Patent ID: 7535623

Claim:
A pattern generator comprising: a first beam source for emitting a first electromagnetic radiation beam onto at least one beam modulator, said at least one beam modulator including a plurality of pixel elements corresponding to a provided pattern, each of the plurality of pixel elements including a deflectable element and a capacitor, the first electromagnetic radiation beam being modulated and relayed by the at least one beam modulator; a second beam source for emitting a second electromagnetic radiation beam onto the plurality of the pixel elements, the plurality of deflectable elements associated with the plurality of pixel elements are set individually to desired deflection states by first charging a capacitor coupled to each corresponding deflectable element, and selectively discharging the plurality of capacitors by impinging of the electromagnetic radiation from the second electromagnetic radiation beam onto the plurality of pixel elements, the selective discharging being operable to individually set the plurality of pixel elements to desired states, the plurality of pixel elements being set to a plurality of different states in the beam modulator.