Analysis of grating light valves with partial surface electrodes

The grating light valve (GLV) is a micro-electromechanical reflection phase grating that operates on the electrostatic deflection of microbeams. In a conventional GLV, each beam is coated with a surface electrode that spans its length. In this paper, a GLV with partial electrode coverage is studied. An analysis is presented of the deflection profile and switching voltage for a series of electrode lengths. These results are compared with the performance of a conventional GLV.