Non-paraxial array illuminator based on a single low-resolution pixelated lens

Abstract

The performance of a low-resolution pixelated lens (PL) as a spot array generator is discussed. It is proved that if the lens is encoded onto a typical pixelated spatial light modulator, it will generate a large number of uniform foci only at non-paraxial focal planes. We show, numerically and experimentally, that in such non-paraxial conditions the PL generates a focal plane spot array with acceptable efficiency and uniformity. Moreover, it is shown that the quality of the focal plane spot array improves when the numerical aperture of the PL is increased.