| Patent Number |
Title Of Patent |
Date Issued |
| RE40436 |
Hermetic seal and method to create the same |
July 15, 2008 |
| An electronic display screen is created by processing a mirror on a substrate glass. A back plate glass is then placed on top of the substrate glass and sealed to the back plate glass. A hermetic seal that includes an adhesive mixed with zeolites is disclosed. The hermetic seal can s |
| 7420728 |
Methods of fabricating interferometric modulators by selectively removing a material |
September 2, 2008 |
| Methods for making MEMS devices such as interferometric modulators involve selectively removing a sacrificial portion of a material to form an internal cavity, leaving behind a remaining portion of the material to form a post structure. The material may be blanket deposited and selec |
| 7420725 |
Device having a conductive light absorbing mask and method for fabricating same |
September 2, 2008 |
| A system and method for an optical component that masks non-active portions of a display and provides an electrical path for one or more display circuits. In one embodiment an optical device includes a substrate, a plurality of optical elements on the substrate, each optical element |
| 7417783 |
Mirror and mirror layer for optical modulator and method |
August 26, 2008 |
| Described herein are systems, devices, and methods relating to packaging electronic devices, for example, microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices, including optical modulators such as interferometric optical modulators. The interferometric modulator disclosed herein comprises a |
| 7417735 |
Systems and methods for measuring color and contrast in specular reflective devices |
August 26, 2008 |
| Disclosed herein are systems and methods for measuring color and contrast in specular reflective devices such as interferometric modulators. To make color and contrast determinations, light reflected from a specular reflective device may be measured in-line with illumination of the d |
| 7415186 |
Methods for visually inspecting interferometric modulators for defects |
August 19, 2008 |
| A method is provided for visual inspection of an array of interferometric modulators in various driven states. This method may include driving multiple columns or rows of interferometric modulators via a single test pad or test lead, and then observing the array for discrepancies between |
| 7405924 |
System and method for protecting microelectromechanical systems array using structurally reinfor |
July 29, 2008 |
| Disclosed is an electronic device utilizing interferometric modulation and a package of the device. The packaged device includes a substrate, an interferometric modulation display array formed on the substrate, and a back-plate. The back-plate is placed over the display array with a gap |
| 7405861 |
Method and device for protecting interferometric modulators from electrostatic discharge |
July 29, 2008 |
| A MEMS device such as an interferometric modulator includes an integrated ESD protection element capable of shunting to ground an excess current carried by an electrical conductor in the MEMS device. The protection element may be a diode and may be formed by depositing a plurality of |
| 7403323 |
Process control monitors for interferometric modulators |
July 22, 2008 |
| Process control monitors are disclosed that are produced using at least some of the same process steps used to manufacture a MEMS device. Analysis of the process control monitors can provide information regarding properties of the MEMS device and components or sub-components in the d |
| 7388706 |
Photonic MEMS and structures |
June 17, 2008 |
| An interference modulator (Imod) incorporates anti-reflection coatings and/or micro-fabricated supplemental lighting sources. An efficient drive scheme is provided for matrix addressed arrays of IMods or other micromechanical devices. An improved color scheme provides greater flexibi |
| 7388697 |
System and method for addressing a MEMS display |
June 17, 2008 |
| A system and method for addressing an array of MEMS display elements, such as interferometric modulators, from a drive control. A display includes groups of display elements that are addressed with a commonly applied drive signal. In one embodiment, the groups of display elements are |
| 7385762 |
Methods and devices for inhibiting tilting of a mirror in an interferometric modulator |
June 10, 2008 |
| Interferometric modulators having a separable modulator architecture are disclosed having a reflective layer suspended from a flexible layer over a cavity. The interferometric modulators have one or more anti-tilt members that inhibit undesirable movement of the reflective layer, such |
| 7385748 |
Visible spectrum modulator arrays |
June 10, 2008 |
| Light in the visible spectrum is modulated using an array of modulation elements, and control circuitry connected to the array for controlling each of the modulation elements independently, each of the modulation elements having a surface which is caused to exhibit a predetermined im |
| 7379227 |
Method and device for modulating light |
May 27, 2008 |
| "Light in the visible spectrum is modulated using an array of modulation elements, and control circuitry connected to the array for controlling each of the modulation elements independently, each of the modulation elements having a surface which is caused to exhibit a predetermined i |
| 7373026 |
MEMS device fabricated on a pre-patterned substrate |
May 13, 2008 |
| A microelectromechanical systems device fabricated on a pre-patterned substrate having grooves formed therein. A lower electrode is deposited over the substrate and separated by an orthogonal upper electrode by a cavity. The upper electrode is configured to be movable to modulate ref |
| 7372619 |
Display device having a movable structure for modulating light and method thereof |
May 13, 2008 |
| An interference modulator (Imod) incorporates anti-reflection coatings and/or micro-fabricated supplemental lighting sources. An efficient drive scheme is provided for matrix addressed arrays of IMods or other micromechanical devices. An improved color scheme provides greater flexibi |
| 7372613 |
Method and device for multistate interferometric light modulation |
May 13, 2008 |
| A multi-state light modulator comprises a first reflector. A first electrode is positioned at a distance from the first reflector. A second reflector is positioned between the first reflector and the first electrode. The second reflector is movable between an undriven position, a fir |
| 7369296 |
Device and method for modifying actuation voltage thresholds of a deformable membrane in an inte |
May 6, 2008 |
| By varying the spacing between a partially-reflective, partially-transmissive surface and a highly reflective surface positioned behind the partially-reflective, partially-transmissive surface, an interferometric modulator selectively creates constructive and/or destructive interfere |
| 7369294 |
Ornamental display device |
May 6, 2008 |
| An ornamental display device having an interferometric modulator for displaying an ornamental image. The ornamental device may have a patterned diffuser formed on a transparent substrate to provide an ornamental image. The ornamental device may also be a piece of jewelry or an articl |
| 7369252 |
Process control monitors for interferometric modulators |
May 6, 2008 |
| Process control monitors are disclosed that are produced using at least some of the same process steps used to manufacture a MEMS device. Analysis of the process control monitors can provide information regarding properties of the MEMS device and components or sub-components in the d |
| 7368803 |
System and method for protecting microelectromechanical systems array using back-plate with non- |
May 6, 2008 |
| Disclosed is an electronic device utilizing interferometric modulation and a package of the device. The packaged device includes a substrate, an interferometric modulation display array formed on the substrate, and a back-plate. The back-plate is placed over the display array with a gap |
| 7359066 |
Electro-optical measurement of hysteresis in interferometric modulators |
April 15, 2008 |
| Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus for testing interferometric modulators. The interferometric modulators may be tested by applying a time-varying voltage stimulus and measuring the resulting reflectivity from the modulators. |
| 7355782 |
Systems and methods of controlling micro-electromechanical devices |
April 8, 2008 |
| An interference modulator (Imod) incorporates anti-reflection coatings and/or micro-fabricated supplemental lighting sources. An efficient drive scheme is provided for matrix addressed arrays of IMods or other micromechanical devices. An improved color scheme provides greater flexibi |
| 7355780 |
System and method of illuminating interferometric modulators using backlighting |
April 8, 2008 |
| An interferometric modulator array device with backlighting is disclosed. The interferometric modulator array device comprises a plurality of interferometric modulator elements, wherein each of the interferometric modulator elements comprises an optical cavity. The interferometric mo |
| 7355779 |
Method and system for driving MEMS display elements |
April 8, 2008 |
| Systems and methods for driving MEMS display elements are disclosed. In one embodiment, a display comprises an array of MEMS display elements, and a driving circuit coupled to said array, wherein said driving circuit configured to provide at lease a row signal and a column signal to driv |
| 7349141 |
Method and post structures for interferometric modulation |
March 25, 2008 |
| An interferometric modulator includes a post structure comprising an optical element. In a preferred embodiment, the optical element in the post structure is a reflective element, e.g., a mirror. In another embodiment, the optical element in the post structure is an etalon, e.g., a d |
| 7349139 |
System and method of illuminating interferometric modulators using backlighting |
March 25, 2008 |
| An interferometric modulator array device with backlighting is disclosed. The interferometric modulator array device comprises a plurality of interferometric modulator elements, wherein each of the interferometric modulator elements comprises an optical cavity. The interferometric mo |
| 7349136 |
Method and device for a display having transparent components integrated therein |
March 25, 2008 |
| A display panel includes an array of interferometric modulators arranged over a transparent substrate and a transparent electrical device arranged between the array of interferometric modulators and the transparent substrate. The transparent electrical device may be electrically conn |
| 7345805 |
Interferometric modulator array with integrated MEMS electrical switches |
March 18, 2008 |
| An interferometric modulator array is integrated with collapsible cavity MEMS electrical switches. The electrical switches may have similar physical geometry as the display elements. The switches may form row or column select functions for the display. |
| 7343080 |
System and method of testing humidity in a sealed MEMS device |
March 11, 2008 |
| One embodiment provides a method of testing humidity, comprising: determining a property of a device which encloses a plurality of interferometric modulators; and determining a relative humidity value or a degree of the relative humidity inside the device based at least in part upon |
| 7342705 |
Spatial light modulator with integrated optical compensation structure |
March 11, 2008 |
| A spatial light modulator comprises an integrated optical compensation structure, e.g., an optical compensation structure arranged between a substrate and a plurality of individually addressable light-modulating elements, or an optical compensation structure located on the opposite s |
| 7327510 |
Process for modifying offset voltage characteristics of an interferometric modulator |
February 5, 2008 |
| An interferometric modulator manufactured according to a particular set of processing parameters may have a non-zero offset voltage. A process has been developed for modifying the processing parameters to shift the non-zero offset voltage closer to zero. For example, the process may |
| 7321456 |
Method and device for corner interferometric modulation |
January 22, 2008 |
| A display is described, wherein the display includes surfaces arranged at a non-zero angle to one another. A least one of the surfaces may include an interferometric modulator. Compensation for color shift can be provided through the use of two or three surfaces arranged at an angle to |
| 7317568 |
System and method of implementation of interferometric modulators for display mirrors |
January 8, 2008 |
| A specular interferometric modulator array is configured to be at least partially selectably reflective. As such, the array forms a mirror surface having the capability of displaying information to the user while simultaneously being used as a specular mirror. The displayed information |
| 7310179 |
Method and device for selective adjustment of hysteresis window |
December 18, 2007 |
| The width and location of a hysteresis window of an interferometric modulator may be altered by adjusting various physical characteristics of the interferometric modulator. Thus, depending on the particular application for which the interferometric modulators are manufactured, the wi |
| 7304784 |
Reflective display device having viewable display on both sides |
December 4, 2007 |
| An interferometric light modulating device having two viewing surfaces is provided. In some embodiments, the device can generate two distinct images, one on each side of the device, simultaneously. |
| 7302157 |
System and method for multi-level brightness in interferometric modulation |
November 27, 2007 |
| A display having a plurality of reflective display elements. In one embodiment, the display elements comprise at least one electrode having a plurality of active areas. In one embodiment, at least two of the sizes of the active areas are different with respect to each other, e.g., they |
| 7299681 |
Method and system for detecting leak in electronic devices |
November 27, 2007 |
| The methods and systems for testing electronic devices for leak detection are provided. In one method of detecting a leak in a sealed package, a sealed package is placed in a test gas environment, allowing the test gas to diffuse into an internal space of the sealed package through a lea |
| 7297471 |
Method for manufacturing an array of interferometric modulators |
November 20, 2007 |
| In one embodiment, the invention provides a method for manufacturing an array of interferometric modulators. Each interferometric modulator comprises first and second optical layers which when the interferometric modulator is in an undriven state are spaced by a gap of one size, and |
| 7289259 |
Conductive bus structure for interferometric modulator array |
October 30, 2007 |
| Embodiments of an interferometric modulator are disclosed having various enhancements and features including a conductive bus. In certain embodiments, the interferometric modulator has a first conductive layer suspended over a second electrode layer. In certain embodiments, a second |
| 7289256 |
Electrical characterization of interferometric modulators |
October 30, 2007 |
| Disclosed herein are methods and systems for testing the electrical characteristics of reflective displays, including interferometric modulator displays. In one embodiment, a controlled voltage is applied to conductive leads in the display and the resulting current is measured. The v |
| 7280265 |
Interferometric modulation of radiation |
October 9, 2007 |
| An Interferometric Modulator (IMod) is a microelectromechanical device for modulating light using interference. The colors of these devices may be determined in a spatial fashion, and their inherent color shift may be compensated for using several optical compensation mechanisms. Bri |
| 7259865 |
Process control monitors for interferometric modulators |
August 21, 2007 |
| Process control monitors are disclosed that are produced using at least some of the same process steps used to manufacture a MEMS device. Analysis of the process control monitors can provide information regarding properties of the MEMS device and components or sub-components in the d |
| 7259449 |
Method and system for sealing a substrate |
August 21, 2007 |
| A method of sealing a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device from ambient conditions is described, wherein the MEMS device is formed on a substrate and a substantially hermetic seal is formed as part of the MEMS device manufacturing process. The method comprises forming a metal seal |
| 7256922 |
Interferometric modulators with thin film transistors |
August 14, 2007 |
| A modulator has a transparent substrate with a first surface. At least one interferometric modulator element resides on the first surface. At least one thin film circuit component electrically connected to the element resides on the surface. When more than one interferometric element |
| 7250315 |
Method for fabricating a structure for a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device |
July 31, 2007 |
| The invention provides a microfabrication process which may be used to manufacture a MEMS device. In one embodiment, the process comprises depositing at least one first layer on a substrate. The process further comprises patterning said first layer to define at least a first portion |
| 7242512 |
System and method for addressing a MEMS display |
July 10, 2007 |
| A system and method for addressing an array of MEMS display elements, such as interferometric modulators, from a drive control. A display includes groups of display elements that are addressed with a commonly applied drive signal. In one embodiment, the groups of display elements are |
| 7236284 |
Photonic MEMS and structures |
June 26, 2007 |
| An interference modulator (Imod) incorporates anti-reflection coatings and/or micro-fabricated supplemental lighting sources. An efficient drive scheme is provided for matrix addressed arrays of IMods or other micromechanical devices. An improved color scheme provides greater flexibi |
| 7221495 |
Thin film precursor stack for MEMS manufacturing |
May 22, 2007 |
| This invention provides a precursor film stack for use in the production of MEMS devices. The precursor film stack comprises a carrier substrate, a first layer formed on the carrier substrate, a second layer of an insulator material formed on the first layer, and a third layer of a s |
| 7196837 |
Area array modulation and lead reduction in interferometric modulators |
March 27, 2007 |
| A light modulator is arranged as array of rows and columns of interferometric display elements. Each element is divided into sub-rows of sub-elements. Array connection lines transmit operating signals to the display elements, with one connection line corresponding to one row of displ |
