摘要:
A low cost waveguide tunable Bragg grating provides a flat passband and minimal crosstalk. A compliant material forms a waveguide that is imprinted with a Bragg grating and mounted on a MEMS actuator. Entropic materials such as elastomers, aerogels or other long-chain polymers may provide the necessary compliance. The application of a drive signal to the actuator deforms (squeezes or stretches) the compliant material thereby changing the Bragg spacing and shifting the resonant wavelength. The MEMS actuator can be an electrostatically or electromagnetically actuated comb-drive.
摘要:
A cost-effective tunable optical component uses entropic, rather than enthalpic, materials to provide a compliant member that supports the optical element and is driven by an electrostatic actuator. Entropic materials exhibit an entropic plateau region over a wide frequency range with a Young's modulus much lower than enthalpic materials, linear elastic behavior over a wide deformation range, and, in certain geometries, energy and stress behavior that tend to stabilize the optical element during deformation. The compliant member can be configured in a variety of geometries including compression, tension, tensile/compressive and shear and of a variety of materials including elastomers, aerogels or other long chained polymers.
摘要:
A thin low power, paper white, direct-view display includes an array of bistable micromirrors that are deflected between two stable states, a dark state in which the mirror covers a portion of the background and a white state in which the mirror uncovers the background. The drive electronics are similar to those used in multiplexed LDCs but are modified in order to drive the micromirrors to one of their two stable states. The micromirrors in the enabled row are attracted up or down with sufficient force to exceed the micromirrors' bistable threshold and deflect the micromirrors to their dark and white states, respectively. The attractive forces on the micromirrors in the remaining non-enabled rows are insufficient to exceed the micromirrors' bistable threshold so that the micromirrors remain in their current stable state.
摘要:
A bright, high contrast, compact, large area, high-resolution light modulator uses a field emitter array (FEA) to address a charge controlled mirror (CCM). The FEA deposits a charge pattern onto the CCM, which in turn produces electrostatic forces that deflect the micromirrors in accordance with the amount of accumulated charge. The CCM that is used in combination with the FEA can be configured in many different ways to implement different actuation modes, e.g. attractive, repulsive, grid-actuated or membrane-actuated and different charge control modes, e.g. RC decay, RC sustain and charge control.
摘要:
A flat-panel direct view display positions an array of electrostatically-actuated cantilevered micromirrors in front of a contrasting background and opposite a flat-panel electron beam source. Depending upon the display configuration, the electron beam source addresses either the array of micromirrors or a reference surface a row at a time while the other is held at a reference potential. The electron beams modulate the potential difference between each micromirror and the reference surface thereby adjusting the magnitude of the attractive electrostatic force between the two. This in turn modulates the deflection of the micromirrors between their quiescent and fully actuated states to selectively cover and uncover the background thereby producing a grey scale direct-view image.
摘要:
A high intensity image projection system includes a micro-mirror light valve target with micro-mirror elements repulsively pivotally-actuable. Each micro-mirror of the target array comprises a fixed base electrode joined to an overlying micro-mirror element by means of a hinge with each element formed of conductive material. As such, in operation, charge deposited upon either the base electrode or the micro-mirror element is free to migrate, in response to repulsive forces between deposited charges, to the element spaced therefrom. The resulting presence of like charge distributions upon the base electrode and micro-mirror element of a micro-mirror produces a repulsive electrostatic force for pivotally deflecting the micro-mirror element by an amount proportional to the charge deposited thereon. Capacitive charge storage elements and resistive paths are provided for storing and draining the deposited charge between applications of video frame information. In one embodiment, an array of micro-mirror light valves is formed directly upon the face plate of a vidicon tube. In another, a foil is formed that is mounted within the tube by a surrounding clip. In a third embodiment, charge is delivered through a matrix of transistors.
摘要:
A method for fabricating resilient z-axis contacts to electrically interconnect IC wafers or MCMs in 3-D integrated circuits uses photolithography to provide larger carrier sizes, higher contact densities by decreasing the spacing, smaller contact footpads, and precise control of the contact's shape and position. The contacts are fabricated by forming photoresist patterns on the carrier's top and bottom surfaces that are initially rectangular, and then reflowing the photoresist materials to provide smooth surfaces suitable for forming the metal contacts, and depositing metal layers over the respective patterns. Second photoresist patterns are formed over respective metal layers to conform with the contact's shape, the metal is etched away according to the pattern, and the photoresists are removed such that the remaining metalization forms a resilient z-axis contact that is attached to the carrier and extends therefrom with a predetermined shape.
摘要:
An integrated-circuit interconnect which can be formed at the wafer level is achieved by depositing an intentionally stressed contact layer over a release layer which is subsequently removed. The removal of the release layer permits a portion of the contact layer to curve away from the surface of an integrated circuit chip. The result is a spring contact having a base portion joined to a metal member of the chip and a spring portion which is available for joining to other metal members, e.g., on a substrate or another chip. The resilience of the spring portion can also be used to position and align integrated circuit elements.
摘要:
A pulsed readout technique is described for liquid crystal light valves which eliminates the problem of readout beam leakage through the light valve mirror. The readout beam is pulsed on only when the light valve's semiconductor layer is out of a depletion state. This can occur during an accumulation state or, in certain applications, during a specially inserted quiescent period in the light valve voltage cycle. The invention is applicable to light valves with various types of modulating inputs, and can be used with either dielectric or metal matrix mirrors.
摘要:
A semiconductive substrate, such as a silicon wafer, is mounted on a baseplate for inclusion in an optical device such as a liquid crystal light valve. An optical flat presses the top surface of silicon wafer toward the baseplate and against an O-ring seal surrounding a fluid adhesive. The fluid adhesive hydrostatically distributes the force of compression to guarantee optical flatness and self-compensation for the amount fluid adhesive surrounded by the O-ring. The optical flatness of the semiconductor substrate is limited only by the flatness of the optical flat against which it is compressed. Parallel alignment of the optical flat, the substrate and the baseplate is achieved by reflecting a laser beam through the semiconductive substrate and observing the interference fringes therein, while adjusting the relative alignment so as to maximize the distance between fringes.