Low-cost Spatial Light Modulator Research Articles

Spatial structuring of light for undergraduate laboratories

In recent times, spatial light modulators have become a common tool in optics laboratories as well as industrial environments for shaping the spatial structure of a light beam. Although these devices are often easy to use, their high cost has limited their use in many undergraduate laboratories. However, in recent years the progress in developing more cost-effective projectors has led to affordable spatial light modulators in the form of so-called Digital Micromirror Devices (DMD). This reduction in price, as well as their simple employment, make such devices increasingly suitable for use in undergraduate instructional laboratories to demonstrate optical effects and the shaping of light fields. Here, we show one of the most cost-effective ways to make a DMD available, namely, turning a projector evaluation module into a computer-controlled spatial light modulator. We explain the underlying functioning and how this low-cost spatial light modulator can be used in undergraduate laboratories. We further characterize the efficiency of the device for the most commonly used laser wavelengths and demonstrate various exemplary optics experiments suitable for undergraduate laboratories ranging from single and multi-slit diffraction to optical Fourier transformations. Finally, we show that by using amplitude holography, the device can generate transverse spatial modes, e.g., Laguerre-Gaussian beam, which are one of the most commonly used spatially structured beams.

A low-cost spatial light modulator for use in undergraduate and graduate optics labs

Spatial light modulators (SLMs) are a versatile tool for teaching optics, but the cost associated with an SLM setup prevents its adoption in many undergraduate and graduate optics labs. We describe a simple method for creating a low-cost SLM by extracting components from a commercial LCD projector. We demonstrate the pedagogical applications of this SLM design by providing examples of its use in teaching diffraction and interference phenomena. We also discuss an SLM’s potential as a research tool in graduate labs. In particular, we demonstrate its use in holography and in the generation of optical vortices.

Efficient compensation of Zernike modes and eye aberration patterns using low-cost spatial light modulators

Off-the-shelf spatial light modulators (SLMs) like those commonly included in video projection devices have been seldom used for the compensation of eye aberrations, mainly due to the relatively low dynamic range of the phase retardation that can be introduced at each pixel. They present, however, some interesting features, such as high spatial resolution, easy handling, wide availability, and low cost. We describe an efficient four-level phase encoding scheme that allows us to use conventional SLMs for compensating optical aberrations as those typically found in human eyes. Experimental results are obtained with artificial eyes aberrated by refractive phase plates introducing either single Zernike terms or complex eye aberration patterns. This proof-of-concept is a step toward the use of low-cost, general purpose SLMs for the compensation of eye aberrations.

Profilometry using temporal phase unwrapping and a spatial light modulator-based fringe projector

A fringe projector based on a low-cost spatial light modulator has been used to measure the shapes of discontinuous objects. By changing the fringe phase and the fringe pitch, a sequence of wrapped phase maps can be acquired at different sensitivities. This sequence can then be converted to a surface profile by the recently proposed method of temporal unwrapping rather than by a conventional spatial unwrapping approach. The main advantages are that the method is simple and ro- bust, and that objects with surface discontinuities are profiled as easily and accurately as smooth ones. The absolute distance from the camera to an object is measured at each pixel independently of the other pixels in the image. In addition to accurate measurement of surface shape, one possible application may therefore be as a 3-D robot vision system. A simple calibration procedure is described which avoids the need for ac- curate positioning of the camera and projector and which takes account of instrumental artifacts. A measurement accuracy better than 1/1000 of the field of view has been achieved. A number of practical applications of the technique are illustrated. © 1997 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation En- gineers.