Light modulation element and light modulation apparatus
First Claim
1. A light modulation apparatus comprising:
- a light modulation element having a plurality of light modulating portions, said element respectively controlling said light modulating portions in accordance with input signals to selectively direct light incident on said element in first and second directions, said light modulating portions being arranged in a predetermined direction, and a light receiving surface provided on each of said light modulating portions having a plurality of edges extending in a slanted manner with respect to said predetermined direction;
means for irradiating said light modulation element with the incident light; and
optical means for receiving a light directed in one of said first and said second directions by said light modulating portions to direct said directed light toward a predetermined direction, a pupil of said optical means lying outside an emergence-direction of a main portion of diffracted light generated in accordance with the shape of said light receiving surface of each of said light modulating portions when said incident light is directed in the other of said first and second directions.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A light modulation element of the invention has a plurality of polygonal modulation portions for modulating incident light staggered on arrays. Sides, of each two adjacent portions on different arrays, which are closest to each other are parallel to each other and are not perpendicular to the array direction. The modulation portions can be arranged at a high density along the array direction, the utilization efficiency of illumination light is improved, and the modulation light amount can be increased. When an element is used for a recording apparatus, and S/N ratio is improved, uniform exposure along the array direction is achieved, and the required memory capacity is decreased. A light modulation apparatus of the invention has an imaging optical system, a modulation optical system, and a scanning optical system. By incorporating a suitable means in an optical system or changing the optical system arrangement, a separation angle between modulated and non-modulated lights is increased, and diffracted light generated due to a shape of a light modulation element as a component of the apparatus can be eliminated.
41 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A light modulation apparatus comprising:
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a light modulation element having a plurality of light modulating portions, said element respectively controlling said light modulating portions in accordance with input signals to selectively direct light incident on said element in first and second directions, said light modulating portions being arranged in a predetermined direction, and a light receiving surface provided on each of said light modulating portions having a plurality of edges extending in a slanted manner with respect to said predetermined direction; means for irradiating said light modulation element with the incident light; and optical means for receiving a light directed in one of said first and said second directions by said light modulating portions to direct said directed light toward a predetermined direction, a pupil of said optical means lying outside an emergence-direction of a main portion of diffracted light generated in accordance with the shape of said light receiving surface of each of said light modulating portions when said incident light is directed in the other of said first and second directions. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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11. A light modulation apparatus comprising:
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a light modulation element for modulating light incident thereon in accordance with an input signal to selectively direct the incident light toward at least two different directions; means for irradiating said light modulation element with the incident light; and an optical member for increasing a separation angle between the light directed toward the different directions by said element, said optical member being disposed at a light emergence side of said light modulation element. - View Dependent Claims (10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A light modulation apparatus comprising:
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a substrate; and a plurality of light modulating portions disposed on said substrate in a predetermined direction for modulating incident light in accordance with an input signal, said light modulating portions being arranged in said predetermined direction and in a staggered manner on said substrate, a light receiving surface provided on each of said light modulating portions having a plurality of edges extending in directions slanted with respect to said predetermined direction, and the most adjacent slanted edges of the most adjacent two light receiving surfaces being parallel with each other. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19)
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20. A light modulation element comprising:
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a substrate; and a plurality of light reflecting surfaces arranged in a predetermined direction on said substrate, each of said reflecting surfaces being movable in accordance with an input signal to selectively reflect an incident light toward first and second directions, each of said reflecting surfaces being of a shape having a plurality of edges extending in directions which are slanted with respect to a direction in which said reflecting surfaces are arranged, and said directions in which said edges extend being non-perpendicular to a plane defined by said first and second directions. - View Dependent Claims (21)
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22. A light modulation apparatus comprising:
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a light modulation element having at least one light deflecting portion, said light deflecting portion having a reflecting surface having a plurality of edges, and selectively reflecting light incident thereon toward first and second directions by moving said reflecting surface; means for irradiating said light modulation element with the incident light; and an optical system for receiving a light reflected in one of said first and second directions reflected by said element to direct said reflected light toward a predetermined direction, a pupil of said optical system lying outside an emergence direction of a main portion of diffracted light generated in accordance with the shape of said reflecting surface when the incident light is deflected toward the other of said first and second directions, wherein said pupil is so disposed that the diffracted light does not enter said pupil so as to effectively remove the diffracted light. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A light modulation apparatus comprising:
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a light modulation element, said element modulating light incident thereon in accordance with an input signal to selectively provide a modulated light and a non-modulated light; means for directing the incident light to said element; and optical means disposed in light paths of said modulated and non-modulated lights for increasing a separation angle between said modulated and non-modulated lights.
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Specification