MEMS Array Chip Can Project Video the Size of a Grain of Sand
52 points
5 hours ago
| 10 comments
| spectrum.ieee.org
| HN
jmward01
1 hour ago
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I wonder if this has implications for custom home chips/prototyping. I'm sure a big issue is vibrations but something like this could remove the need for masks at least. (again, not my area so I am clobbering terminology I am sure). It may open up home fab capabilities.
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volemo
53 minutes ago
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I think abusing a write-off electron microscope to side step the need for masks is also an interesting idea, however, I believe acquiring wafers of sufficient quality and depositing layers to be etched could be the bigger challenge here.
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jacquesm
21 minutes ago
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And the clean environment as a whole. That's a massive investment and there are a million ways to mess that up.
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Joel_Mckay
1 hour ago
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In general, hobby photo-lithography projects already use DMD/DLP projectors, and some inexpensive optics.

Huygens Optics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w0Z2Y5vaAQ

Sam Zeloof:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxz_ENnmgtI

In general, getting vanity silicon made is usually much less expensive than trying to bootstrap a fab line. =3

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antimatter15
1 hour ago
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This reminds me of the original patents that Magic Leap had, which involved pumping light through a single optical fiber that was wiggled by piezoelectrics into a spiral to project light (https://kguttag.com/2018/01/06/magic-leap-fiber-scanning-dis...).
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CoolThings
2 hours ago
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This might be relevant for Augmented Reality headgear.
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dmitrygr
3 hours ago
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What is this, a movie theater for ants?
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chihuahua
1 hour ago
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It has to be at least 3 times bigger than this!
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numpad0
2 hours ago
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or AR glasses?
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m3kw9
3 hours ago
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We can finally say yes to this question
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cubefox
1 hour ago
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> The chip projected a roughly 125-micrometer image of the Mona Lisa.

This may seem small (barely visible as a dot to the naked eye), but that's also the geometric mean of the Planck length and the diameter of the observable universe. So average size actually.

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jacquesm
17 minutes ago
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I really can't follow your comment and I've been trying. Would you mind a longer explanation of what you're getting at here?
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cordwainersmith
2 hours ago
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How do you even fit a video projector onto something that small, the physics feel like they shouldn't cooperate.
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cyberax
1 hour ago
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This is actually getting close enough to manipulate the _phase_ of light! And doing that would allow creating true holograms.

Or alternative true augmented reality glasses that are not limited to one focal plane.

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jacquesm
19 minutes ago
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volemo
1 hour ago
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Electro-optic modulators already exist — still no StarTrek. :(
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darfo
5 hours ago
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Oh wait. It does have the correct title. My fruit flies are cheering.
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darfo
5 hours ago
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Cool. Now I can show videos to my fruit flies! /s

Srsly title should be "MEMS Array Chip the Size of a Grain of Sand Can Project Video"

not

"MEMS Array Chip Can Project Video the Size of a Grain of Sand"

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projektfu
2 hours ago
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It is actually about a 0.125mm projection, not the size of the chip. But more about steering lasers, which is really what they wanted to do.
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gurumeditations
1 hour ago
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This is revolutionary. No other way to put it.
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topspin
1 hour ago
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It certainly looks like something that will find novel applications.
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