Abstract

The introductory paragraph to the Call for Papers for this Spatial Light Modulators (SLM's) Topical Meeting contains a very cogent definition of SLM's. In the context of that definition, the topic of this talk falls into the category of "highly integrated semiconductor ’smart’ SLM's which spatially modify the intensity of a two-dimensional light distribution under the time-varying control of another spatial optical intensity distribution". The general purpose of these SLM's is to enable the construction of information processing systems which take advantage of the massive parallelism possible with free-space optical interconnects for very high data throughputs. The SLM's take the form of optoelectronic chips, which generate pixellated, parallel, synchronous, monochromatic, digital optical data streams. These chips usually also receive similar optical data streams, although the inputs do not need to be either digital, or pixellated or monochromatic or quite as synchronous. The circuitry on these chips can contain purely electronic components such as transistors , resistors, diodes, etc., but very importantly, need only one type of optoelectronic component - the p-i(MQW)-n diode, since it performs both Optical to Electrical (O/E) signal conversions and E/O conversions.

© 1995 Optical Society of America