Electrically-programmable diffraction grating
First Claim
1. An electrically-programmable diffraction grating for receiving an incident beam of light and generating a diffracted beam of light therefrom, comprising:
- (a) a substrate;
(b) a plurality of elongate grating elements supported above the substrate in a horizontal spaced relationship, each grating element further comprising a central portion connected at each end thereof to at least one flexible member which is attached to a support frame above the substrate and surrounding the plurality of grating elements, the central portion of each grating element further including a light-reflective upper surface and forming at least in part a moveable electrode, and;
(c) at least one stationary electrode formed on the substrate below each grating element for forming in combination with the moveable electrode a set of electrodes for electrostatically defining a substantially parallel vertical spaced relationship between the light-reflective upper surface of each grating element and adjacent grating elements for diffracting the incident beam of light as it is reflected from the upper surfaces of the grating elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electrically-programmable diffraction grating. The programmable grating includes a substrate having a plurality of electrodes formed thereon and a moveable grating element above each of the electrodes. The grating elements are electrostatically programmable to form a diffraction grating for diffracting an incident beam of light as it is reflected from the upper surfaces of the grating elements. The programmable diffraction grating, formed by a micromachining process, has applications for optical information processing (e.g. optical correlators and computers), for multiplexing and demultiplexing a plurality of light beams of different wavelengths (e.g. for optical fiber communications), and for forming spectrometers (e.g. correlation and scanning spectrometers).
242 Citations
32 Claims
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1. An electrically-programmable diffraction grating for receiving an incident beam of light and generating a diffracted beam of light therefrom, comprising:
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(a) a substrate; (b) a plurality of elongate grating elements supported above the substrate in a horizontal spaced relationship, each grating element further comprising a central portion connected at each end thereof to at least one flexible member which is attached to a support frame above the substrate and surrounding the plurality of grating elements, the central portion of each grating element further including a light-reflective upper surface and forming at least in part a moveable electrode, and; (c) at least one stationary electrode formed on the substrate below each grating element for forming in combination with the moveable electrode a set of electrodes for electrostatically defining a substantially parallel vertical spaced relationship between the light-reflective upper surface of each grating element and adjacent grating elements for diffracting the incident beam of light as it is reflected from the upper surfaces of the grating elements. - 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)
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25. An electrically-programmable diffraction grating for receiving an incident beam of light and generating a diffracted beam of light therefrom, comprising:
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(a) a substrate having a plurality of elongate stationary electrodes formed thereupon, the stationary electrodes being arranged substantially parallel to each other in a horizontal spaced relationship defined by a substantially equal spacing between adjacent stationary electrodes; (b) a frame supported above the substrate and having attached thereto a plurality of elongate grating elements, each grating element being superposed above one of the stationary electrodes, each grating element further comprising a central portion and at least one flexible member at either end thereof, the central portion having a light-reflective upper surface and forming at least in part a moveable electrode; and (c) addressing circuitry electrically connected between each stationary electrode and the moveable electrode thereabove for providing a plurality of programming voltages to electrostatically actuate the moveable electrodes to vary a vertical spaced relationship between each grating element and adjacent grating elements. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification