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US 6,721,082 B1Granted
Electrothermal diffraction grating
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorsEdward P. Furlani, John A. Lebens, Christopher N. Delametter, Constantine N. Anagnostopoulos
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A modulator for modulating an incident beam of light, includes a structure defining a cavity and having a base and side walls surrounding the base; a first plurality of equally spaced apart thermally deformable reflective members having opposing end edges integrally formed in the side walls of the structure above the cavity.
Claims11
A modulator for modulating an incident beam of light, comprising:
- a structure defining a cavity and having a base and side walls surrounding the base;
- a first plurality of equally spaced apart thermally deformable reflective members having opposing end edges integrally formed in the side walls of the structure above the cavity, wherein each one of the plurality of thermally deformable members includes at least a top layer and a bottom layer, wherein the top layer is conductive, and has a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than the bottom layer, and wherein the top layer has end sections adjacent to the support walls and a midsection, with the end sections having a higher resistance than the midsection;
- a second plurality of equally spaced apart, electrically isolated fixed members having opposing end edges integrally formed in the side walls of the structure just above the cavity, wherein each one of the second plurality of fixed members has a reflective top surface for reflecting the incident beam of light, and wherein each fixed member of the second plurality of fixed members is arranged between adjacent spaced apart deformable members of the plurality of thermally deformable members such that the deformable members and the fixed members form a substantially planar light reflection surface;
- and
- means for applying current through the top layers of the first plurality of equally spaced apart thermally deformable reflective members that causes them to deflect into the cavity and away from the substantially planar light reflection surface, whereby light reflecting from the first plurality of thermally deformable reflective members destructively interferes with light reflected from the second plurality of fixed members thereby causing modulation of the incident light.
2 more elements
A modulator for modulating an incident beam of light, comprising:
- a structure defining a cavity and having a base and side walls surrounding the base;
- a first plurality of equally spaced apart thermally deformable reflective members having opposing end edges integrally formed in the side walls of the structure above the cavity, wherein each one of the plurality of thermally deformable member includes a bottom support layer, a resistive layer disposed over the support layer and extending from side wall to side wall, and a reflective conductive layer disposed over, and in electrical contact with, the midsection of the resistive layer so that a high resistance is presented to current flow adjacent to each of the side walls and a lower resistance is presented in the midsection of the thermally deformable member, and wherein the coefficient of thermal expansion of the resistive layer is higher than the coefficient of thermal expansion of the support layer;
- a second plurality of equally spaced apart, electrically isolated fixed members having opposing end edges integrally formed in the side walls of the structure just above the cavity, wherein each one of the second plurality of fixed members has a reflective top surface for reflecting the incident beam of light, and wherein each fixed member of the second plurality of fixed members is arranged between adjacent spaced apart thermally deformable members such that the first and second light reflection layers form a substantially planar light reflection surface;
- and
- means for applying current through the top layers of the first plurality of equally spaced apart thermally deformable reflective members that causes them to deflect into the cavity and away from the substantially planar light reflection surface, whereby light reflecting from the first plurality of thermally deformable reflective members destructively interferes with light reflected from the second plurality of fixed members thereby causing modulation of the incident light.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.