Patent ID: 7289258

Claim:
A light modulator having a variable blaze diffraction grating, comprising: a substrate; a pair of supporting members, which are provided on the substrate and spaced apart from each other said supporting members defining a support at an elevation above the substrate; a plurality of elongate diffraction members: which are connected to the supporting members at an evaluation above the substrate to suspend the diffraction members above the substrate; which are arranged parallel to each other; and which are each composed of an elongate intermediate section and end sections extending laterally to a corresponding intermediate section and connected to the supporting members; a plurality of reflective plates having reflective surfaces on one side thereof, which are attached to the intermediate sections of the diffraction members to face away from the substrate, the adjacent reflective surfaces of which are parallel to each other; and a plurality of driving units, which move the intermediate sections of the diffraction members toward and away from the substrate so that the reflective surfaces of the adjacent diffraction members are situated at a first position, in which the reflective surfaces form a flat mirror, or at a second position, in which the reflective surfaces diffract the incident light, thereby causing the intermediate sections of the diffraction members to be rotated to a greater degree than the end sections of the diffraction members.