50 Channel optical modulator with integrated CCD addressing

A serial-in parallel-out device is described consisting of a CCD with 50 output taps which, through amplifiers, address 50 elastomeric diffraction modulators situated on the Si surface. Each modulator functions as a small portion of a Ruticon device with direct electrical rather than photoconductor/light addressing. The device is capable of accepting a 0.5 MHz serial data stream to modulate an illumination source, a laser in the present case, and produce 50 independently modulated optical channels. Test devices have been configured such that an adjacent series of identical modulators can be addressed separately to check the diffraction efficiency of an individual cell as a function of applied voltage. The 50 on-chip amplifiers each have a maximum output swing of 60 volts or better and are capable of giving high diffraction efficiency.