Patent ID: 7271958

Claim:
A diffractive light modulator, comprising: a substrate; a first reflecting unit having a first stress and supported relative to the substrate, the first reflecting unit comprising: a first surface spaced from the substrate and acting as a reflecting surface to reflect incident light; and at least one open hole formed in the first surface and transmitting the incident light; a first support layer having a second stress and attached to a portion of the first reflecting unit which faces the substrate, with an open hole formed in the first support layer at a position corresponding to the open hole of the first reflecting unit; a second support layer having a third stress and attached to a portion of the first support layer which faces the substrate, with an open hole formed in the second support layer at a position corresponding to the open hole of the first reflecting unit; a second reflecting unit placed between the second support layer and the substrate and spaced from the second support layer, and comprising a second surface to act as a reflecting surface to reflect the incident light which has passed through at least one open hole of the first reflecting unit; and actuating means for moving the first reflecting unit relative to the second reflecting unit, and changing the amount of diffractive light produced by reflected light from both the first reflecting unit and the second reflecting unit.