Electrically-programmable diffraction grating

Details Electrically-programmable diffraction grating Electrically-programmable diffraction grating

1995-08-30

1998-05-26

Nguyen, Thong

Optical: systems and elements

Deflection using a moving element

By moving a reflective element

359225, 359291, 359295, 359573, G02B 2600, G02B 518

Patent

active

057575363

ABSTRACT:
An electrically-programmable diffraction grating. The programmable grating includes a substrate having a plurality of electrodes formed thereon and a moveable grating element above each of the electrodes. The grating elements are electrostatically programmable to form a diffraction grating for diffracting an incident beam of light as it is reflected from the upper surfaces of the grating elements. The programmable diffraction grating, formed by a micromachining process, has applications for optical information processing (e.g. optical correlators and computers), for multiplexing and demultiplexing a plurality of light beams of different wavelengths (e.g. for optical fiber communications), and for forming spectrometers (e.g. correlation and scanning spectrometers).

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