Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-wq2xx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T11:05:33.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Two-Dimensional Silicon/Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulators

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

Timothy J. Drabik
Timothy J. Drabik*
Affiliation:
Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Electrical Engineering and Microelectronics Research Center, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332-0250
Get access

Abstract

Spatial light modulator (SLM) technology based on commodity silicon fabrication processes and employing a thin, ferroelectric liquid crystal light modulating layer at the chip's surface, has advanced to the point of producing high-performance, practically useful devices. Electrically addressed display devices with 256 × 256 resolution, 100: 1 contrast, and 10 kHz frame rate, as well as optically addressed, “smart” SLMs that perform spatio-temporal filtering on images, have resulted in the course of the author's involvement with Displaytech, Inc.

The silicon technology infrastructure is a juggernaut that produces regular and significant advances in capability. An optoelectronics technology based on foundry silicon can exploit these advances directly and realize rapid improvements. The gains in the density, speed, and optical performance of the Si/FLC devices presented here, illustrate this perspective.

The favorable speed-power performance of these devices is due to an excellent match in the “terminal characteristics” of FLC materials with those of fine-line MOSFETs. The impact of these characteristics on overall device performance is discussed in some depth.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 392: Symposium U – Thin Films for Integrated Optics Applications , 1995 , 111
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

[1] Appl. Opt., Special Issue on Spatial Light Modulators (Esener, S., Horner, J., and Johnson, K., eds.) 31 (20), (1992).Google Scholar
[2] Clark, N. A. and Handschy, M. A., “Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Electro-Optics Using the Surface Stabilized Structure,” Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 94, 213–234 (1983).Google Scholar
[3] Displaytech, Inc., 2200 Central Avenue, Boulder, CO 80301.Google Scholar
[4] Black Forest Engineering, 12930 Morris Trail, Colorado Springs, CO 80962–2083.Google Scholar
[5] Cotter, L. K., Drabik, T. J., Dillon, R. J., and Handschy, M. A., “Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal/Silicon Integrated Circuit, Spatial Light Modulator,” Opt. Lett. 15, 291–293 (1990).Google Scholar
[6] Handschy, M. A., Chase, H., Cotter, L. K., Cunningham, J. D., Pattee, A. M., Drabik, T.J., and Gaalema, S. D. in Optical Pattern Recognition V, edited by Casasent, D. P. and Chao, T.-H. (SPIE Proc. 2237, Bellingham, WA, 1994) pp. 432–438.Google Scholar
[7] Drabik, T. J., Titus, A., Handschy, M. A., Banas, D. Gaalema, S. D., and Ward, D. J., “2-D Silicon/Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Spatial Light Modulators,” to appear in IEEE MICRO (1995).Google Scholar
[8] Mead, C., Analog VLSI and Neural Systems. (Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1989).Google Scholar
[9] Titus, A., Banas, D., Handschy, M. A., and Drabik, T. J., manuscript in preparation.Google Scholar
[10] Handschy, M. A., Drabik, T. J., Cotter, L. K., and Gaalema, S. D. in Optical and Digital GaAs Technologies for Signal-Processing Applications, edited by Bendett, M. P. (SPIE Proc. 1291, Bellingham, WA, 1990) pp. 158–164.Google Scholar