| 摘要 |
A grating light valve with a plurality of spaced and movable ribbons attached to a substrate surface is sealed within a die structure containing a dampening gas. The tops of the ribbons and the regions of the substrate between the ribbons are reflective. The ribbons move toward and away from the substrate to constructively and destructively interfere with an incident light source having a wavelength lambd. In accordance with the invention, the ribbons and the substrate surfaces are sealed within a die structure that contains a dampening gas. Preferably, the dampening gas is a Neon or a Krypton-based gas with a Neon partial pressure in a range of 50 to 100% of the total dampening gas pressure. The Neon-based damping gas is sealed within the die structure such that the total pressure within the sealed die is between 0.5 to 3.0 atmospheres at 20 degree Celsius. The dampening gas is preferably sealed within the die structure through a complementary metallized gasket on the die and the cap, whereby a solder material is placed between the gaskets melted to form a hermetic seal. Most preferably, the seal is formed within a isolation chamber where the pressure of the dampening gas is adjusted between 1.0 to 6.0 atmospheres and the temperature of the die structure and the glass cap is adjusted to approximately 300 Celsius. The dampening gas attenuates oscillations, vibrations or ringing that occurs in the ribbons as the ribbons are moved from a destructive interference position to a constructive interference position. The current invention is particularly useful for grating light valve devices that modulate light at a wavelength corresponding to the near infrared (800 to 4000 nanometers) and that operate at high switching rates (4-40 Volts/nano second) and at high switching frequencies (1 kHz and greater).
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