Patent ID: 8379061

Claim:
An apparatus, comprising: a light modulation device that includes: a semiconductor substrate; an inner conductive layer disposed on top of the substrate; and a plurality of strips coupled to the substrate and disposed substantially in parallel above the substrate, wherein respective ones of the plurality of strips include a reflective layer, and wherein the device is configured to: receive a control signal, receive an optical signal by the reflective layer of the respective ones of the plurality of strips, and rotate, based on the control signal, the respective ones of the plurality of strips by an angle to cause redirection of the optical signal, wherein the rotate the respective ones of the plurality of strips is further based on an electrostatic force generated by a voltage differential between the inner conductive layer and an edge of the respective ones of the plurality of strips, wherein the angle of rotation is based on a width of the respective ones of the plurality of strips, wherein the inner conductive layer includes a plurality of elongated conductors, disposed substantially in parallel with the edge of the respective ones of the plurality of strips, and wherein each of the plurality of strips is individually addressable to provide each of the plurality of strips with independent rotational motion relative to a rotational motion of each of two neighboring strips, wherein each of the plurality of strips is enabled to move differently from each of the two neighboring strips at a time when each of the two neighboring strips is in the rotational motion.