Micromirror array device and a method for making the same
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A projection system, comprising:
- an illumination system providing a light beam to be incident on a spatial light modulator;
the spatial light modulator that comprises;
an array of micromirrors, each micromirror positioned at a pixel location, further comprising;
a first micromirror at a first pixel location comprising;
a deflectable reflective mirror plate attached to a deformable hinge that is supported by a post on a substrate at the first pixel location; and
a second micromirror at a second pixel location comprising;
a deflectable reflective mirror plate attached to a deformable hinge that is not supported by a post on the substrate at the second pixel location; and
an optical element for directing light to or from the spatial light modulator.
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Abstract
The spatial light modulator of the present invention comprises an array of micromirrors, each of which has a reflective deflectable mirror plate. A set of posts are provided for holding the mirror plates on a substrate, but not all micromirrors of the micromirror array have posts.
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Citations
79 Claims
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1. A projection system, comprising:
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an illumination system providing a light beam to be incident on a spatial light modulator;
the spatial light modulator that comprises;
an array of micromirrors, each micromirror positioned at a pixel location, further comprising;
a first micromirror at a first pixel location comprising;
a deflectable reflective mirror plate attached to a deformable hinge that is supported by a post on a substrate at the first pixel location; and
a second micromirror at a second pixel location comprising;
a deflectable reflective mirror plate attached to a deformable hinge that is not supported by a post on the substrate at the second pixel location; and
an optical element for directing light to or from the spatial light modulator. - 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)
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31. A projection system, comprising:
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an illumination system providing a light beam for the system;
a spatial light modulator that comprises;
an array of micromirrors, at least one of which comprises;
a deflectable reflective mirror plate attached to a deformable hinge that is directly supported by a post on a substrate; and
at least another one of which comprises;
a deflectable reflective mirror plate attached to a deformable hinge that is not directly supported by a post on the substrate;
an optical element for directing light to or from the spatial light modulator.
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32. A projection system comprising:
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a light source for providing light onto an array of micromirrors;
an array of micromirrors comprising a first group and a second group, wherein micromirrors of the first group each have a micromirror plate and two posts adjacent the micromirror plate for deflectably supporting the micromirror plate, and wherein micromirrors of the second group each have a micromirror plate and a single post adjacent the micromirror plate for deflectably supporting the micromirror plate. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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34. A display system, comprising:
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an illumination system;
a spatial light modulator that comprises;
a substrate;
an array of reflective deflectable mirror plates on the substrate;
an array of hinges and hinge supports, each hinge being held by the hinge support and attached to a mirror plate such that the mirror plate can rotate relative to the substrate; and
wherein a first hinge support of said hinge supports has connected thereto a post connecting the first hinge support to the substrate, and wherein a second hinge support of said hinge supports has no post directly connecting the second hinge support to the substrate; and
an optical element for directing light to or from the spatial light modulator. - View Dependent Claims (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)
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61. A spatial light modulator, comprising:
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a substrate;
an array of reflective deflectable mirror plates on the substrate;
a hinge support frame composed of a set of hinge supports, each hinge support holding a deformable hinge to which a mirror plate of the array of mirror plates is attached; and
a plurality of posts positioned between the hinge frames and the substrate for supporting the hinge supports on the substrate such that the mirror plate can be rotated on the substrate;
wherein at least one hinge support is directly connected to less than two posts.
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62. A projection system, comprising:
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an illumination system; and
a spatial light modulator comprising;
a group of first micromirror devices each of which comprises a deflectable reflective mirror plate, a deformable hinge, and at least two posts for holding the mirror plate and hinge above a substrate; and
a group of second micromirror devices each of which comprises a deflectable mirror plate, a deformable hinge, and at most one post for holding the mirror plate and hinge above a substrate;
wherein a ratio of the numbers of the first micromirrors to the second micromirrors is 1;
2 or less. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72)
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73. A method of making a spatial light modulator, comprising:
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depositing a first and second sacrificial layer on a substrate;
forming a array of mirror plates and a plurality of posts for the mirror plates on the first and second sacrificial layer, wherein a ratio of the number of the plurality of posts to the total number n of mirror plates is less than (n+1)/n;
forming a hinge for each mirror plate; and
removing the first and second sacrificial layer so as to release the mirror plates. - View Dependent Claims (74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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Specification