A wavefront printer using phase-only spatial light modulator for producing computer-generated volume holograms

A spatial light modulator (SLM) is a key element in several applications, but it is subject to surface deformation due to manufacturing imperfections or environmental factors. Therefore, the current study aims to analyze and compensate for such deformations in a phase-only SLM using a Michelson interferometer. The recorded interferogram represents the interference between the wavefront reflected from the SLM surface (object wave) and a reference wave. Noise in the recorded interferogram can degrade the accuracy of phase measurements. Various digital filtering techniques were applied to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the interferogram. The filtered interferogram enabled accurate phase extraction through Fourier transform processing and side peak selection using a spatial carrier frequency method. Additionally, phase errors caused by the tilt of the reference beam were corrected. Thereafter, the conjugate of the corrected phase distribution was used to calculate a phase-only computer-generated hologram (CGH), which was displayed on the SLM to compensate for surface deformations. The effectiveness of the proposed compensation procedure was confirmed by a second phase measurement, which demonstrated improved SLM performance. This study highlights the impact of combining the interferometric techniques with digital processing for precise surface deformation analysis.

A new holography display technology based on a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) is proposed. The normal use of laser diode (LD) light source led to the inevitable speckle noise introduced by the coherence of the laser beam. Algorithms and special diffractive optical elements have been proposed to reduce the speckle noise. In this paper, a selected light-emitted diode (LED) light source was used in the holographic display system to replace the LD light source. The temporal coherence and spatial coherence of the LED were studied. Though the temporal coherence of LED is short, the spatial coherence of the light field can be improved by optimizing the optical paths such as decreasing the emitting area of the light source and so on. A high-power LED with a narrow band-width was selected. An algorithm to generate computer-generated hologram for the SLM was proposed. The phase-only holograms for the display were computed using the coherent light algorithm. Then the phase holograms were uploaded to the SLM. LED was used as the light source to illuminate the SLM uniformly, and the reconstructions can be observed by naked eye. It is demonstrated that LED is an acceptable light source for holographic display. The reconstruction results showed that the speckle noise and multiple reflections were eliminated when LED was used as the light source.

Arrays of Gaussian vortex, Bessel and Airy beams by computer-generated hologram

We present a numerical and experimental evaluation of two different holographic codes for synthesis of fully complex transmittances. Particularly, Bessel and Laguerre-Gauss beams can be encoded with these techniques. The numerical performance of these computer-generated holograms (CGHs) is evaluated by means of the computation of the Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) and their experimental performance is evaluated by means of their implementation using a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM). The results obtained can be useful in many tasks where a high efficiency is required and represent the first comparison between these methods of encoding.

Phase-only liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM) has been widely used for accurate phase-manipulation in holographic display, optical tweezers, lithography, etc. Due to the nonlinear optical response of liquid crystal and manufacturing defects, the grayscale-phase response could be different for every single SLM device. The calibration for phase modulation is needed for improving the performance of the SLM involved system. The principles of phase-only SLM are reviewed. The main phase calibration methods for SLM are discussed and compared.

Many advancements in the fields of holographic displays, image projection, and structured illumination rely on phase-only spatial light modulators (SLMs) to generate light fields with high dynamic range and little light loss. However, commonly used Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) SLMs are typically slow (<120Hz), while SLMs which can be modulated faster tend to have limited diffraction efficiency or binary bit depth. Recently, a new class of MEMS devices, Phase Light Modulators (PLMs), have shown promise for fast (>5 kHz) holographic illumination and display technologies. However, their bit depth is still limited to four-to-five bits, causing many light field modulation and optimization methods, such as Gerchberg-Saxton phase retrieval, to produce poor-quality results. In this contribution, we introduce an iterative modulation algorithm which combines a four-phase PLM level averaging method with Gerchberg-Saxton phase retrieval to enable complex field modulation while simultaneously improving the bit depth of the modulator, the PSNR of projected images, and contrast of projected images.

We propose modified hologram cells (or macropixels) for the computer-generated double-phase holograms (DPHs), based on pixelated phase-only spatial light modulators (SLMs). Such modified DPHs exhibit a substantially improved signal-to-noise ratio, in comparison with the conventional ones. The modified macropixels are formed by arrays of either 1 x 2 or 2 x 2 SLM pixels.

In this paper, we have implemented a 3D content generation simulator based on integration of phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) and LabVIEW software to develop a holographic stereogram printer that consists of a coherent laser, a spatial light modulator and X-Y translation stage with stepper motors. This content generation platform provides encoding of directional information extracted from rendered perspective images of real or virtual 3D object. There are mainly three parts related to the implementation for holographic stereogram printer. In the first part, “Digital content generation” phaseonly SLM will be applied to the holographic printer system by loading series of perspective 2D images for each holographic elements (hogel). Regarding this part, phase-only SLM can be converted into an amplitude modulator by adjusting the angles of the polarizer. The second part is “Control system” made in LabVIEW based platform for automatic recording of the holographic stereograms which is synthesized from previous part. The third implementation part is “Optical system” for printing of parallax-related hogels on the holographic plate. To check the performance of the developed approach, numerical simulations and optical experiments are implemented. The hogel images are sequentially exposed using the perspective images to form the whole holographic stereogram on the holographic light sensitive material.

A speckle noise suppression method in digital holography is proposed by the angular diversity with a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM). The minimal angular difference of illumination beams is quantitatively analyzed to ensure the noncorrelation of any two speckle patterns, and then the phase-only SLM is employed to generate a series of tilted illumination beams. Comparing with the typical methods, the tilted illumination beams are controlled dynamically and accurately, which makes it possible to record a large number of holograms. Finally, using an image-plane digital holographic system, 117 holograms are recorded respectively, and the synthesized reconstructed images are obtained with the greatly suppressed speckle noise which is in good agreement with the theoretical results. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness, repeatability, and practicability of the proposed approach.

The rarely considered case of laser beam propagation and focusaing through the moderately scattering medium was researched. A phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) with 1920×1080 pixel resolution was used to increase the efficiency of focusing of laser radiation propagated through the 5 mm layer of the scattering suspension of 1 µm polystyrene microbeads in distilled water with the concentration values ranging from 105 to 106 mm−3. A CCD camera with micro-objective was used to estimate the intensity distribution of the far-field focal spot. A Shack-Hartmann sensor was used to measure wavefront distortions. The conducted experimental research demonstrated the 8% increase in integral intensity and 16% decrease in diameter of the far-field focal spot due to the use of the SLM for laser beam focusing.

Diffractive optical element (DOE) design techniques can be applied to the generation of pattern recognition filters for optical correlators, in which case the spatial light modulator (SLM) in the filler plane is thought of as a real-time DOE. The designer must first select the desired complex pattern recognition filter and then apply DOE design techniques to map the fully complex function onto the limited dynamic range SLM. To illustrate the procedure, we apply the techniques to the problem of implementing a matched filter with limited dynamic range Fourier plane SLM’s. We use computer simulations to evaluate the effectiveness of the technique. We quantify the performance by measuring the mean squared error between the ideal matched output and output from quantized filters. Numerical simulations indicate that the DOE method yields a significant improvement over direct quantization. The improvement in mean squared error comes, however, at the expense of light efficiency. The DOE technique has been applied to design of matched filters with binary phase, ternary phase, and phase-only SLM’s for coherent as well as incoherent optical correlators. The additional phase freedom in the incoherent design results in improved performance, but incoherent systems are limited to correlation with real positive reference scenes. A proof-of-principle laboratory experiment has been constructed to complement the numerical simulations.

Holographic display system that uses six phase-only spatial light modulators (SLMs) performs holographic reconstructions from the phase-hologram of a point cloud that is extracted from 3D object. The SLMs are tiled as a three by two matrix on a virtual planar surface. The alignment is successful and the display system generates large holographic reconstructions. The proposed system can be used either to obtain reconstructions of large objects with a narrow field of view or reconstructions of smaller objects with a broader field of view. Therefore, since field of view is broader for smaller objects, observer has the flexibility to move around the reconstruction within a larger angle. This flexibility increases the motion parallax and as a consequence it increases the quality of 3D perception. Results show that even with three SLMs in horizontal direction the 3D perception is significantly increased. Experimental results are satisfactory.

For their capacity to shape optical wavefronts in real time into any desired illumination pattern, phase-only Spatial Light Modulators (SLM) have proven to be powerful tools for optical trapping and micromanipulation applications. SLMs are also becoming increasingly utilized in selective photo-stimulation of groups of neurons in the brain. However, conventional SLM based wavefront modulation introduces artifacts that are particularly detrimental for photo-stimulation applications. The primary issue is the unmodulated light that travels along the 0th order of diffraction. This portion of light is commonly blocked at the center of the object plane, which prevents photo-stimulation in the blocked region. We demonstrate a virtual lens configuration that moves the 1st order diffraction with the desired illumination pattern into the Fourier plane of the 0th order light. This virtual lens setup makes the whole field of view accessible for photo-stimulation and eliminates the need for removing the 0th order light in two-photon applications. Furthermore, in an example application to reconstruct a pattern consisting of an array of points, the virtual lens configuration increases the uniformity of the intensities these points. Moreover, diffraction-induced artifacts are also significantly reduced within the target plane. Therefore, our proposed high fidelity configuration yields target points with high signal to noise ratio.

A lensless Vanderlugt optical correlator using two phase-only spatial light modulators (SLMs) is proposed. The SLMs are used for displaying input and filter patterns respectively. The SLMs are also used as programmable lenses in order to realize the lensless construction. This lensless system is simple and its alignment adjustment is easy. The performance of the SLMs as programmable lenses is also described.

Three-dimensional light sculpting using a geometric analysis