Electrically-programmable diffraction grating
An electrically-programmable diffraction grating is disclosed. 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). 14 figs.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- Assignee:
- Sandia Corp., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Patent Number(s):
- US 5,757,536/A/
- Application Number:
- PAN: 8-521,559
- OSTI ID:
- 644393
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: 26 May 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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