-12-31 1992-04-14 Texas Instruments Incorporated System and method for achieving gray scale DMD operation
US5151718A (en) 1990-12-31 1992-09-29 Texas Instruments Incorporated System and method for solid state illumination for dmd devices
US5159485A (en) 1990-12-31 1992-10-27 Texas Instruments Incorporated System and method for uniformity of illumination for tungsten light
US5172161A (en) 1990-12-31 1992-12-15 Texas Instruments Incorporated Unibody printing system and process
CA2060057C (en) 1991-01-29 1997-12-16 Susumu Takahashi Display having diffraction grating pattern
US5178728A (en) 1991-03-28 1993-01-12 Texas Instruments Incorporated Integrated-optic waveguide devices and method
CA2063744C (en) 1991-04-01 2002-10-08 Paul M. Urbanus Digital micromirror device architecture and timing for use in a pulse-width modulated display system
US5226099A (en) 1991-04-26 1993-07-06 Texas Instruments Incorporated Digital micromirror shutter device
US5148506A (en) 1991-04-26 1992-09-15 Texas Instruments Incorporated Optical crossbar switch
US5170269A (en) 1991-05-31 1992-12-08 Texas Instruments Incorporated Programmable optical interconnect system
US5155778A (en) 1991-06-28 1992-10-13 Texas Instruments Incorporated Optical switch using spatial light modulators
US5221982A (en) 1991-07-05 1993-06-22 Faris Sadeg M Polarizing wavelength separator
US5287215A (en) 1991-07-17 1994-02-15 Optron Systems, Inc. Membrane light modulation systems
US5170283A (en) 1991-07-24 1992-12-08 Northrop Corporation Silicon spatial light modulator
US5240818A (en) 1991-07-31 1993-08-31 Texas Instruments Incorporated Method for manufacturing a color filter for deformable mirror device
US5168406A (en) 1991-07-31 1992-12-01 Texas Instruments Incorporated Color deformable mirror device and method for manufacture
CA2075026A1 (en) 1991-08-08 1993-02-09 William E. Nelson Method and apparatus for patterning an imaging member
US5254980A (en) 1991-09-06 1993-10-19 Texas Instruments Incorporated DMD display system controller
US5307056A (en) 1991-09-06 1994-04-26 Texas Instruments Incorporated Dynamic memory allocation for frame buffer for spatial light modulator
US5255100A (en) 1991-09-06 1993-10-19 Texas Instruments Incorporated Data formatter with orthogonal input/output and spatial reordering
US5245686A (en) 1991-09-06 1993-09-14 Faris Sadeg M Method of fabricating an image plane translator device and apparatus incorporating such device
CA2081753C (en) 1991-11-22 2002-08-06 Jeffrey B. Sampsell Dmd scanner
DE69231194T2 (en) 1991-12-05 2001-02-15 Texas Instruments Inc Process for improving a video signal
US5176274A (en) 1991-12-13 1993-01-05 Jenkins James H Leg supported tray
US5231388A (en) 1991-12-17 1993-07-27 Texas Instruments Incorporated Color display system using spatial light modulators
US5212555A (en) 1991-12-17 1993-05-18 Texas Instruments Incorporated Image capture with spatial light modulator and single-cell photosensor
US5247593A (en) 1991-12-18 1993-09-21 Texas Instruments Incorporated Programmable optical crossbar switch
US5311349A (en) 1991-12-18 1994-05-10 Texas Instruments Incorporated Unfolded optics for multiple row spatial light modulators
CA2084923A1 (en) 1991-12-20 1993-06-21 Ronald E. Stafford Slm spectrometer
US5202785A (en) 1991-12-20 1993-04-13 Texas Instruments Incorporated Method and device for steering light
US5233456A (en) 1991-12-20 1993-08-03 Texas Instruments Incorporated Resonant mirror and method of manufacture
CA2085961A1 (en) 1991-12-23 1993-06-24 William E. Nelson Method and apparatus for steering light
US5247180A (en) 1991-12-30 1993-09-21 Texas Instruments Incorporated Stereolithographic apparatus and method of use
US5285407A (en) 1991-12-31 1994-02-08 Texas Instruments Incorporated Memory circuit for spatial light modulator
US5296950A (en) 1992-01-31 1994-03-22 Texas Instruments Incorporated Optical signal free-space conversion board
US5504514A (en) 1992-02-13 1996-04-02 Texas Instruments Incorporated System and method for solid state illumination for spatial light modulators
JP3396890B2 (en) 1992-02-21 2003-04-14 松下電器産業株式会社 Hologram, optical head device and optical system using the same
US5212582A (en) 1992-03-04 1993-05-18 Texas Instruments Incorporated Electrostatically controlled beam steering device and method
EP0562424B1 (en) 1992-03-25 1997-05-28 Texas Instruments Incorporated Embedded optical calibration system
US5312513A (en) 1992-04-03 1994-05-17 Texas Instruments Incorporated Methods of forming multiple phase light modulators
US5319214A (en) 1992-04-06 1994-06-07 The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army Infrared image projector utilizing a deformable mirror device spatial light modulator
US5459592A (en) 1992-04-24 1995-10-17 Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha Projection display system including a collimating tapered waveguide or lens with the normal to optical axis angle increasing toward the lens center
US5311360A (en) 1992-04-28 1994-05-10 The Board Of Trustees Of The Leland Stanford, Junior University Method and apparatus for modulating a light beam
GB2267579A (en) 1992-05-15 1993-12-08 Sharp Kk Optical device comprising facing lenticular or parallax screens of different pitch
US5307185A (en) 1992-05-19 1994-04-26 Raychem Corporation Liquid crystal projection display with complementary color dye added to longest wavelength imaging element
US5347433A (en) 1992-06-11 1994-09-13 Sedlmayr Steven R Collimated beam of light and systems and methods for implementation thereof
US5315418A (en) 1992-06-17 1994-05-24 Xerox Corporation Two path liquid crystal light valve color display with light coupling lens array disposed along the red-green light path
JP3329887B2 (en) 1992-06-17 2002-09-30 ゼロックス・コーポレーション Two-path liquid crystal light valve color display
US5486841A (en) 1992-06-17 1996-01-23 Sony Corporation Glasses type display apparatus
US5256869A (en) 1992-06-30 1993-10-26 Texas Instruments Incorporated Free-space optical interconnection using deformable mirror device
US5430524A (en) 1992-07-22 1995-07-04 Texas Instruments Incorporated Unibody printing and copying system and process
US5313479A (en) 1992-07-29 1994-05-17 Texas Instruments Incorporated Speckle-free display system using coherent light
US5327286A (en) 1992-08-31 1994-07-05 Texas Instruments Incorporated Real time optical correlation system
US5348619A (en) 1992-09-03 1994-09-20 Texas Instruments Incorporated Metal selective polymer removal
US5325116A (en) 1992-09-18 1994-06-28 Texas Instruments Incorporated Device for writing to and reading from optical storage media
GB9220412D0 (en) 1992-09-28 1992-11-11 Texas Instruments Holland Transponder systems for automatic identification purposes
US5285196A (en) 1992-10-15 1994-02-08 Texas Instruments Incorporated Bistable DMD addressing method
US5289172A (en) 1992-10-23 1994-02-22 Texas Instruments Incorporated Method of mitigating the effects of a defective electromechanical pixel
GB2272555A (en) 1992-11-11 1994-05-18 Sharp Kk Stereoscopic display using a light modulator
EP0599375B1 (en) 1992-11-20 1999-03-03 Ascom Tech Ag Light modulator
US5450088A (en) 1992-11-25 1995-09-12 Texas Instruments Deutschland Gmbh Transponder arrangement
US5410315A (en) 1992-12-08 1995-04-25 Texas Instruments Incorporated Group-addressable transponder arrangement
JPH06260470A (en) 1992-12-16 1994-09-16 Texas Instr Inc <Ti> Cleaning prepared of metal layer created on pattern
US5420655A (en) 1992-12-16 1995-05-30 North American Philips Corporation Color projection system employing reflective display devices and prism illuminators
US5357369A (en) 1992-12-21 1994-10-18 Geoffrey Pilling Wide-field three-dimensional viewing system
US5418584A (en) 1992-12-31 1995-05-23 Honeywell Inc. Retroreflective array virtual image projection screen
AU5306494A (en) 1993-01-08 1994-07-14 Richard A Vasichek Magnetic keeper accessory for wrench sockets
US5371543A (en) 1993-03-03 1994-12-06 Texas Instruments Incorporated Monolithic color wheel
US5293511A (en) 1993-03-16 1994-03-08 Texas Instruments Incorporated Package for a semiconductor device
US5455602A (en) 1993-03-29 1995-10-03 Texas Instruments Incorporated Combined modulation schemes for spatial light modulators
US5461411A (en) 1993-03-29 1995-10-24 Texas Instruments Incorporated Process and architecture for digital micromirror printer
US5435876A (en) 1993-03-29 1995-07-25 Texas Instruments Incorporated Grid array masking tape process
US5461410A (en) 1993-03-29 1995-10-24 Texas Instruments Incorporated Gray scale printing using spatial light modulators
US5451103A (en) 1993-04-06 1995-09-19 Sony Corporation Projector system
US5321450A (en) 1993-05-11 1994-06-14 Proxima Corporation Low profile liquid crystal projector and method of using same
KR970003007B1 (en) 1993-05-21 1997-03-13 대우전자 주식회사 Optical path regulating apparatus and the driving method
US5445559A (en) 1993-06-24 1995-08-29 Texas Instruments Incorporated Wafer-like processing after sawing DMDs
US5491715A (en) 1993-06-28 1996-02-13 Texas Instruments Deutschland Gmbh Automatic antenna tuning method and circuit
US5453747A (en) 1993-06-28 1995-09-26 Texas Instruments Deutschland Gmbh Transponder systems for automatic identification purposes
US5345521A (en) 1993-07-12 1994-09-06 Texas Instrument Incorporated Architecture for optical switch
US5489952A (en) 1993-07-14 1996-02-06 Texas Instruments Incorporated Method and device for multi-format television
US5365283A (en) 1993-07-19 1994-11-15 Texas Instruments Incorporated Color phase control for projection display using spatial light modulator
US5461547A (en) 1993-07-20 1995-10-24 Precision Lamp, Inc. Flat panel display lighting system
US5510824A (en) 1993-07-26 1996-04-23 Texas Instruments, Inc. Spatial light modulator array
US5453778A (en) 1993-07-30 1995-09-26 Texas Instruments Incorporated Method and apparatus for spatial modulation in the cross-process direction
US5389182A (en) 1993-08-02 1995-02-14 Texas Instruments Incorporated Use of a saw frame with tape as a substrate carrier for wafer level backend processing
US5459492A (en) 1993-08-30 1995-10-17 Texas Instruments Incorporated Method and apparatus for printing stroke and contone data together
US5485354A (en) 1993-09-09 1996-01-16 Precision Lamp, Inc. Flat panel display lighting system
EP0657760A1 (en) 1993-09-15 1995-06-14 Texas Instruments Incorporated Image simulation and projection system
US5457493A (en) 1993-09-15 1995-10-10 Texas Instruments Incorporated Digital micro-mirror based image simulation system
KR970003466B1 (en) 1993-09-28 1997-03-18 대우전자 주식회사 Manufacturing method of optical path regulating apparatus for projector
US5347321A (en) 1993-09-30 1994-09-13 Texas Instruments Incorporated Color separator for digital television
US5497197A (en) 1993-11-04 1996-03-05 Texas Instruments Incorporated System and method for packaging data into video processor
US5367585A (en) 1993-10-27 1994-11-22 General Electric Company Integrated microelectromechanical polymeric photonic switch
US5452024A (en) 1993-11-01 1995-09-19 Texas Instruments Incorporated DMD display system
US5398071A (en) 1993-11-02 1995-03-14 Texas Instruments Incorporated Film-to-video format detection for digital television
CA2134370A1 (en) 1993-11-04 1995-05-05 Robert J. Gove Video data formatter for a digital television system
US5450219A (en) 1993-11-17 1995-09-12 Hughes Aircraft Company Raster following telecentric illumination scanning system for enhancing light throughout in light valve projection systems
US5517347A (en) 1993-12-01 1996-05-14 Texas Instruments Incorporated Direct view deformable mirror device
US5491510A (en) 1993-12-03 1996-02-13 Texas Instruments Incorporated System and method for simultaneously viewing a scene and an obscured object
US5442411A (en) 1994-01-03 1995-08-15 Texas Instruments Incorporated Displaying video data on a spatial light modulator with line doubling
US5499060A (en) 1994-01-04 1996-03-12 Texas Instruments Incorporated System and method for processing video data
US5448314A (en) 1994-01-07 1995-09-05 Texas Instruments Method and apparatus for sequential color imaging
CA2139794C (en) 1994-01-18 2006-11-07 Robert John Gove Frame pixel data generation
US5500761A (en) 1994-01-27 1996-03-19 At&T Corp. Micromechanical modulator
US5467106A (en) 1994-02-10 1995-11-14 Hughes-Avicom International, Inc. Retractable face-up LCD monitor with off-monitor power supply and back-EMF braking
US5412186A (en) 1994-02-23 1995-05-02 Texas Instruments Incorporated Elimination of sticking of micro-mechanical devices
US5444566A (en) 1994-03-07 1995-08-22 Texas Instruments Incorporated Optimized electronic operation of digital micromirror devices
US5447600A (en) 1994-03-21 1995-09-05 Texas Instruments Polymeric coatings for micromechanical devices
US5467146A (en) 1994-03-31 1995-11-14 Texas Instruments Incorporated Illumination control unit for display system with spatial light modulator
US5459528A (en) 1994-03-31 1995-10-17 Texas Instruments Incorporated Video signal processor and method for secondary images
US5486698A (en) 1994-04-19 1996-01-23 Texas Instruments Incorporated Thermal imaging system with integrated thermal chopper
US5512374A (en) 1994-05-09 1996-04-30 Texas Instruments Incorporated PFPE coatings for micro-mechanical devices
US5442414A (en) 1994-05-10 1995-08-15 U. S. Philips Corporation High contrast illumination system for video projector
US5458716A (en) 1994-05-25 1995-10-17 Texas Instruments Incorporated Methods for manufacturing a thermally enhanced molded cavity package having a parallel lid
US5497172A (en) 1994-06-13 1996-03-05 Texas Instruments Incorporated Pulse width modulation for spatial light modulator with split reset addressing
US5550604A (en) 1994-06-03 1996-08-27 Kopin Corporation Compact high resolution light valve projector
US5482564A (en) 1994-06-21 1996-01-09 Texas Instruments Incorporated Method of unsticking components of micro-mechanical devices
US5454906A (en) 1994-06-21 1995-10-03 Texas Instruments Inc. Method of providing sacrificial spacer for micro-mechanical devices
US5499062A (en) 1994-06-23 1996-03-12 Texas Instruments Incorporated Multiplexed memory timing with block reset and secondary memory
US5523878A (en) 1994-06-30 1996-06-04 Texas Instruments Incorporated Self-assembled monolayer coating for micro-mechanical devices
US5504504A (en) 1994-07-13 1996-04-02 Texas Instruments Incorporated Method of reducing the visual impact of defects present in a spatial light modulator display
US5512748A (en) 1994-07-26 1996-04-30 Texas Instruments Incorporated Thermal imaging system with a monolithic focal plane array and method
US5485304A (en) 1994-07-29 1996-01-16 Texas Instruments, Inc. Support posts for micro-mechanical devices
US5483307A (en) 1994-09-29 1996-01-09 Texas Instruments, Inc. Wide field of view head-mounted display
US5490009A (en) 1994-10-31 1996-02-06 Texas Instruments Incorporated Enhanced resolution for digital micro-mirror displays
US5519450A (en) 1994-11-14 1996-05-21 Texas Instruments Incorporated Graphics subsystem for digital television
US5516125A (en) 1994-11-30 1996-05-14 Texas Instruments Incorporated Baffled collet for vacuum pick-up of a semiconductor die
US5463347A (en) 1994-12-12 1995-10-31 Texas Instruments Incorporated MOS uni-directional, differential voltage amplifier capable of amplifying signals having input common-mode voltage beneath voltage of lower supply and integrated circuit substrate
US5524155A (en) 1995-01-06 1996-06-04 Texas Instruments Incorporated Demultiplexer for wavelength-multiplexed optical signal
US5517340A (en) 1995-01-30 1996-05-14 International Business Machines Corporation High performance projection display with two light valves
US5504614A (en) 1995-01-31 1996-04-02 Texas Instruments Incorporated Method for fabricating a DMD spatial light modulator with a hardened hinge
US5508750A (en) 1995-02-03 1996-04-16 Texas Instruments Incorporated Encoding data converted from film format for progressive display
US5661592A (en) 1995-06-07 1997-08-26 Silicon Light Machines Method of making and an apparatus for a flat diffraction grating light valve

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1993022694A1 (en) * 1992-04-28 1993-11-11 Leland Stanford Junior University Modulating a light beam
EP0689078A1 (en) * 1994-06-21 1995-12-27 Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Diffractive optical modulator and method for producing the same

Non-Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Title
See also references of EP0875010A2 *
SOLGAARD O ET AL: "DEFORMABLE GRATING OPTICAL MODULATOR" OPTICS LETTERS, vol. 17, no. 9, 1 May 1992, pages 688-690, XP000265233 *

Cited By (26)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1999023520A1 (en) * 1997-10-31 1999-05-14 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Display apparatus including grating light-valve array and interferometric optical system
US7838466B2 (en) 1998-02-11 2010-11-23 The Regents Of The University Of Michigan Device for chemical and biochemical reactions using photo-generated reagents
US7544638B2 (en) 1998-02-11 2009-06-09 The Regents Of The University Of Michigan Device for chemical and biochemical reactions using photo-generated reagents
US7491680B2 (en) 1998-02-11 2009-02-17 The Regents Of The University Of Michigan Device for chemical and biochemical reactions using photo-generated reagents
US6480324B2 (en) 1998-05-29 2002-11-12 Affymetrix, Inc. Methods involving direct write optical lithography
EP0961174A2 (en) * 1998-05-29 1999-12-01 Affymetrix, Inc. (a California Corporation) Compositions and methods involving direct write optical lithography
EP0961174A3 (en) * 1998-05-29 2001-01-17 Affymetrix, Inc. (a California Corporation) Compositions and methods involving direct write optical lithography
EP1180111A1 (en) * 1999-02-10 2002-02-20 Macrogen Inc. Method and apparatus for compound library preparation using optical modulator
EP1180111A4 (en) * 1999-02-10 2003-03-26 Macrogen Inc Method and apparatus for compound library preparation using optical modulator
JP2002539472A (en) * 1999-03-08 2002-11-19 シーゲイト テクノロジィ リミテッド ライアビリティ カンパニー Improved optical reflector for micro-machined mirror
DE10041722B4 (en) * 2000-08-25 2004-11-25 Carl Zeiss Jena Gmbh Projection arrangement with a projector for projecting an image onto a projection surface and projection unit for coupling to a projector
DE10041896B4 (en) * 2000-08-25 2005-07-21 Carl Zeiss Jena Gmbh Projection arrangement for projecting an image onto a projection surface
US6773113B2 (en) 2000-08-25 2004-08-10 Carl Zeiss Jena Gmbh Projection arrangement for projecting an image onto a projection surface
US7050081B2 (en) 2000-10-31 2006-05-23 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Laser irradiation device and image recorder
EP1202550A3 (en) * 2000-10-31 2004-11-03 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Laser irradiation device and image recorder
EP1202550A2 (en) * 2000-10-31 2002-05-02 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Laser irradiation device and image recorder
JP2002162599A (en) * 2000-11-24 2002-06-07 Sony Corp Stereoscopic image display device
WO2002084397A3 (en) * 2001-04-10 2003-04-03 Silicon Light Machines Inc Angled illumination for a single order glv based projection system
WO2002084397A2 (en) * 2001-04-10 2002-10-24 Silicon Light Machines Angled illumination for a single order glv based projection system
US6785001B2 (en) 2001-08-21 2004-08-31 Silicon Light Machines, Inc. Method and apparatus for measuring wavelength jitter of light signal
EP1460036A1 (en) * 2001-12-26 2004-09-22 Sony Corporation Mems element manufacturing method
WO2003055788A1 (en) * 2001-12-26 2003-07-10 Sony Corporation Electrostatic drive mems element, manufacturing method thereof, optical mems element, optical modulation element, glv device, and laser display
EP1460036A4 (en) * 2001-12-26 2006-08-02 Sony Corp Mems element manufacturing method
CN1297830C (en) * 2003-06-05 2007-01-31 华新丽华股份有限公司 Producing method for raster structure
US9641826B1 (en) 2011-10-06 2017-05-02 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation System and method for displaying distant 3-D stereo on a dome surface
US10110876B1 (en) 2011-10-06 2018-10-23 Evans & Sutherland Computer Corporation System and method for displaying images in 3-D stereo

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
WO1997026569A3 (en) 1997-10-09
US5808797A (en) 1998-09-15
DE69712311T2 (en) 2002-12-19
EP0875010A2 (en) 1998-11-04
US6219015B1 (en) 2001-04-17
DE69712311D1 (en) 2002-06-06
JP2001518198A (en) 2001-10-09
EP0875010B1 (en) 2002-05-02
JP4053598B2 (en) 2008-02-27
CA2243347A1 (en) 1997-07-24
ATE217094T1 (en) 2002-05-15
CA2243347C (en) 2005-05-10

Similar Documents

Publication Publication Date Title
EP0875010B1 (en) Method and apparatus for using an array of grating light valves to produce multicolor optical images
US5677783A (en) Method of making a deformable grating apparatus for modulating a light beam and including means for obviating stiction between grating elements and underlying substrate
US6046840A (en) Double substrate reflective spatial light modulator with self-limiting micro-mechanical elements
US6747785B2 (en) MEMS-actuated color light modulator and methods
EP1116063B1 (en) A double substrate reflective spatial light modulator with self-limiting micro-mechanical elements
US7447891B2 (en) Light modulator with concentric control-electrode structure
WO1993022694A1 (en) Modulating a light beam
EP0638177B1 (en) Modulating a light beam
WO1996027810A1 (en) Deformable grating apparatus including stiction prevention means

Legal Events

Date Code Title Description
AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A2

Designated state(s): CA JP

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A2

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LU MC NL PT SE

AK Designated states

Kind code of ref document: A3

Designated state(s): CA JP

AL Designated countries for regional patents

Kind code of ref document: A3

Designated state(s): AT BE CH DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LU MC NL PT SE

121 Ep: the epo has been informed by wipo that ep was designated in this application
DFPE Request for preliminary examination filed prior to expiration of 19th month from priority date (pct application filed before 20040101)
WWE Wipo information: entry into national phase

Ref document number: 1997904813

Country of ref document: EP

ENP Entry into the national phase

Ref document number: 2243347

Country of ref document: CA

Ref country code: CA

Ref document number: 2243347

Kind code of ref document: A

Format of ref document f/p: F

ENP Entry into the national phase

Ref country code: JP

Ref document number: 1997 526254

Kind code of ref document: A

Format of ref document f/p: F

WWP Wipo information: published in national office

Ref document number: 1997904813

Country of ref document: EP

WWG Wipo information: grant in national office

Ref document number: 1997904813

Country of ref document: EP