JP2000214395A - Optical modulator, array optical modulator and flat- panel display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an optical modulator and an array modulator providing superior light utilizing efficiency, unnecessitating a high degree of vacuum, enabling a large area at low cost, bringing a high quality picture, and operating at a low driving voltage, and also to obtain a flat-panel display device using such a modulator. SOLUTION: Plural needles 7 having a first light-shield and electrode are arranged with spaces apart on a plane. A transparent substrate 1 parallel to the plane with the needles 7 arranged is oppositely disposed with spaces apart from the needles 7. A second light-shield 19 and an electrode are formed at the position of the transparent substrate 1 equivalent to the spaces between the adjacent needles 7. An electrostatic stress is generated by applying a voltage between the electrode of an arbitrary needle 7 and that of the second light-shield 19 adjacent to the arbitrary needle 7, moving the needle 7 to a position superposed on the second light-shield 19, and thereby performing optical modulation by varying the transmissivity of the light passing through the second light-shield.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light modulating element for modulating light by changing the position of a mover by electrostatic stress, an array type light modulating element, and a flat display device using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A light modulation element controls and controls the amplitude (intensity), phase, or traveling direction of incident light to process and display an image or patterned data. The light modulation element changes the refractive index of a substance that transmits light by an external field applied to the substance, and finally transmits or reflects this substance through optical phenomena such as refraction, diffraction, absorption, and scattering. Control the light intensity. As one of the light modulation elements, there is a liquid crystal light modulation element utilizing the electro-optic effect of liquid crystal. This liquid crystal light modulation element is suitably used for a liquid crystal display device which is a thin flat display device.

[0003] A liquid crystal display device encloses and seals a nematic liquid crystal between a substrate on which a pair of conductive transparent films are formed and oriented so as to be parallel to the substrate and twisted by 90 ° between the two substrates. It has a structure in which this is sandwiched between orthogonal polarizing plates. The display by this liquid crystal display device utilizes the fact that by applying a voltage to the conductive transparent film, the long axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules is oriented perpendicular to the substrate and the transmittance of light from the backlight changes. Done. An active matrix liquid crystal panel using a TFT (thin film transistor) is used to provide a good moving image correspondence.

[0004] Plasma display devices include neon, helium,
Between two glass plates filled with a rare gas such as xenon,
It has a structure in which a large number of regularly arranged electrodes in the orthogonal direction corresponding to the discharge electrodes are arranged, and the intersection of each counter electrode is a unit pixel. The display by this plasma display device is based on image information, by selectively applying a voltage to a counter electrode that specifies each intersection, causing the intersection to discharge and emit light, and the generated ultraviolet light excites the phosphor to emit light. Let it be done.

[0005] The FED has a structure as a flat display tube in which a pair of panels are arranged to face each other with a minute space therebetween, and the periphery of these panels is sealed. A fluorescent film is provided on the inner surface of the panel on the display surface side, and field emission cathodes are arranged on the back panel for each unit light emitting region. A typical field emission cathode has a conical projection field emission type microcathode called an emitter tip having a small size.
The display by the FED is performed by extracting electrons using an emitter tip and irradiating the electrons with the accelerated phosphor to excite the phosphor.

[0006]

However, the above-described conventional flat panel display has the following various problems. That is, in the liquid crystal display device, since light from the backlight is transmitted through a plurality of layers of the polarizing plate, the transparent electrode, and the color filter, there is a problem that light use efficiency is reduced.
In addition, the high-quality type has a disadvantage that a TFT is required, and liquid crystal must be sealed between two substrates and aligned, which makes it difficult to increase the area. Furthermore,
Since light is transmitted through the aligned liquid crystal molecules, the viewing angle is disadvantageously narrow.

[0007] The plasma display device has disadvantages that the production cost is increased and the weight is increased due to the formation of the partition wall for generating the plasma for each pixel. Further, a large number of electrodes corresponding to the discharge electrodes must be regularly arranged for each unit pixel. For this reason, when the definition becomes high, the discharge efficiency is reduced, and since the luminous efficiency of the phosphor by the excitation of vacuum ultraviolet rays is low, it is difficult to obtain a high-definition, high-brightness image with high power efficiency. Further, there is a disadvantage that the driving voltage is high and the driving IC is expensive.

[0008] In the FED, it is necessary to make the inside of the panel an ultra-high vacuum in order to stabilize the discharge with high efficiency, and there is a drawback that the manufacturing cost becomes high similarly to the plasma display device. In addition, since the field-emitted electrons are accelerated to irradiate the phosphor, a high voltage is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, has a good light utilization efficiency, does not require a high vacuum, can have a large area at a low cost, and has a high image quality. It is an object of the present invention to provide a light modulation element having a low driving voltage, an array type light modulation element, and a flat display device using the same.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a light modulation device, comprising: a transparent substrate transparent to light to be modulated; A plurality of conductive strips provided at predetermined intervals and partly supported by a transparent substrate, a first light blocking portion provided on each of the movable elements, and a movable element on the transparent substrate A transparent substrate is laid by an electrostatic force by applying a voltage to the conductive second light-shielding portion laid on the light modulation region to be polymerized, leaving an opening, and to the movable member and the second light-shielding portion. A movable element moving means for moving the movable element substantially parallel to the surface to a position where the movable element overlaps the second light-shielding portion, wherein the light modulator modulates light by changing the transmittance of light passing through a light modulation region by moving the movable element. It is characterized by.

In this light modulation element, each movable element is displaced substantially in parallel to the transparent substrate by the action of static electricity, and the relative position of each movable element with respect to the light modulation area of the transparent substrate is changed. This modulates light incident on the transparent substrate.
That is, by moving each mover to a position where the mover overlaps the light modulation region of the transparent substrate, light introduced into the transparent substrate is blocked, while each mover is suction-moved to the second light-shielding film, thereby achieving transparency. The light introduced into the substrate can be emitted from the light modulation region to above the light modulation element. In addition, by providing a plurality of movers, the amount of displacement of the mover can be reduced, and the mover can also be reduced in size and weight, so that high-speed light modulation at low voltage can be performed stably.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the light modulating element,
It is characterized in that it has elastic anisotropy in which the rigidity at the joint with the transparent substrate is smaller than other directions only in a certain deformation direction.

[0013] In this light modulation element, the joining portion, which becomes the elastically deformable portion of the mover, has a small rigidity in the moving direction of the mover, so that the joint between the mover and the second light shielding portion is provided. When an electrostatic attraction force is applied, the mover can move substantially parallel to the transparent substrate.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the light modulating element,
A cross-sectional shape of the mover in a moving direction is short in the moving direction and long in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction.

In this light modulation element, the elastic anisotropy can be obtained simply by setting the aspect ratio of the cross-sectional shape of the elastically deformable portion so that the rigidity decreases in the moving direction of the mover.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the light modulating element, the joint portion may be:
It is formed of a material having elastic anisotropy, and is provided in a direction in which the elastic constant is small with respect to the moving direction of the movable portion, and in a direction with a large elastic constant in a direction orthogonal to the moving direction. Features.

In this light modulating element, since the elastically deformable portion is formed of a material having elastic anisotropy, the moving direction of the mover can be defined by the elastic anisotropy of the material itself, and the shape of the mover can be simplified. The manufacturing process can be simplified and cost can be reduced.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the light modulating device, the mover moving means makes all the potentials of the mover and the second light-shielding film coincide with each other when each mover is not operated, while the mover moves when each mover is operated. And applying a voltage so that the potential of the second light-shielding film is different from that of the second light-shielding film.

In this light modulating element, when each movable element is not operated, the potential of each movable element and the second light-shielding film coincide with each other, so that the movable element stops at the neutral position without the action of electrostatic force. In addition, during the operation of each movable element, the adjacent movable element and the second light shielding film have different potentials, and the movable element moves by the generated electrostatic attraction. By this movement, light modulation is performed accurately and stably.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the light modulation device, the mover moving means connects one of the second light-shielding films adjacent to the mover connected to the image signal electrode to the scan signal electrode and the other second light-shielding film. The light shielding film is connected to the image signal electrode.

In this light modulating element, each movable element and the second light-shielding film are connected to the image signal electrode and the scanning signal electrode, so that the movable element has the second light-shielding film having a different polarity during the operation of the movable element. The light is modulated by being sucked and moving. In addition, since the moving direction of the mover is uniquely determined, a stable moving operation is performed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided an array type light modulating element, wherein the light modulating elements according to any one of the first to sixth aspects are arranged in a one-dimensional or two-dimensional matrix.

In this array type light modulating element, the light modulating elements arranged in a one-dimensional or two-dimensional matrix are selectively driven based on the image information, so that the display processing of the image information becomes possible.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flat panel display device comprising: the array type light modulating element according to the seventh aspect; a flat light source arranged to face the array type light modulating element; And a phosphor provided on the opposite side, wherein the phosphor is illuminated and displayed by light transmitted through the array-type light modulation element.

In this flat display device, when the movable element is attracted to the second light-shielding film by the electrostatic attraction operation, the light introduced to the transparent substrate is emitted from the light modulation region to the upper side of the light modulation element and emitted. When the phosphor is irradiated with the emitted light, the phosphor is excited, and an image based on image information can be displayed.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the light emitted from the light source is ultraviolet light.

In this flat panel display, light emission can be displayed by exciting the phosphor.

[0028]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, an optical modulator according to the present invention,
Preferred embodiments of the present invention and an array-type light modulation element and a flat display device using the same will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view in which a part of a light modulation element according to the present invention is cut away, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a basic operation of the light modulation element shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of light-shielding films 3 (second light-shielding portions) are provided on a transparent substrate 1 which is insulative and transparent to light to be modulated, at regular intervals. It is formed. The light-shielding film 3 shields light introduced from below the transparent substrate and prevents light from being emitted upward. Further, a pair of parallel strip-shaped spacers 5 are formed on the transparent substrate 1,
On the upper surface of the spacer 5, a flexible thin-film lattice 7 is formed. The grid 7 is formed on the transparent substrate 1,
A plurality of strip-shaped movers 8 are formed between the adjacent light-shielding films 3, and both ends of the movers 8 in the longitudinal direction are supported by the frame of the lattice body 7 to form slits (elongated gaps) 9. Is formed. For this reason, the transparent substrate 1 and the mover 8 are opposed to each other with a gap corresponding to the thickness of the spacer 3. The mover 8 has a constricted portion 11 having a reduced cross-sectional area formed at a portion to be joined to the transparent substrate 1 at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the mover 8, and the constricted portion 11 becomes a fragile portion. The deformation allows the mover 8 to move in a direction substantially parallel to the transparent substrate 1.

The constricted portion 11 is provided only in a certain deformation direction.
It is formed to have a smaller elastic constant than the other direction. In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, the rigidity is high in the direction (Z direction) perpendicular to the transparent substrate 1 and the transparent substrate 1
The rigidity is small in the direction (X direction) parallel to. Therefore, when a force is applied to the mover 7 in a direction to be attracted toward the transparent substrate 1, the constricted portion 11 is displaced mainly in the X direction, and the mover 15 moves substantially parallel to the transparent substrate 1, It moves to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG.

The elastic anisotropy of the constricted portion 11 is as follows.
For example, it can be more easily provided by the cross-sectional shape of the constricted portion 11. That is, the size of the constricted portion 11 in the Z direction is increased, and the size in the X direction is reduced. This gives Z
The constricted portion 11 having elastic anisotropy having high rigidity in the direction and small rigidity in the X direction can be formed.

The elastic anisotropy of the constricted portion 11 can be provided by the laminated structure of the constricted portion 11. That is, the low elasticity film and the rigidity film are alternately laminated. Thereby, it is possible to form the constricted portion 11 in which the rigidity in the laminating direction is reduced and the rigidity in the direction perpendicular to the laminating direction is increased.

Further, the elastic anisotropy of the constricted portion 11 may be realized by structural means. That is, the constricted portion 11 is constituted by a slider (not shown) and an inclined portion which comes into contact with the slider with low friction. Thereby, by moving the slider along the inclined portion, the constricted portion 11 having anisotropy in the deformation direction can be obtained. In addition, the anisotropy of the constricted part 11 uses an anisotropic elastic material having an anisotropic elastic constant in addition to the above-described means.
It may be realized in terms of material.

The mover 8 has a rectangular cross section in the X direction, and is formed by laying a light-shielding conductive film (first light-shielding portion) 15 having light-shielding properties and conductivity. The configuration is not limited to the light-shielding conductive film 15, and the light-shielding film and the conductive film may be separately formed. Light-shielding conductive film 15
For example, a metal, a metal compound, a highly-doped semiconductor, a conductive polymer, or the like can be used. Alternatively, the mover 8 may be formed of a light-shielding insulator, and a conductive film may be formed around the insulator.

The above-mentioned light-shielding film 3 is formed to have the same width as the slit 9 or more. Further, a light modulation region 17 where the light shielding film 3 is not formed is formed between the adjacent light shielding films 3. Therefore, the light introduced from below the transparent substrate 1 in FIG. 1 is blocked by the light shielding film 3 at the position corresponding to the slit 9, and
7 is blocked by the light-shielding conductive film 15 of the mover 8, so that the light modulation element 2 in FIG.
It will not be transmitted above zero.

The light modulating element 20 thus configured is
An array-type light modulation element 23 having a simple matrix configuration shown as an example in FIG. 3 can be formed. The array-type light modulation element 23 has a plurality of scanning signal electrodes 25 arranged in parallel and a plurality of image signal electrodes 29 arranged in parallel to the scanning signal electrodes 25 at right angles. Of course, the present invention is not limited to this example, and may be an array-type light modulation element in which light modulation elements are arranged one-dimensionally. The scanning signal electrode 25 and the image signal electrode 2
Reference numeral 9 and a control device (not shown) for controlling signals output to these correspond to the mover moving means. put it here,
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a simple matrix. As shown in FIG. 4, an active matrix in which a semiconductor switch 28 such as a TFT is provided for each pixel, or an electrostatic operation of a flexible thin film having a contact portion (not shown) is illustrated. An active matrix configuration provided with an electromechanical switch operated for each pixel for each pixel may be used. With such an active matrix configuration, element control can be simplified and the contrast of a displayed image can be improved.

Here, the pixel portion in the simple matrix configuration will be described. The light modulation elements 20 are provided at intersections of the scanning signal electrodes 25 and the image signal electrodes 29, respectively. FIG. 5 shows each light modulation element 2 in the array type light modulation element 23.
The wiring for 0 is shown. According to FIG. 5, the light-shielding conductive film 15 of the mover 8 connected to one of the scanning signal line 25 and the image signal line 29, and the transparent conductive film 15 adjacent to the mover 8 and connected to the other signal line. The light-shielding conductive films 3 and 15 are connected so that the light-shielding conductive films 3 on the substrate 1 form one set, and a plurality of sets are formed. Each of these sets forms one light modulation unit. With such an element configuration and electrode connection, when the voltage of both the scanning signal electrode 25 and the image signal electrode 29 is 0 [V], the movable element 8 is in the neutral state as shown in FIG. When either one of the electrode voltages is the drive voltage Va [V], the mover 8 moves by the electrostatic force as shown in FIG.

Next, the light modulating element 2 thus constructed
A specific driving method for the 0 and the array type light modulation element 23 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6A, the scanning signal electrodes 25,
When the image signal electrodes 29 have the same potential (0 [V]),
The mover 8 is positioned so as to overlap the light modulation area 17 and prevents light that has passed through the light modulation area 17 from being emitted to the upper side of the light modulation element 20.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, when scanning, when the image signal voltage Va is applied to the image signal electrode 29 and the voltage of 0 [V] is applied to the scanning signal electrode 25, the scanning is stopped. The movable element 8 and the light-shielding conductive film 15 connected to different electrodes are attracted by the electro-attraction force, and move parallel to the transparent substrate 1 as shown by the arrow in the figure. As a result, light is not blocked by the mover 8 in the light modulation region 17, and
The light that has passed through the transparent substrate 1 is emitted from the light modulation area 17, and binary light modulation is enabled. With this basic principle,
The two-dimensional light modulation array element can be driven by the simple matrix structure shown in FIG. In this example, the fact that the relationship between the voltage between the scanning signal electrode 25 and the image signal electrode 29 and the displacement of the mover 8 due thereto has a hysteresis characteristic is used, and an appropriate voltage is applied to both electrodes 25 according to the characteristic. , 2
9 is performed.

In the first embodiment, the neutral position where the applied voltage is all 0 [V] is set to the light shielding position shown in FIG. 6A, and the light shielding position shown in FIG. (b)
When the binary control with the light transmission position is performed, the light-shielding regions of the transparent substrate 1 and the mover 8 can be formed simultaneously and with high precision by self-alignment.

Next, a method of forming the light modulation element by the self-alignment will be specifically described. 1 can be formed mainly by various thin film processes and thick film processes such as patterning, etching, selective plating, printing, and transfer by photolithography. According to these forming processes, a high-density arrangement of the light modulating portions is possible. Therefore, a method using photolithography and etching will be described as an example of a method for forming a light modulation element with reference to FIGS. First, in FIG. 7A, a resist film is formed as a sacrificial layer 31 by coating on a transparent substrate 1 such as glass, for example, which is transparent to light to be modulated. In addition to the resist, a metal such as aluminum can be used depending on the material of the mover. The sacrificial layer 31 is used later as a film for separating the transparent substrate 1 and the movable element 8 and also as a spacer 5 supporting the movable element 8 and the transparent substrate 1 as shown in FIG. In particular, when a polymer such as polyimide which is relatively resistant to acid and alkali is used as the insulating film of the mover 8, a metal such as aluminum can be used as the sacrificial layer 31. Then, on the sacrificial layer 31, an insulating film 32 which is a main component of the mover 8, for example, a polymer such as polyimide is formed. As this polymer, a photosensitive polymer is particularly preferable.

By patterning the insulating film, the insulator 32a to be the movable element 8 is formed as shown in FIG.
To form As a patterning method at this time, when the insulating film 32 is a photosensitive polymer, normal photolithographic development is used, and depending on the material of the insulating film, a process of etching the insulating film after forming a pattern by photolithography is used. Can be Specifically, wet etching using an acid or alkali solution, dry etching using plasma, anisotropic dry etching such as RIE, or the like is suitably used, and is appropriately selected depending on a constituent material.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7C, the sacrificial layer 31 is removed. The etching method at this time is suitably selected depending on the material of the sacrificial layer 31 and the material constituting the mover 8, and is performed by wet etching with a solvent such as acetone, an alkaline solvent, an acid, an alkaline aqueous solution, or ashing with plasma. Removed. However, the etching processing time is optimally controlled, and processing is performed so as to leave the spacers 5 that support the mover 8 and the transparent substrate 1.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 7D, the conductive light-shielding film 15 as the first light-shielding portion and the conductive light-shielding film 3 as the second light-shielding portion are made of a metal such as aluminum or chromium. A metal compound or the like is formed by an evaporation method or the like. Thereafter, the conductive light-shielding film in a region other than the mover is patterned to form an electrode. Thus, the conductive light-shielding film 3 is formed on the transparent substrate 1 between the adjacent movers 8, and the conductive light-shielding film 15 is formed on the mover 8, so that the light-shielding film 15 is shielded from the movable element 8 at the neutral position. There is almost no gap with the film 3 and a light-shielding film with extremely little leakage light can be formed, thereby eliminating the need for high-precision exposure alignment. Note that the above process is an example, and any other method may be used.
In addition, the configuration of the element is not limited to the example described above. That is, an electrostatic force is generated between the movable element 8 having a light-shielding property and the light-shielding film on the transparent substrate 1, and the element is moved along with the movement of the movable element 8. Any configuration that utilizes a change in light transmittance may be used.

As described above, in the light modulation element of the present embodiment, the distance until the mover 8 overlaps with the adjacent light modulation area 17 is changed by the parallel movement of the mover 8 to perform light modulation. The displacement amount of the mover 8 is reduced, and the response speed can be further increased. Furthermore, partition formation for generating plasma for each pixel as in plasma display and FED
As described above, since ultra-high vacuum is not required, the weight and area can be easily increased with a simple configuration, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

Next, a description will be given of a second embodiment in which a flat panel display is formed using the above-mentioned light modulation device. FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of the flat panel display 40 according to the present invention. The light modulation element of the present embodiment includes the light modulation element 20 of the first embodiment.
Is used as an example. Flat display device 4 of the present embodiment
In the configuration of No. 0, an ultraviolet flat light source 41 serving as an ultraviolet output unit is provided on the lower surface of the transparent substrate 1 of the light modulation element 20.
A front plate 42 is provided above the light modulating element 40, and the phosphor 4 is provided on a surface of the front plate 42 on the light modulating element 20 side.
3a, 43b,... Are provided for each light modulation element 20.
In addition, a black matrix 45 is provided between the respective phosphors to improve the contrast of a displayed image.

With such a configuration of the flat display device 40, light from the flat light source 41 enters the transparent substrate 1 and is guided to the upper surface of the transparent substrate 1 in FIG. . Then, when the light from the light modulation element 20 is applied to the phosphors 43a and 43b, the phosphors are excited and emit light, and a desired image is formed. As the above-mentioned phosphor, phosphors of three primary colors (for example, R, G, B) may be sequentially provided so that a color image can be displayed, or a monochromatic phosphor may be used for monochrome image display.

The light modulation element 20 of the flat panel display 40
After deaerating the space between the transparent substrate 1 and the front plate 42, a rare gas may be sealed to seal the whole, and the effect of disturbance may be prevented to achieve stabilization.

Next, the operation of the flat display device 40 having the above-described structure will be described. When the scanning signal electrode 25 and the image signal electrode 29 have the same potential, the mover 8 is positioned above the light modulation area 17 and the light from the planar light source 41 emits the light from the mover 8 and the light-shielding conductive film 3. And is not transmitted to the upper surface side of the transparent substrate 1.

During scanning, when a sufficient voltage is applied between the image signal electrode 29 and the scanning signal electrode 25, each movable element 8 in one pixel area is shielded from light on the transparent substrate 1 by electrostatic attraction. It is sucked by the conductive film 3 and moves all at once. As a result,
Light is no longer blocked by the mover 8, and light passing through the transparent substrate 1 is emitted from the light modulation region 17. The emitted light is
The phosphors 43a and 43b are excited to display an image based on the image information.

When this light modulation element is controlled by two values,
A full-color display is possible by a driving method in which a field cycle for displaying one screen is divided into a plurality of subfields, and binary control is performed independently in each subfield to obtain multiple gradations. Further, according to the active matrix driving method, light modulation of various continuous gradations is possible, and full color display is possible.

As described above, according to the flat display device 40 described above, the light emitted from the transparent substrate 1 is directly transmitted to the phosphor 43.
Since the light is excited by irradiating a and 43b, the light use efficiency can be improved. Further, since the phosphor emits scattered light, the viewing angle can be widened as compared with a liquid crystal display device which transmits light by the alignment of liquid crystal molecules. Further, since the arraying is easy, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.
Then, by using a low elasticity material, for example, a polymer such as polyimide as the material of the mover 8 or optimizing the shape, the driving voltage can be sufficiently reduced as compared with a plasma display device or the like.

[0053]

As described above in detail, according to the light modulation element of the present invention, each movable element is displaced substantially in parallel to the transparent substrate by the action of static electricity, and the light modulation area on the transparent substrate is displaced. The light introduced into the transparent substrate is modulated by changing the mutual position of the transparent substrate. Therefore, the required displacement of the mover required for optical modulation can be reduced, excellent high-speed response can be ensured, and the driving voltage can be suppressed low, and the driving power can be reduced.
Further, since light modulation can be performed by a simple principle of only electrostatically attracting the movable element and the second light-shielding film on the transparent substrate, the configuration of the light modulation element can be simplified, and the manufacturing process can be simplified.
Thus, cost can be reduced. Further, the array-type light modulation element according to the present invention can perform one-dimensional or two-dimensional light modulation easily by arranging the light modulation elements in a one-dimensional or two-dimensional matrix. . In the display device according to the present invention, since the light emitted from the transparent substrate directly excites the phosphor, it is possible to perform display with high brightness and no viewing angle dependence while suppressing reduction in light use efficiency. Can be. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to form a partition for generating plasma for each pixel as in a plasma display or to apply an ultra-high vacuum as in an FED, it is easy to reduce the weight and increase the screen size, and to reduce the manufacturing cost. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a light modulation element according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an X sectional view of FIG. 1 showing a moving direction of a mover.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an array-type light modulation element in which the light modulation elements of FIG. 1 are arranged in a simple matrix configuration.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an array-type light modulation element in which the light modulation elements of FIG. 1 are arranged in an active matrix configuration.

FIG. 5 is a connection diagram showing a connection state between a scanning signal line and an image signal line of the light modulation element.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a principal part explaining each operation state of the light modulation element.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view for explaining an example of a process until a light modulation element is formed.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a main part of a display device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 transparent substrate 3 light-shielding conductive film (second light-shielding portion) 8 mover 9 slit 11 constricted portion 15 light-shielding conductive film (second light-shielding portion) 17 light modulation region 20 light modulation element 23 array type light modulation element 25 scanning signal Electrode 29 Image signal electrode 40 Display device 41 Planar light source 43a, 43b Phosphor

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A transparent substrate transparent to light to be modulated and a plurality of conductive strips provided at predetermined intervals on a plane facing the transparent substrate and partially supported by the transparent substrate. Mover, a first light-shielding portion provided on each of the movers, and a second light-shielding portion having a conductive property, which is laid to leave an opening in a light modulation region overlapping with the mover on the transparent substrate, By applying a voltage to the mover and the second light shielding unit,
Mover moving means for moving the mover to a position where the mover overlaps the second light-shielding portion substantially in parallel to the transparent substrate surface by electrostatic force, and transmission of light passing through a light modulation region by movement of the mover. A light modulation element for performing light modulation by changing a rate. 2. The moving element according to claim 1, wherein the movable element has an elastic anisotropy that has a smaller rigidity in a fixed deformation direction than in another direction at a joint with the transparent substrate.
The light modulation element according to any one of the preceding claims. 3. The connecting portion according to claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the mover in the moving direction is short in the moving direction and long in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction. 3. The light exposure element according to 2. 4. The joining section is formed of a material having elastic anisotropy, and has an elastic constant in a direction in which the elastic constant is small with respect to the moving direction of the movable section and an elastic constant in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction. 3. The light modulation element according to claim 2, wherein the light modulation element is provided in accordance with a large direction. 5. The mover moving means makes all potentials of the mover and the second light-shielding film coincide with each other when each mover is not operated, while moving the mover and the second light-shielding film during operation of each mover. The light modulation element according to claim 1, wherein a voltage is applied so as to have a different potential. 6. The mover moving means connects one of the second light-shielding films adjacent to the mover connected to the image signal electrode to the scanning signal electrode, and connects the other second light-shielding film to the image signal electrode. The light modulation element according to claim 5, wherein the light modulation element is connected. 7. An array type light modulating element, wherein the light modulating elements according to claim 1 are arranged in a one-dimensional or two-dimensional matrix. 8. An array-type light modulation element according to claim 7, a planar light source disposed to face the array-type light modulation element, and a phosphor provided on the opposite side of the plane light source with the array-type light modulation element interposed therebetween. And a light emitting display of the phosphor by light transmitted through the array type light modulation element. 9. The flat display device according to claim 8, wherein the light emitted from the light source is ultraviolet light.