Light modulator and light modulator array

A light modulator comprising:

• a base layer;
• a reflective layer made of a metal material having a reflecting property for object light being a modulation object and formed on an upper surface of the base layer;
• a modulation layer made of a nonlinear optical crystal having a transmitting property for the object light and formed on an upper surface of the reflective layer with a predetermined thickness;
• and
• a conductive pattern layer made of a conductive material, including a plurality of pattern portions arranged periodically in a first direction perpendicular to a lamination direction of the respective layers and each extending in a second direction perpendicular to the lamination direction and the first direction, and formed on an upper surface of the modulation layer, wherein
• the modulation layer is configured to change a reflectance for the object light by changing a refractive index when a voltage is applied between the reflective layer and the conductive pattern layer, and
• the object light being incident from the upper surface of the modulation layer through the conductive pattern layer, transmitted through the modulation layer, and reflected by the reflective layer is output from the upper surface of the modulation layer to the outside as modulated light with an intensity modulated by the reflectance change.