Effects and correction of magneto-optic spatial light modulator phase errors in an optical correlator

Abstract

Here we study the optical phase errors introduced into an optical correlator by the input and filter plane magneto-optic spatial light modulators. We measure and characterize the magnitude of these phase errors, evaluate their effects on the correlation results, and present a means of correction by a design modification of the binary phase-only optical-filter function. The efficacy of the phase-correction technique is quantified and is found to restore the correlation characteristics to those obtained in the absence of errors, to a high degree. The phase errors of other correlator system elements are also discussed and treated in a similar fashion.