Optically addressed spatial light modulator and method
First Claim
1. An optically addressed spatial light modulator comprising:
- a reflective modulator element including a metallic strip mounted above a conductor;
a detector for detecting incident radiation;
a focusing unit which focuses a write beam on said detector and a read beam on said reflective modulation element; and
a circuit receiving a signal output from said detector generated in response to said write beam and altering a modulation characteristic of said reflective modulator element in accordance with said signal, said read beam being modulated in accordance with an amount of alteration of said reflective modulator element,wherein said modulation characteristic is a position of said metallic strip above said conductor, and said circuit alters said position by injecting a charge output in response to said signal into said conductor.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optically addressed spatial light modulator includes a reflective modulation element, a detector for detecting radiation, a micro-lens focusing a write beam on the detector and a read beam on the modulator element, and a circuit receiving a signal output from the detector generated in response to the write beam. The circuit alters the modulation element in accordance with the signal from the photodetector. The read beam is thus modulated in accordance with the amount of alteration of the modulation element. The read and write beams intercept the micro-lens at different angles and may have the same or differing wavelengths. Including multiple photodetectors on a single pixel allows use of a plurality of write beams. An array of the elements may be used to modulate a plurality of read beams.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. An optically addressed spatial light modulator comprising:
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a reflective modulator element including a metallic strip mounted above a conductor; a detector for detecting incident radiation; a focusing unit which focuses a write beam on said detector and a read beam on said reflective modulation element; and a circuit receiving a signal output from said detector generated in response to said write beam and altering a modulation characteristic of said reflective modulator element in accordance with said signal, said read beam being modulated in accordance with an amount of alteration of said reflective modulator element, wherein said modulation characteristic is a position of said metallic strip above said conductor, and said circuit alters said position by injecting a charge output in response to said signal into said conductor. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of spatially modulating light, comprising the steps of:
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focusing an input write beam only onto a photodetector via a focusing unit; focusing a read beam only onto a reflective modulator element via said focusing unit; converting a signal output from said photodetector into a charge injection signal; deforming said reflective modulator element in accordance with said charge injection signal, said deforming step including injecting said charge injection signal into a conductor of said reflective modulator element, and deflecting a metallic mirror of said reflective modular element in accordance with a charge on said conductor; and outputting a modulated read beam reflected from a deformed reflective modulator element. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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Specification