IMPROVED SLM FOR ADVANCED OPTICAL SIGNAL PROCESSING

THE PROPOSED WORK AIMS TO DEVELOP MULTI-LEVEL OR ANALOG SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATORS (SLMS) THAT INTEGRATE PHOTODETECTORS AND ELECTRONIC INTERAND INTRA-CELL PROCESSING. WE WILL INVESTIGATE A VARIETY OF ANALOG OPTICAL MODULATION EFFECTS IN FERROELECTRIC LIQUID CRYSTALS (FLCS), AND WE WILL DEVELOP APPROPRIATE MULTI-LEVEL ELECTRONIC DRIVING SCHEMES SUITABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION IN VERY LARGE SCALE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS. FABRICATION OF PROOF-OF-CONCEPT SLMS WITH THE FLC LIGHT MODULATING LAYER DIRECTLY ATOP CUSTOM-MADE INTEGRATED CIRCUITS WILL DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF A VERSATILE, ECONOMICAL TECHNOLOGY FOR HIGH FRAME RATE (10 KHZ) SLMS. THESE SLMS WILL ALLOW COMPACT, REAL-TIME OPTICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF SOPHISTICATED NEURAL NETWORK MODELS OF HUMAN VISION.