CHEMICALLY ENHANCED BACTERIORHODOPSIN THIN-FILM SPATIAL LIGHT-MODULATOR

An optically addressed spatial light modulator based on a thin film of chemically enhanced bacteriorhodopsin is demonstrated. Incoherent-to- coherent light conversion is achieved by exploitation of both the larg e shift in absorption maxima accompanying the bR --> M phototransforma tion and the extended M-intermediate lifetime resulting from the chemi cal enhancement of the protein at high pH. The device exhibits a linea r dynamic range of 120:1 at 514 nm and a resolution of approximately 1 00 line pairs/mm.