Canted electric fields for addressing a twisting ball display

Electrode apparatus for addressing an array of optical elements, each element comprising at least one electrically and optically anisotropic spheroidal ball rotatably disposed in a substrate, the electrode apparatus comprising:

• means for choosing an element of the array;
• means for generating an electric field in a vicinity of the chosen element, the field having a direction of orientation;
• and
• means for adjusting the direction of orientation of the field over a continuous angular range of directions.

Apparatus comprising:

• a substrate having a surface;
• a plurality of electrically and optically anisotropic spheroidal balls disposed in the substrate;
• and
• means for selectively producing an electric field in a vicinity of at least one ball disposed rotatably in the substrate, the electric field having an electric field vector, the vector being oriented at an orientation angle with respect to a planar portion of the surface proximate to the vicinity, the orientation angle being an angle other than a right angle.

A method for producing a canted electric field for a light-modulating apparatus comprising a plurality of electrically and optically anisotropic spheroidal balls rotatably disposed in a substrate, the apparatus having a plurality of light-modulating elements each occupying a spatial volume bounded by a plurality of edges, each element containing at least one of the spheroidal balls, the method comprising the steps of:

• selecting a light-modulating element from among the plurality of elements;
• establishing a first electric potential in a vicinity of the selected element along a first edge of the selected element;
• establishing a second electric potential in a vicinity of the selected element along a second edge of the selected element parallel to the first edge;
• establishing a third electric potential in a vicinity of the selected element along a third edge of the selected element parallel to the first and second edges;
• and
• establishing a fourth electric potential in a vicinity of the selected element along a fourth edge of the selected element parallel to the first, second, and third edges.

A method comprising the steps of:

• providing light from a light source incident on a modulating device comprising a plurality of electrically and optically anisotropic spheroidal balls rotatably disposed in a substrate, the substrate having a surface;
• selectively producing an electric field in a vicinity of at least one ball thus disposed in the substrate, the electric field having an electric field vector, the vector being oriented at an orientation angle with respect to a planar portion of the surface proximate to the vicinity, the orientation angle being an angle other than a right angle;
• and
• modulating with the modulating device at least a portion of the light incident on the modulating device.

In a light-modulating apparatus comprising a plurality of electrically and optically anisotropic spheroidal balls rotatably disposed in a substrate, the substrate having a surface, the apparatus having an array of addressable elements, each array element including at least one ball of the plurality, a method comprising the steps of:

• selecting an array element;
• selecting a preferred direction of orientation for balls of the selected array element, the direction of orientation forming an angle with a vector normal to a planar portion of the substrate surface in a vicinity of the selected array element, the angle being greater than 0 degree and less than 180 degrees;
• and
• aligning balls of the selected array element with the preferred direction of orientation by applying an electric field in the vicinity of the selected array element, the electric field having an electric field vector oriented parallel to the selected preferred direction, thereby causing balls of the selected array element to rotate so as to align with the preferred direction of orientation.