Sony Corporation

Hitoshi Tamada

Ayumu Taguchi

Masaki Saitoh

Yoshiyuki Akiyama

Koichi Maeyama

Hiroki Kikuchi

Masahiko Kaneko

Shuichi Matsumoto

Toshiro Yamada

Kimihiro Saito

Hideo Tanaka

Noriaki Nishi

Hiroyuki Wada

Yoshikazu Murakami

Atsuo Yamada

Yutaka Imai

Seigo Ito

Tohru Doumuki

Tsutomu Okamoto

Chiharu Isobe

Masami Miyake

Kenjiro Watanabe

Masahiro Yamada

Takashi Yamaguchi

Kiyoshi Toyota

Masato Nishida

Yasuyuki Ito

Toru Domuki

Yukie Taneyama

A diffraction grating light modulator composed of a plurality of diffraction grating light modulating elements formed on a substrate, each consisting of a lower electrode, belt-like fixed electrodes and movable electrodes supported above the lower electrode, and exposed connecting terminals (for electrical connection to external circuits) electrically connected to the movable electrodes, the fixed electrodes and the movable electrodes constituting a diffraction grating upon application of a voltage to the lower electrode, the diffraction grating light modulator having a protective electrode surrounding the connecting terminals, so that the diffraction grating light modulating element is certainly protected from damage by static electricity.

Aggregate of electronic device chips, electronic device chip, aggregate of diffraction grating light modulators, and diffraction grating light modulator

An optical modulation device is disclosed which can suppress production of a cause of degradation such as a void or hillock on a light illumination surface thereof and can be incorporated in an image display apparatus of a small size and a high luminance to improve the reliability of the same. The optical modulation device includes first and second surface elements movable relative to each other to form different diffraction gratings to modulate light inputted thereto. Each of the first and second surface elements has a light illumination surface made of an AlCu alloy material. The optical modulation device has an airtight sealed space in which surrounding gas for the first and second surface elements is encapsulated. The surrounding gas contains hydrogen gas or helium gas or both of hydrogen gas and helium gas.

Optical modulation device and image display apparatus using the same

An image production apparatus, an image display apparatus and an image display method are disclosed which can reduce the ununiformity in luminance and color which appears on a display screen and can be formed compact. Also optical modulation device adjustment apparatus is disclosed which can detect and correct the ununiformity in modulation characteristic of a modulation device. The image display apparatus includes a light detection apparatus in addition to a light source section, an illumination optical system, an optical modulation section, a spatial filter, a light projection section and a screen. The light detection apparatus detects the dispersion of a modulation characteristic of each pixel element of GLV devices and the ununiformity in luminance and color displayed in accordance with an illumination condition. An optimum driving voltage for minimizing the ununiformity in color and luminance to be displayed is determined based on a signal detected by the light detection apparatus.

Image production apparatus, image display apparatus, image display method and optical modulation device adjustment apparatus

An image production apparatus, an image display apparatus and an image display method are disclosed which can reduce the ununiformity in luminance and color which appears on a display screen and can be formed compact. Also an optical modulation device adjustment apparatus is disclosed which can detect and correct the ununiformity in modulation characteristic of a modulation device. The image display apparatus includes a light detection apparatus in addition to a light source section, an illumination optical system, an optical modulation section, a spatial filter, a light projection section and a screen. The light detection apparatus detects the dispersion of a modulation characteristic of each pixel element of GLV devices and the ununiformity in luminance and color displayed in accordance with an illumination condition. An optimum driving voltage for minimizing the ununiformity in color and luminance to be displayed is determined based on a signal detected by the light detection apparatus.

A light reflection and diffraction element for enhancing the contrast of an image display device. In an off state of the element, a portion exhibiting a cyclic structure for diffracting incident light in a region where reflective members having reflection surfaces are aligned is reduced by preventing the generation of unrequired diffracted light. For example, by covering connection regions of the ribbon reflective members by light shielding masks, incident light is shielded. Preferably, any uneven state of the reflection surfaces of the ribbon reflective members is controlled, and a correlation length is made small.

Light reflection/diffraction device, light reflection/diffraction device array, and image display

An optical element is provided in which in a lens surface substantially perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens, there is embedded a conductive member whose diameter or width is smaller than the diameter of an optical spot incident upon the lens surface. The optical element is used in an optical head which reads a signal by illuminating an optical recording medium with a reading light. The basic principle of this optical head is such that a subtle phase change of the light is detected which is caused by the electromagnetic interaction between the conductive member embedded in the optical element and a conductive material on the surface of the optical recording medium. For example, the interference between return light beams from the optical recording medium is used to read a signal. Alternately, a high frequency current is supplied to the conductive material and a signal synchronous with the high frequency is extracted to detect the interaction between the conductive material on the optical recording medium and the conductive member, to thereby read a signal recorded in the optical recording medium.

Optical element, optical head and signal reproducing method

Providing an electrostatic machine element for restraining deteriorations of practical electrostatic forces between electrodes by an electrostatic shielded effect to prevent instability of an electrode operation, a light diffraction modulation element using the electrostatic machine element and an image display device using the light diffraction modulation element. An edge and an upper side of a first electrode are opened and a dielectric material, the mobility of which depends on a polarity of an electric charge, is used for a second dielectric film. When a drive voltage such that the electric charge having high mobility moves from one dielectric film to another dielectric film, is applied between the first electrode and a second electrode, a charged particle that arrived at the first dielectric film moves further to the upper side of the first electrode.

Electrostatic machine element, light diffraction modulation element and image display device

An image of an inspection target having a concave and convex pattern is picked up in an off-focus state by an image pickup element Further, the image of the inspection target picked up in the off-focus state is taken in by an image processing computer Based on the image, the image processing computer prepares a light intensity profile having a peak corresponding to a boundary portion between a concave portion and a convex portion of the concave and convex pattern of the inspection target. For example, a change of the width of the concave or convex portion of the concave and convex portion can be detected very accurately, by measuring the width of the concave or convex portion of the concave and convex portion on the basis of the intensity profile.

Inspection apparatus and method

A semiconductor light emitting device easily controlled in reflectance of its cavity edges has formed on the cavity edges of its laser cavity rugged structures including elongated concave portions extending substantially in parallel with bonded surfaces of semiconductor layers forming the laser cavity. The laser cavity is made by sequentially stacking on a substrate an n-type AlGaN cladding layer, n-type GaN optical guide layer, InGaN active layer, p-type GaN optical guide layer and p-type AlGaN cladding layer. The rugged structure is made by first making the cavity edges by etching and then processing the cavity edges by wet etching so that the cavity edges are selectively excavated due to differences in chemical property among semiconductor layers forming the laser cavity caused by differences in composition among them.

Semiconductor light emitting device and its manufacturing method

The imaging magnification of an imaging optical system is set such that the image resolution of an ultraviolet CCD camera is within a range from 10 nm to 30 nm, on a resist pattern to be inspected. In addition, every time when the ultraviolet CCD camera picks up an image, the resist pattern to be inspected is irradiated at an irradiation light amount within a range from 0.5 mJ/cm to an irradiation threshold value at which the resist pattern is not caused to contract or an irradiation threshold value at which an absorption rate of an anti-reflection film provided near the resist pattern is not caused to change.

Polarization inversion domains are irregularly formed in a ferroelectric substrate constituting an electro-optical element at least in the propagation direction of a light beam A. An A.C. current signal is applied between electrodes and . It is thereby arranged to disturb the phase of each of the light rays constituting a light beam whose coherent characteristic is high, such as a laser light or the like, and thereby to easily obtain the light beam whose coherent characteristic has been decreased.

Electro-optical element, and method of driving and method of manufacturing the same

An optical communications apparatus and method of using same in which optical coupling between an optical medium and a light emitter and a light receptor is achieved without any optical system therebetween. A minor axis of light transmission pattern on an end face of the optical fiber corresponds to the radial direction of the end face while a center C of the light emitter is displaced off from a center axis O, thereby providing improved optical coupling efficiencies.

Growing community of inventors

Kanagawa, Japan

Hitoshi Tamada