Abstract: A spatial light modulator with an anti-reflective coating (ARC) 100 integrated into its structure. The manufacturing of the device is altered to include deposition of an ARC 100, and any necessary patterning and etching to allow the elements of the array to operate properly. The ARC could reside in several places of the element structure including over the addressing circuitry 26, over a middle layer 32 or on the underside of the reflective structure 10. Micromechanical spatial light modulators, as well as non-moving modulators, such as reflective and transmissive LCD modulators can use the invention.

Abstract: A micromirror array fabricated on a semiconductor substrate 708. The micromirrors in the micromirror array logically divided into an interior active region 704 which selectively modulates light striking the mirrors in the interior active region 704, and an exterior border region 702 for producing a dark border around the image produced by the interior active region 704. A gap between each mirror allows adjacent mirrors to rotate. The gap 712 between mirrors in the interior active region 704 of the array is larger than the gap 710 between at least some of the mirrors in the exterior border region 702. The smaller gap 710 in the exterior region 702 is enabled by restricting mirrors in the exterior region 702 to a single direction of rotation.