Fast multispectral liquid-crystal-on-silicon spatial light modulators

Guoqiang Zhang; Anatoliy Glushchenko; John L. West; John R. McNeil; Michael J. O'Callaghan; Mark A. Handschy; Kerry Lane; Stephen D. Gaalema

doi:10.1117/12.667618

16 May 2006 Fast multispectral liquid-crystal-on-silicon spatial light modulators

Guoqiang Zhang, Anatoliy Glushchenko, John L. West, John R. McNeil, Michael J. O'Callaghan, Mark A. Handschy, Kerry Lane, Stephen D. Gaalema

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 6208, Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing XI; 62080T (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.667618
Event: Defense and Security Symposium, 2006, Orlando (Kissimmee), Florida, United States

Abstract

The stressed liquid-crystal (SLC) electro-optic effect promises fast electro-optic response times even for design wavelengths in the infrared (IR). Here we report characteristics of SLC devices appropriate for use as liquid-crystal-onsilicon (LCOS) spatial light modulators (SLMs) in the near ( λ = 1.8-2.5 μm), mid (3-5.5 μm) and far (8-14 μm) IR bands. For these three bands we fabricated SLC devices with 5, 10, and 20 μm thicknesses; at drive voltages of 25, 50, and 125 V respectively these devices gave half-wave modulation with response speeds in the 1.3-1.6 ms range. Visiblelight measurements on a 20-μm-thick SLC device between crossed polarizers gave a contrast ratio of 360:1 which improved to nearly 18,000:1 with a Babinet-Soleil compensator offsetting residual SLC retardance. Widely available high-voltage options in standard CMOS processes offer sufficient drive for near- and mid-IR SLCOS devices; with modest increase of SLC material birefringence Δn and dielectric anisotropy Δε far-IR devices would be feasible, too. Pixel drivers utilizing these options have pitches less than 24 μm, making 1000 ×1000 SLMs feasible.

Citation Download Citation

Guoqiang Zhang, Anatoliy Glushchenko, John L. West, John R. McNeil, Michael J. O'Callaghan, Mark A. Handschy, Kerry Lane, and Stephen D. Gaalema "Fast multispectral liquid-crystal-on-silicon spatial light modulators", Proc. SPIE 6208, Technologies for Synthetic Environments: Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing XI, 62080T (16 May 2006); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.667618

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