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EP0494666A2 Expired / Lapsed EP ⏱️ 0.0 years remaining

Spatial light modulator

Assignee: Panasonic Holdings Corp
•
Filing: 1992-01-09
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2012-01-09
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Abstract

Abstract There is disclosed a spatial light modulator comprising a photoconductive layer with p-type, i-type and n-type regions, a liquid crystal layer and two electrically conductive electrodes between which the photoconductive layer and the liquid crystal layer are sandwiched, wherein the thickness of the i-type region of the photoconductive layer is determined so that a depletion layer is generated across the entire i-type region when a voltage is applied between the two electrodes to operate the spatial light modulator in such a manner that an inverse bias current is caused in the photoconductive layer. <IMAGE>

Inventors

  • 👤 Koji Akiyama
  • 👤 Akio Takimoto
  • 👤 Hisahito Ogawa

Bibliographic Details

Application Number —
Jurisdiction EP
Data Source google_patents
Last Synchronized 2026-11-06 09:19
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02F; G02F1/00; G02F1/01; G02F1/13; G02F1/133; G02F1/135; G02F1/1354; G06; G06N; G06N3/00; G06N3/02; G06N3/06; G06N3/067; G06N3/0675; G02F1/136; G02F2202/00; G02F2202/10; G02F2202/103

Claims Analysis

Total Claims: 8
Claim 1
Independent Claim 84 words
A spatial light modulator comprising two conductive electrodes sandwiching a liquid crystal layer and a photoconductive layer with p-type, i-type, and n-type regions, being characterized in that the i-type region of said photoconductive layer is formed to have a thickness such that a depletion layer is generated across the entire i-type region when a voltage for operating said spatial light modulation element is applied between said two conductive electrodes in such a manner that an inverse bias current is caused in said photoconductive layer.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim 24 words
A spatial light modulator according to Claim 1 wherein one of said conductive electrodes is formed between said photoconductive layer and liquid crystal layer.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim 31 words
A spatial light modulator according to Claim 1 wherein said photoconductive layer is formed by an amorphous semiconductor containing hydrogen and at least one of the elements carbon, silicon, and germanium.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim 20 words
A spatial light modulator according to Claim 1 wherein said liquid crystal layer is comprised of a ferroelectric liquid crystal.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim 27 words
A spatial light modulator according to Claim 3 wherein the thickness of the i-region of said photoconductive layer is within a range from 0.1 to 1.6 µm.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim 18 words
A spatial light modulator according to Claim 3 wherein the photoconductive layer contains at least nitrogen or oxygen.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim 26 words
A spatial light modulator according to Claim 3 wherein the hydrogen content of the n-region of said photoconductive layer is greater than that of the i-region.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim 23 words
A spatial light modulator according to Claim 3 wherein the oxygen or nitrogen content in the n-region of said photoconductive layer is high.

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