MEMS Array Chip Can Project Video the Size of a Grain of Sand (spectrum.ieee.org)
47 points by bookofjoe 5 hours ago
jmward01 an hour ago
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.
volemo 35 minutes ago
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.
jacquesm 3 minutes ago
And the clean environment as a whole. That's a massive investment and there are a million ways to mess that up.
Joel_Mckay an hour ago
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
antimatter15 an hour ago
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...).
dmitrygr 3 hours ago
What is this, a movie theater for ants?
chihuahua an hour ago
It has to be at least 3 times bigger than this!
m3kw9 3 hours ago
We can finally say yes to this question
numpad0 3 hours ago
or AR glasses?
cubefox an hour ago
> 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.
cordwainersmith 2 hours ago
How do you even fit a video projector onto something that small, the physics feel like they shouldn't cooperate.
CoolThings 2 hours ago
This might be relevant for Augmented Reality headgear.
cyberax an hour ago
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.
jacquesm a minute ago
Have I got news for you:
volemo 43 minutes ago
Electro-optic modulators already exist — still no StarTrek. :(
darfo 5 hours ago
Oh wait. It does have the correct title. My fruit flies are cheering.
darfo 5 hours ago
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"
projektfu 2 hours ago
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.
gurumeditations an hour ago
This is revolutionary. No other way to put it.
topspin an hour ago
It certainly looks like something that will find novel applications.