Spatial light modulators with light blocking/absorbing areas
First Claim
1. A spatial light modulator comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate having circuitry and electrodes and a dark or black material thereon;
a light transmissive substrate;
one or more intermediate substrates having an open area, and wherein the semiconductor substrate, one or more intermediate substrates and light transmissive substrate are bonded together as a substrate assembly so as to define a cavity in the open area between the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate;
wherein the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate are bonded in an offset relationship so as to leave I/O pads exposed on the semiconductor substrate;
a group of from 6,000 to 6,000,000 pulse-width-modulated micromirrors for modulating a light beam incident thereon and disposed so as to be movable within said cavity;
an SRAM or DRAM cell at each micromirror location;
a dark or black mask formed as a frame around the group of micromirrors, the mask comprising chromium, titanium, tantalum, tungsten, nickel or carbon; and
a lubricant or getter disposed within the cavity.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A projection system, a spatial light modulator, and a method for forming a micromirror array such as for a projection display are disclosed. The spatial light modulator can have two substrates bonded together with one of the substrates comprising a micro-mirror array. The two substrates can be bonded at the wafer level after depositing a getter material and/or solid or liquid lubricant on one or both of the wafers if desired. In one embodiment of the invention, one of the substrates is a light transmissive substrate and a light absorbing layer is provided on the light transmissive substrate to selectively block light from passing through the substrate. The light absorbing layer can form a pattern, such as a frame around an array of micro-mirrors.
173 Citations
87 Claims
-
1. A spatial light modulator comprising:
-
a semiconductor substrate having circuitry and electrodes and a dark or black material thereon;
a light transmissive substrate;
one or more intermediate substrates having an open area, and wherein the semiconductor substrate, one or more intermediate substrates and light transmissive substrate are bonded together as a substrate assembly so as to define a cavity in the open area between the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate;
wherein the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate are bonded in an offset relationship so as to leave I/O pads exposed on the semiconductor substrate;
a group of from 6,000 to 6,000,000 pulse-width-modulated micromirrors for modulating a light beam incident thereon and disposed so as to be movable within said cavity;
an SRAM or DRAM cell at each micromirror location;
a dark or black mask formed as a frame around the group of micromirrors, the mask comprising chromium, titanium, tantalum, tungsten, nickel or carbon; and
a lubricant or getter disposed within the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
-
-
63. A wafer assembly comprising:
-
a semiconductor wafer having circuitry and electrodes and a dark or black material thereon;
a light transmissive wafer;
one or more intermediate wafers having open areas, and wherein the semiconductor wafer, one or more intermediate wafers and light transmissive wafer are bonded together with an adhesive as a wafer assembly so as to define cavities in the open areas between the semiconductor wafer and the light transmissive wafer;
groups of from 6,000 to 6,000,000 pulse-width-modulated micromirrors in each cavity disposed so as to be movable within each cavity;
an SRAM or DRAM cell at each micromirror location;
dark or black masks formed as a frames around the groups of micromirrors, the mask comprising chromium, titanium, tantalum, tungsten, nickel or carbon; and
a lubricant or getter disposed within each cavity. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82)
-
-
83. A spatial light modulator comprising:
-
a semiconductor substrate having circuitry and electrodes and a dark or black material thereon;
a light transmissive substrate;
a spacer layer having an open area bonded between the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate so as to hold the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate together in spaced apart relation and so as to define a cavity in the open area between the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate;
wherein the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate are bonded in an offset relationship so as to leave I/O pads exposed on the semiconductor substrate;
a group of from 6,000 to 6,000,000 pulse-width-modulated micromirrors for modulating a light beam incident thereon and disposed so as to be movable within said cavity;
an SRAM or DRAM cell at each micromirror location;
a dark or black mask formed as a frame around the group of micromirrors, the mask comprising a material selected from chromium, titanium, tantalum, tungsten, nickel or carbon; and
a lubricant or getter disposed within the cavity.
-
-
84. A wafer assembly comprising:
-
a semiconductor wafer having circuitry and electrodes and a dark or black material thereon;
a light transmissive wafer;
a spacer layer having open areas and bonded between the semiconductor wafer and the light transmissive wafer so as to hold the semiconductor wafer and the light transmissive wafer together in spaced apart relation and so as to define cavities in the open areas between the semiconductor wafer and the light transmissive wafer;
wherein the semiconductor wafer and the light transmissive wafer are bonded together with an adhesive;
groups of from 6,000 to 6,000,000 pulse-width-modulated micromirrors in each cavity disposed so as to be movable within each cavity;
an SRAM or DRAM cell at each micromirror location;
dark or black masks formed as a frames around the groups of micromirrors, the mask comprising a material selected from chromium, titanium, tantalum, tungsten, nickel or carbon; and
a lubricant or getter disposed within each cavity.
-
-
85. A spatial light modulator comprising:
-
a semiconductor substrate having circuitry and electrodes and a dark or black material thereon;
a light transmissive substrate;
one or more intermediate substrates having an open area, and wherein the semiconductor substrate, one or more intermediate substrates and light transmissive substrate are bonded together as a substrate assembly so as to define a cavity in the open area between the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate;
wherein the semiconductor substrate and the light transmissive substrate are bonded in an offset relationship so as to leave I/O pads exposed on the semiconductor substrate;
a group of from 6,000 to 6,000,000 pulse-width-modulated micromirrors for modulating a light beam incident thereon and disposed so as to be movable within said cavity;
an SRAM or DRAM cell at each micromirror location;
a dark or black mask formed as a frame around the group of micromirrors, the mask comprising a polymer; and
a lubricant or getter disposed within the cavity. - View Dependent Claims (86, 87)
-
Specification