Fast Multi-Spectral Liquid-Crystal-on-Silicon Spatial Light Modulators (SLM)

We propose the development of fast (~1 ms) spatial light modulators (SLMs) for application in near (1.8 to 2.5 micron), mid (3 to 5.5 micron) and long-wave (8 to 14 micron) infrared wavelength bands. The proposed SLMs exploit a newly discovered "sheared liquid crystal" (SLC) effect to deliver fast amplitude or phase modulation regardless of design wavelength. Our SLMs add the SLC effect to the liquid-crystal-on-silicon (LCOS) platform to deliver small, rugged, and inexpensive SLMs. The Phase I effort will provide: measurement results that establish baseline IR performance achievable with existing LC and polymer materials, (2) results of wafer-scale assembly processing of prototype SLC devices, (3) designs for CMOS implementation of digital gray scale and pixel boosters, including resolution vs. gray-depth and drive voltage tradeoffs, and (4) materials choices and performance predictions for optimized SLC SLMs.