<title>One-transistor DRAM ferroelectric-liquid-crystal spatial light modulator</title>

Abstract

Black Forest Engineering, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80962-2083 We have made 128x 128 and 256x 256 spatial light modulators (SLMs) using active backplanes fabricated through a commodity silicon foundry and incorporating a thin ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) light modulating layer at the backplane's surface by means of post-processing of individual foundry die. These electrically addressed devices exhibit optical rise and fall times as short as 105 ps, with contrast ratios in images as high as 100:1, and in zero-order diffracted light as high as 200:1. Total optical throughput to the zero-order diffracted beam exceeds 10% for the 256 x 256 devices and 17% for the 128 x 128 devices. Frame update times shorter than 100 s, corresponding to image information throughput of greater than 80 MBytes/s, were realized by employing pipelining techniques in conjunction with a wide digital input word.

<title>Optical characteristics of wavelength-optimized reflective FLC SLMs</title>

“…With our reflective PLC SLM devices the retardance ris a function of two properties, the birefringence zln of the FLC material and the FLC layer thickness d given in equation 1: r=d. (1) FLC layer thickness effects the overall retardance of the active area in a given device from a topography standpoint. Consequently, if the layer spacing varies over the active area of a specific device, the retardance and hence device performance will also vary over this active region.…”

Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals for Nonlinear Optics: Orientation of the Disperse Red 1 Chromophore along the Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Polar Axis

“…Ferroelectric liquid crystals (FLCs) are a unique state of matter possessing excellent processibility on silicon integrated circuits and a thermodynamically stable polar supermolecular structure . FLC thin films thus show great potential as the active organic component of fast integrated electro-optic (EO) modulators .…”