<title>Recent advances in surface plasmon spatial light modulators</title>

Abstract

This paper describes recent progress in the development of a new class of spatial light modulator (SLM). These new SLMs modulate light by the interaction of some active material with a high intensity evanescent field generated by surface plasmon resonance. Such devices have the potential for substantial advantages over conventional SLMs, including higher speed and better response uniformity, as well as high sensitivity in devices with thin active layers. A new optically addressed plasmon device, based on a thin amorphous silicon/liquid crystal sandwich structure, has been developed and tested. The performance characteristics compare favorably with those of conventional liquid crystal SLMs in terms of resolution and speed. The design of more advanced devices based on higher performance ferro-electric and electroclinic liquid crystals is now in progress; in particular, the special pseudo-plasmon modes found in highly birefringent materials, and the application of these to modulation, have been analyzed. Surface plasmon SLMs using electro-optic effects in semiconductor active layers are also discussed.