System and Apparatus for Repairing Micromirrors in Spatial Light Modulators
First Claim
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1. A projection system comprising:
- a light source producing illumination light;
a spatial light modulator for modulating the illumination light, comprising an array of micromirrors each comprising a deflectable mirror plate and an addressing electrode;
a controller in connection with the spatial light modulator, comprising first means for switching the micromirrors between an ON and OFF state, second means for applying a number of refresh voltage pulses to the mirror plates so as to repair a stuck micromirror, and wherein a ratio of the number of switches of the micromirrors between the ON and OFF states to the number of refresh voltage pulses is greater than 1; and
a display target on which the modulated light from the spatial light modulator is projected.
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Abstract
Disclosed herein are a system and apparatus for operating a device that comprises an array of micromirrors. The system and apparatus are usable for repairing stuck micromirrors of the micromirror array during the operation. The reparation applies, at the ON state, two consecutive refresh voltages to the mirror plates of the micromirrors in the array with the pulses being separated in time longer than the characteristic oscillation time of the micromirrors. The reparation can be applied independently to the micromirrors. Alternatively, the reparation can be incorporated with a bias inversion process.
43 Citations
57 Claims
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1. A projection system comprising:
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a light source producing illumination light;
a spatial light modulator for modulating the illumination light, comprising an array of micromirrors each comprising a deflectable mirror plate and an addressing electrode;
a controller in connection with the spatial light modulator, comprising first means for switching the micromirrors between an ON and OFF state, second means for applying a number of refresh voltage pulses to the mirror plates so as to repair a stuck micromirror, and wherein a ratio of the number of switches of the micromirrors between the ON and OFF states to the number of refresh voltage pulses is greater than 1; and
a display target on which the modulated light from the spatial light modulator is projected.
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2. An apparatus for use in operating a device comprising an array of micromirrors each comprising a deflectable mirror plate and an addressing electrode, the apparatus comprising:
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first means for applying a bias voltage to the mirror plates and a set of voltages to the addressing electrodes during a sequence of color field periods; and
second means for applying a refresh voltage pulse to the mirror plates during a spoke period intervening two adjacent color field periods. - View Dependent Claims (3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An apparatus for use in operating a device comprising an array of micromirrors each comprising a deflectable mirror plate and an addressing electrode, the apparatus comprising:
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first means switching the micromirrors between an ON and OFF states with first bias voltage and a set of voltages on the addressing electrodes; and
second means for applying first and second refresh voltage pulses to the micromirrors, wherein the first and second refresh voltage pulses are spaced in time longer than the intrinsic oscillation time of the micromirrors. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38)
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39. A projection system comprising:
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a light source providing illumination light;
a spatial light modulator for modulating the illumination light, comprising an array of micromirrors each comprising a deflectable mirror plate and an addressing electrode;
a controller in communication with the micromirrors comprising;
first means switching the micromirrors between an ON and OFF states with first bias voltage and a set of voltages on the addressing electrodes, and second means for applying first and second refresh voltage pulses to the micromirrors, wherein the first and second refresh voltage pulses are spaced in time longer than the intrinsic oscillation time of the micromirrors; and
a display target.
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40. An apparatus for use in operating a device comprising an array of micromirrors each comprising a deflectable mirror plate and an addressing electrode, the apparatus comprising:
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first means for switching the micromirrors between an ON and OFF states with first bias voltage and a set of voltages on the addressing electrodes;
second means for adjusting the bias voltage and the voltages on the addressing electrodes such that the micromirrors of the array are expected to be in the OFF state; and
third means for applying first and second refresh voltage pulses to the micromirrors of the array so as to repair a stuck micromirror in the ON state, wherein the first and second refresh voltage pulses are spaced in time longer than the intrinsic oscillation time of the micromirror. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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Specification