The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 16, 2003
Filed:
Dec. 10, 2001
Elmer S. Hung, Foster City, CA (US);
Erik R. Deutsch, Cambridge, MA (US);
Stephen D. Senturia, Brookline, MA (US);
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA (US);
Abstract
The invention provides an electrostatically-controllable diffraction grating including a plurality of electrically isolated and stationary electrodes disposed on a substrate. At least one row of a plurality of interconnected actuation elements is provided, with each actuation element suspended, by a corresponding mechanically constrained support region, over the substrate by a vertical actuation gap and including a conducting actuation region connected to the corresponding support region and disposed in a selected correspondence with at least one substrate electrode. A mirror element is provided, for at least one actuation element in at least one row of actuation elements, including an optically reflecting upper surface, and being vertically suspended over a corresponding actuation element by a mechanically constrained mirror support region that is connected to the corresponding actuation element and that defines a vertical mirror gap. A mirror deflection region connected to the mirror support region and is free to be deflected through the mirror gap. The mirror gap is less than the actuation gap of a corresponding actuation element and is selected to produce controlled and stable displacement of the actuation region of a corresponding actuation element through a displacement range to a specified point in the actuation gap when an actuation voltage is applied between an actuation region and a corresponding stationary electrode. This enables diffraction of a beam of light incident on the grating as the light beam is reflected from the upper surfaces of the mirror elements.