Electrical address circuits developed for driving fast-switching ferroelectric liquid-crystal spatial light modulators (SLM) can be programmed to increase the speed of much slower responding nematic liquid-crystal SLMs. Using an addressing circuit that can switch as fast as $0.164\text{\hspace{0.17em} ms}$, voltages are programmed for values of phase that exceed the desired phase, and when the phase reaches the desired value, the voltage is switched to the required steady-state voltage. For a SLM that has a phase range of $3.5\text{π}$ and that is programmed over a $2\text{π}$ range, switching speed is reduced from $400\text{\hspace{0.17em} ms}$ to between 71 and $\text{77\hspace{0.17em} ms}$. The speedup algorithm is applied to each pixel of the SLM together with a digital correction for a spatially nonuniform phase.

Two pixel-oriented methods for designing Fourier transform holograms—pseudorandom encoding and minimum-distance encoding—usually produce higher-fidelity reconstructions when combined than those produced by each method individually. In previous studies minimum-distance encoding was defined as the mapping from the desired complex value to the closest value produced by the modulator. This method is compared with a new minimum-distance criterion in which the desired complex value is mapped to the closest value that can be realized by pseudorandom encoding. Simulations and experimental measurements using quantized phase and amplitude modulators show that the modified approach to blended encoding produces more faithful reconstructions than those of the previous method.

Suspended micromechanical structures are typically formed by dissolving underlying spacer material. However, capillary force-induced collapse during solvent removal can damage soft structures. If instead capillary forces are directed in the plane, they can drive liquid polymeric bridges to directly transform into suspended fibers. The various capillary force-directed methods for fabricating arrays of suspended fibers have suffered from either low manufacturing rates or an inability to produce arbitrary patterns. Shape transformation photolithography (STP) demonstrated herein is a method of producing arbitrarily patterned arrays of suspended fibers that are potentially capable of high fabrication rates. In STP, holes are prepatterned in a polymer nanofilm supported on a micropillar array, and then the film is heated above its glass transition temperature. First, the holes expand by dewetting and then capillary forces drive thinning of the polymer channels defined by the holes. Prepatterning overcomes the energy barrier for hole nucleation and ensures that all fibers form at the same time and with similar diameters. Arrays of fibers and fiber lattice networks are formed from dyed polystyrene films that are patterned with nanosecond laser pulses at 532 nm. The exposure threshold for forming holes is 10.5 mJ/cm² for single pulses and 3.3 mJ/cm² per pulse for repetitive pulsing, which is only about 3× larger than the dose available from current 193 nm wafer-stepping projection printers that are used in device manufacture. With the increased absorption of polystyrene at 193 nm and with additional proposed material modifications to the thin film, it may even be possible to employ STP in production wafer steppers at economically feasible manufacturing rates of over 50 wafers/h.

In this paper, we have developed a new thermoacoustic model for predicting the resonance frequency and quality factors of one-dimensional (1D) nanoresonators. Considering a nanoresonator as a fix-free Bernoulli-Euler cantilever, an analytical model has been developed to show the influence of material and geometrical properties of 1D nanoresonators on their mechanical response without any damping. Diameter and elastic modulus have a direct relationship and length has an inverse relationship on the strain energy and stress at the clamp end of the nanoresonator. A thermoacoustic multiphysics COMSOL model has been elaborated to simulate the frequency response of vibrating 1D nanoresonators in air. The results are an excellent match with experimental data from independently published literature reports, and the results of this model are consistent with the analytical model. Considering the air and thermal damping in the thermoacoustic model, the quality factor of a nanowire has been estimated and the results show that zinc oxide (ZnO) and silver-gallium (Ag₂Ga) nanoresonators are potential candidates as nanoresonators, nanoactuators, and for scanning probe microscopy applications.