Mirrors on a chip

Author

Younse, Jack M.

Author_Institution

Texas Instruments Inc., Dallas, TX, USA

Volume

30

Issue

11

fYear

1993

Firstpage

27

Lastpage

31

Abstract

The design, development, and performance of the digital micromirror device (DMD), a spatial light modulator for projection displays, are examined. The DMD covers each memory cell of a CMOS static RAM with a movable micromirror. Electrostatic forces contingent on the data in the cell tilt the mirror either on or off, modulating the light incident on its surface. Light reflected from any on-mirrors passes through a projection lens and creates images on a large screen. Light from the remaining off-mirrors is reflected away from the projection lens and trapped. The standard-resolution version of the DMD corresponds to the National Television System Committee (NTSC) or Phase Alternation Line (PAL) standard. It is a chip about 2.3 cm/sup 2/ covered by 442368 movable mirrors, each 16 mu m on a side.<>

Keywords

CMOS integrated circuits; SRAM chips; display instrumentation; spatial light modulators; 16 micron; CMOS static RAM; National Television System Committee; Phase Alternation Line; TV standards; digital micromirror device; electrostatic forces; memory cell; movable micromirror; projection displays; spatial light modulator; Digital modulation; Displays; Electrostatics; Lenses; Micromirrors; Mirrors; Optical modulation; Random access memory; Read-write memory; TV;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Spectrum, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9235

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/6.241542

Filename

241542