Reflective Phase-only Spatial Light Modulator Research Articles

High-power, electronically controlled source of user-defined vortex and vector light beams based on a few-mode fiber amplifier

Optical angular momentum (OAM)-based structured light beams provide an additional degree of freedom for practical applications ranging from optical communication to laser-based material processing. Many techniques exist for generating such beams within laser sources and these primarily rely upon the use of specially designed optical components that limit laser power scaling and ready tunability of the topological charge and polarization of the output OAM beams. Here we show that some of these limitations can be overcome by employing a computer controlled reflective phase-only spatial light modulator to adaptively tailor the input (and subsequent output) beam wavefront and polarization in a few-mode fiber amplifier. In this way modal-coupling-induced beam distortion within the fiber amplifier can be mitigated and we are able to generate at will any desired supported spatial mode guided in the fiber, including conventional linearly polarized (LP) modes, scalar OAM modes, and cylindrical vector modes, at average powers > 10 W and with a peak power of > 11 kW . Our results pave the way to the realization of practical high-power structured laser sources with tunable chirality and polarization.

Three-dimensional visualization of brain tumor progression based accurate segmentation via comparative holographic projection.

We propose a new optical method based on comparative holographic projection for visual comparison between two abnormal follow-up magnetic resonance (MR) exams of glioblastoma patients to effectively visualize and assess tumor progression. First, the brain tissue and tumor areas are segmented from the MR exams using the fast marching method (FMM). The FMM approach is implemented on a computed pixel weight matrix based on an automated selection of a set of initialized target points. Thereafter, the associated phase holograms are calculated for the segmented structures based on an adaptive iterative Fourier transform algorithm (AIFTA). Within this approach, a spatial multiplexing is applied to reduce the speckle noise. Furthermore, hologram modulation is performed to represent two different reconstruction schemes. In both schemes, all calculated holograms are superimposed into a single two-dimensional (2D) hologram which is then displayed on a reflective phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) for optical reconstruction. The optical reconstruction of the first scheme displays a 3D map of the tumor allowing to visualize the volume of the tumor after treatment and at the progression. Whereas, the second scheme displays the follow-up exams in a side-by-side mode highlighting tumor areas, so the assessment of each case can be fast achieved. The proposed system can be used as a valuable tool for interpretation and assessment of the tumor progression with respect to the treatment method providing an improvement in diagnosis and treatment planning.

Digital laser for on-demand intracavity selective excitation of second harmonic higher-order modes.

In this article, we demonstrate selective excitation of second harmonic higher-order modes inside a diode end-pumped solid-state laser resonator that comprises of a nonlinear potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) crystal and a digitally addressed holographic end-mirror in a form of a reflective phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM). The emitted second harmonic higher-order modes at 532 nm are generated by an intracavity nonlinear KTP crystal that is pumped by high-order fundamental modes operating at 1064 nm. The fundamental modes are digitally controlled by displaying a computer-generated hologram in the form of a grey-scale image to the SLM screen for on-demand high-order modes. The phase matching of the fundamental mode to the generated frequency-doubled mode is achieved by controlling the phase of the digital hologram to either achieve a high or quasi-degree of orbital angular momentum conservation. We show that we can intracavity generate frequency-doubled high-order Laguerre-Gaussian modes and Hermit-Gaussian modes that are either quasi or fully reproducible in the far-field. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first laser to generate frequency-doubled on-demand higher-order modes inside the cavity at the visible (green) wavelength of 532 nm.

High-speed digital phase conjugator pointer-tracker for long path beam control

A real-time holographic system is demonstrated for directing energy at a retroreflective target in the presence of atmospheric beam distortions and target motion. The system searches and tracks over a five-degree field of regard. The method relies upon optical phase conjugation using an off-axis holographic configuration to generate a precompensated beam using a reflective phase-only spatial light modulator. The system operates at a 147-Hz update rate and compensates for time-dependent effects in the beam path. The performance was demonstrated over a 22-m indoor range using a rotating glass wedge to simulate beam wander.

High-efficiency and flexible generation of vector vortex optical fields by a reflective phase-only spatial light modulator.

The scheme for generating vector optical fields should have not only high efficiency but also flexibility for satisfying the requirements of various applications. However, in general, high efficiency and flexibility are not compatible. Here we present and experimentally demonstrate a solution to directly, flexibly, and efficiently generate vector vortex optical fields (VVOFs) with a reflective phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) based on optical birefringence of liquid crystal molecules. To generate the VVOFs, this approach needs in principle only a half-wave plate, an LC-SLM, and a quarter-wave plate. This approach has some advantages, including a simple experimental setup, good flexibility, and high efficiency, making the approach very promising in some applications when higher power is need. This approach has a generation efficiency of 44.0%, which is much higher than the 1.1% of the common path interferometric approach.

Full-color holographic 3D display using slice-based fractional Fourier transform combined with free-space Fresnel diffraction.

The fractional Fourier transform (FRT) has been used for computing holograms in holographic displays due to its continuity of describing wave diffraction in the near field and far field. In this study, we propose a method to realize a full-color holographic 3D display with combined use of the FRT and the free-space Fresnel diffraction. A slice-based optical configuration and the calculation algorithm of the FRT are proposed for generating phase-only holograms of full-color 3D objects. Sequential phase-only holograms are generated for reducing the speckle noise of reconstructed images by the time-averaging effect. Free-space Fresnel diffraction is used for 3D image reconstruction from the generated holograms. The relationship between the fractional orders of different color channels and the free-space Fresnel diffraction distance is analyzed. Chromatic aberrations caused by different wavelengths of RGB lasers are also compensated. A full-color holographic display system using a reflective phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) is established. Both the numerical and optical reconstruction results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method.

A digital laser for on-demand laser modes

Customizing the output beam shape from a laser invariably involves specialized optical elements in the form of apertures, diffractive optics and free-form mirrors. Such optics require considerable design and fabrication effort and suffer from the further disadvantage of being immutably connected to the selection of a particular spatial mode. Here we overcome these limitations with the first digital laser comprising an electrically addressed reflective phase-only spatial light modulator as an intra-cavity digitally addressed holographic mirror. The phase and amplitude of the holographic mirror may be controlled simply by writing a computer-generated hologram in the form of a grey-scale image to the device, for on-demand laser modes. We show that we can digitally control the laser modes with ease, and demonstrate real-time switching between spatial modes in an otherwise standard solid-state laser resonator. Our work opens new possibilities for the customizing of laser modes at source.

Geometrically superresolved lensless imaging using a spatial light modulator

In this paper we introduce an imaging system based on a reflective phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) in order to perform imaging with improved geometric resolution. By using the SLM, we combine the realization of two main abilities: a lens with a tunable focus and a phase function that, after proper free-space propagation, is projected as an amplitude distribution on top of the inspected object. The first ability is related to the realization of a lens function combined with a tunable prism that yields a microscanning of the inspected object. This by itself improves the spatial sampling density. The second ability is related to a projection of a phase function that is computed using an iterative beam-shaping Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm. After the free-space propagation from the SLM toward the inspected object, an amplitude pattern is generated on top of the object. This projected pattern and a set of low-resolution images with relative shift are interlaced and, after applying the proper regularization method, a geometrically superresolved image is reconstructed.

Experimental verification of optical image encryption based on interference

We present experimental results to verify the optical image encryption based on interference. The optical experiment is performed by using a reflective phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) to generate the desired phase retardations. A hologram plate is employed to record the modulated wavefronts in a double-step-holographic-exposure process. The experiment results are in good agreement with the numerical simulations of the encryption algorithm, which demonstrates the feasibility of the optical image encryption in actual optical systems.