High fill ratio silicon spatial light modulator
First Claim
1. An optical deflection device for a display application, the optical deflection device comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate comprising an upper surface region;
one or more electrode devices provided overlying the upper surface region;
a bias structure coupled to the upper surface region;
an insulating layer coupled to the bias structure and extending a predetermined distance from the upper surface region;
a hinge device comprising a silicon material, wherein the hinge device is coupled to the upper surface region and to the insulating layer;
a via plug passing through a via defined in the insulating layer between the bias structure and the hinge device;
a spacing defined between the upper surface region and the hinge device; and
a mirror structure comprising;
a post portion coupled to the hinge device, anda mirror plate portion coupled to the post portion and overlying the hinge device.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical deflection device for a display application. The optical deflection device includes a semiconductor substrate including an upper surface region and one or more electrode devices provided overlying the upper surface region. The optical deflection device also includes a hinge device including a silicon material and coupled to the upper surface region. The optical deflection device further includes a spacing defined between the upper surface region and the hinge device and a mirror structure including a post portion coupled to the hinge device and a mirror plate portion coupled to the post portion and overlying the hinge device.
20 Citations
70 Claims
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1. An optical deflection device for a display application, the optical deflection device comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate comprising an upper surface region; one or more electrode devices provided overlying the upper surface region; a bias structure coupled to the upper surface region; an insulating layer coupled to the bias structure and extending a predetermined distance from the upper surface region; a hinge device comprising a silicon material, wherein the hinge device is coupled to the upper surface region and to the insulating layer; a via plug passing through a via defined in the insulating layer between the bias structure and the hinge device; a spacing defined between the upper surface region and the hinge device; and a mirror structure comprising; a post portion coupled to the hinge device, and a mirror plate portion coupled to the post portion and overlying the hinge device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A spatial light modulator for display applications comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate comprising an upper surface region; one or more multi-level electrode devices provided overlying the upper surface region, wherein the one or more multi-level electrode devices comprise a first level and a second level; an insulating layer overlying the first level of the one or more multi-level electrode devices; a hinge device coupled to the insulating layer, wherein the hinge device comprises a silicon material and is coplanar with the second level of the one or more multi-level electrode devices; a first spacing defined between the semiconductor substrate and the hinge device; a mirror structure comprising a silicon material, the mirror structure overlying a portion of the hinge device and adapted to move from a first position to a second position; a second spacing defined between the first level of the one or more multi-level electrode devices and the mirror structure; and a third spacing defined between the second level of the one or more multi-level electrode devices and the mirror structure. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. An array of optical deflection devices for a display application, the array comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate comprising; a plurality of electrode devices disposed in array form as an array of cells, a bias structure coupled to the semiconductor substrate, and a bonding region; an insulating layer overlying a portion of the bias structure and extending a predetermined distance from the bias structure along a normal to the semiconductor substrate; a plurality of hinge devices including silicon material, each of the plurality of hinge devices comprising a bonding portion and a deposition interface, wherein the bonding portion of the plurality of hinge devices is bonded to a portion of the bonding region of the semiconductor substrate and the plurality of hinge devices are coupled to the insulating layer; a set of via plugs providing electrical connectivity between the bias structure and the plurality of hinge devices; a spacing defined between the plurality of electrode devices and the plurality of hinge devices; and a plurality of mirror structures, each of the plurality of mirror structures comprising; a post region coupled to the deposition interface of the plurality of hinge devices, and a mirror plate overlying a cell of the array of cells of the plurality of electrode devices. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55)
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56. A micro-mirror for display applications, the micro-mirror comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate comprising an electrode device layer and a bonding region characterized by a local micro-roughness of less than 5 Å
over a 2 μ
m by 2 μ
m scan area;an insulating layer extending to a first predetermined distance from the semiconductor substrate; a hinge device comprising silicon material bonded to the bonding region of the semiconductor substrate, wherein the hinge device comprises a deposition interface opposing the bonding region of the semiconductor substrate and is coupled to the insulating layer; a mirror post coupled to the deposition interface and extending to a second predetermined distance from the semiconductor substrate; and a mirror plate coupled to the mirror post and overlying the electrode device layer. - View Dependent Claims (57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63)
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64. A multi-layer semiconductor structure for fabricating a spatial light modulator, the multi-layer semiconductor structure comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate comprising a plurality of bias electrode devices and a plurality of activation electrode devices; an oxide layer coupled to the semiconductor substrate, the oxide layer comprising a first and a second bonding interface and extending to a predetermined height from the semiconductor substrate, wherein the oxide layer further comprises a first portion extending from a first one of the plurality of activation electrode devices to the first bonding interface and a second portion extending from a second one of the plurality of activation electrode devices to the second bonding interface thereby forming an oxide free region adjacent one of the plurality of bias electrode devices and between the first portion and the second portion; and a silicon layer bonded to the bonding interface of the oxide layer. - View Dependent Claims (65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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Specification