UNIVERSAL SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR

THE PROPOSED WORK AIMS TO DEVELOP "SMART" SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATORS (SLMS) THAT INTEGRATE PHOTODETECTORS, LIGHT MODULATORS, AND ELECTRONIC INTRA- AND INTER-CELL PROCESSING. THESE SLMS EXPLOIT A HYBRID OPTOELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY THAT PLACES FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTAL (FLC) LIGHT MODULATORS DIRECTLY STOP SILICON VLSI CIRCUITRY. WE PROPOSE HERE TO DESIGN AND FABRICATE A SMALL PROTOTYPE FLC/VLSI SLM IMPLEMENTING AN INNOVATIVE "UNIVERSAL" FUNCTION: IT CAN BE ADDRESSED EITHER ELECTRICALLY OR OPTICALLY; AND IT CAN PROVIDE PROGRAMABLE IMAGE THRESHOLDING, SUBTRACTION, MEMORY, AND INVERSION. THE PHASEI PROTOTYPE SLM SHOULD HAVE AN ARRAY SIZE OF 16 X 16 OR GREATER, AND A FRAME UPDATE RATE GREATER THAN 1 KHZ. THE PROPOSED EFFORT INCLUDES PIXEL CIRCUIT DESIGN AND SIMULATION, VLSI LAYOUT, SILICON INTEGRATED CIRCUIT (IC) FABRICATION, FABRICATION OF FLC MODULATORS ATOP THE IC, AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE RESULTING SLM. CONTINUATION OF THE WORK TO PHASE II SHOULD RESULT IN ARRAYS SIZES OF 256 X 256 OR GREATER WITH CONTRAST BETTER THAN 200:1 AND FRAME RATES IN EXCESS OF 10 KHZ. THE RESULTING SLMS WILL BE NO LARGER THAN A PACKAGED INTEGRATED CIRCUIT LIKE A MICROPROCESSOR, AND WILL REQUIRE NO SPECIALIZED DRIVER CIRCUITRY BEYOND A STANDARD LOGIC-LEVEL INTERFACE.