EP1054290A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Light modulator controlled by surface plasmon waves
Assignee: NEC Corp
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Filing: 2000-05-12
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2020-05-12
Abstract
Abstract A light modulator has two unit devices (1,2) each using surface plasmon waves generated at the interface between thin metal films (13,14) formed respectively on prisms (11,12) and an electro-optical material (15), and a mirror (3). Both the transmitted light due to absorption and re-radiation, and the reflected light arising from the unit devices (1,2) appear in the outgoing light, the incident light on the next unit device, or the incident light on the mirror (3). Consequently, all light beams can be utilized as the final outgoing light beams with no loss of light. Further, the colour of light can be spatially divided, and still further, it can also be temporally divided by changing the wavelength by means of a voltage. As a result, the original light can be divided both temporally and spatially with almost no loss by combining two unit devices so configured as to re-radiate the absorbed light by the surface plasmon waves using surface plasmon and a mirror, and thus utilize both the reflected light and the transmitted light.
Inventors
- 👤 Ken-Ichi Takatori
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 18:14
CPC Classifications
G; G02; G02F; G02F1/00; G02F1/01; G02F1/13; G02F1/133; G02F1/1333; G02F1/1335; G02F1/1336; G02F1/133621; B; B82; B82Y; B82Y20/00; G02B; G02B6/00; G02B6/10; G02B6/12; G02B6/122; G02B6/1226; G02F1/19; G02F1/195; G02F1/23; G02F1/133394; G02F1/133622; G02F2203/00; G02F2203/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 11
Claim 1
Independent Claim
164 words
A light modulator using surface plasmon waves generated at the
interface between a thin metal film and an electro-optical material, including
two unit devices (1,2) and a mirror (3), the two unit devices (1,2), each having
a pair of prisms (11,12) individually provided with thin metal films (13,14) on
their respective undersides, the thin metal films being oppositely disposed,
and an electro-optical material (15) sandwiched between the oppositely
disposed thin metal films, and the two unit devices being disposed in parallel
to each other such that respective ones of the surfaces of the prisms of the
unit devices are in contact with each other so as to ensure the arrangement
of the thin metal films in a parallel relation to each other, and the mirror being
disposed such that the mirror faces in a direction parallel to the thin metal
films, and extends along the top of the prism of one unit device on the side
thereof not in contact with another unit device.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
20 words
A light modulator as claimed in claim 1, in which liquid crystal
material is used as the electro-optical material (15).
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
184 words
A light modulator using surface plasmon waves generated at the
interface between a thin metal film and an electro-optical material, including,
two unit devices (1,2) and a mirror (3), in which the two unit devices (1,2),
each have a pair of prisms (11,12) individually provided with thin metal films
(13,14) on their respective undersides, and the thin metal films are oppositely
disposed with an air gap in between, and a piezo material (16) is sandwiched
between the thin metal films so as to ensure the air gap, the two unit devices
being disposed in parallel to each other such that a respective surface of one
of the prisms of each of the unit devices is in contact with that of another so
as to ensure the arrangement of the thin metal films in a parallel relation to
each other, and the mirror being disposed such that the side of the mirror
faces the direction in parallel to the thin metal films, and extends along the
top of the prism of one unit device on the side thereof not in contact with
another unit device.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
182 words
A light modulator using surface plasmon waves generated at the
interface between a thin metal film and an electro-optical material, including
two unit devices (1,2) and a mirror (3), in which two unit devices (1,2), each
have a pair of prisms (11,12) individually provided with thin metal films
(13,14) at their respective undersides, the thin metal films being oppositely
disposed with an air gap in between, and a piezo material (16) being
disposed on one surface of the prism through which the light to be modulated
will not pass, and the two unit devices being disposed in parallel to each
other such that respective ones of the surfaces of the prisms of the unit
devices are in contact with each other so as to ensure the arrangement of the
thin metal films in a parallel relation to each other, the mirror being disposed
such that the mirror side thereof faces the direction in parallel to the thin
metal films, and extends along the top of the prism of one unit device on the
side thereof not in contact with another unit device.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
A light modulator as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, including a
diffraction grating (18) in place of a prism.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
44 words
A light modulator as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, including a
device for aligning the polarization direction into one direction, the device
being disposed on the incident light side of the other unit device not in
contact with the mirror.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
A light modulator as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, including a
filter for adjusting the wavelength characteristics disposed on the outgoing
side of the one unit device.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
46 words
A method for driving a light modulator as claimed in any one of
claims 1 to 7, including the steps of spatially dividing the incident light into
light beams of a plurality of wavelengths, and changing the voltage to be
applied to the thin metal films.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
39 words
A light source of a compression colour division system, including a
combination of the light modulator as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7 and
a source of white light to be incident on the light modulator.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
53 words
A display apparatus including an illumination unit using the light
modulator as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, or the light source as
claimed in claim 9, which illuminates a liquid crystal panel, and a display unit
to display a projected image on the liquid crystal panel or a screen.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method for driving a display apparatus as claimed in claim 10,
including the step of driving the display apparatus so as to correct a
difference in intensity of optical power on spatial division due to the light
modulator.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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