Spatial light modulators with non-uniform pixels
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A spatial light modulator, comprising:
- a micromirror array comprising a set of micromirrors in an active region and a set of micromirrors in an inactive region, wherein the micromirrors in the active region correspond to viewed image pixels, while the micromirrors in the inactive region do not; and
wherein the micromirrors in the active region comprises a first micromirror that is different from a second micromirror in the same active region.
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Abstract
A micromirror array comprises micromirrors of different properties for use particularly in display systems. Micromirrors of different properties can be arranged within the micromirror array according to a predetermined pattern, or randomly. However, it is advantageous to arrange the micromirrors with different properties within the micromirror array neither in complete order nor complete in random.
38 Citations
53 Claims
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1. A spatial light modulator, comprising:
a micromirror array comprising a set of micromirrors in an active region and a set of micromirrors in an inactive region, wherein the micromirrors in the active region correspond to viewed image pixels, while the micromirrors in the inactive region do not; and
wherein the micromirrors in the active region comprises a first micromirror that is different from a second micromirror in the same active region.- 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)
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26. A display system, comprising:
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an illumination system providing a illumination light for the system;
a spatial light modulator of claim 100; and
an optical element directing the illumination light to and from the spatial light modulator.
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27. A spatial light modulator, comprising:
a micromirror array having a first sub-array of micromirrors and a second sub-array of micromirrors, wherein the first and second sub-array is different in pitch or gap with the pitch being defined as a center-to-center distance between adjacent micromirrors; and
the gap being defined as the shortest distance between two adjacent micromirrors.- View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51)
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52. A display system, comprising:
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an illumination system providing a illumination light for the system;
a spatial light modulator of claim 300; and
an optical element directing the illumination light to and from the spatial light modulator.
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53. A method of fabricating a micromirror array device, comprising:
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preparing a set of masks at least one of which has a first area corresponding to a first micromirror and a second area corresponding to a second micromirror, wherein the first and second areas are different;
providing a substrate;
depositing a sacrificial material;
forming a series of structural layers of the micromirrors in the array by applying the set of masks such that at least two micromirrors in the array are different with each of the two different micromirrors being associated with a image pixel in operation; and
removing the sacrificial material.
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Specification