Patent ID: 7166486

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a light modulator modulating light by changing a reflection direction of incident light, said light modulator comprising: a light reflection film regularly reflecting incident light; a center beam which is formed out of a thin film constituted to be combined with said light reflection film, which has both ends fixed, and which is deformed by an electrostatic force, said reflection film provided on one surface of said center beam; a substrate electrode which is opposed to said center beam through a gap formed on the other surface of said center beam; an opposed surface which is a surface of said substrate electrode opposed to said center beam modulating the incident light on said light reflection film, said opposed surface restricting deformation of said center beam due to application of a driving voltage to said substrate electrode by abutting on said center beam; and a substrate which has said substrate electrode having said opposed surface, formed in a concave section, and which holds a to-be-held section of said center beam, wherein after forming the gap on said substrate, a sacrificial material layer made of a sacrificial material is formed to flatten said substrate, said center beam is formed, and then said sacrificial material layer is removed to thereby manufacture said light modulator.