Shaping the Amplitude and Phase of Laser Beams by Using a Phase-only Spatial Light Modulator

Summary

We show how to encode the complex field of laser beams by using a single phase element. A common-path interferometer is employed to mix the phase information displayed into a phase-only spatial light modulator to finally retrieve the desired complex field pattern at the output of an optical imaging system.

Abstract

The aim of this article is to visually demonstrate the utilization of an interferometric method for encoding complex fields associated with coherent laser radiation. The method is based on the coherent sum of two uniform waves, previously encoded into a phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM) by spatial multiplexing of their phases. Here, the interference process is carried out by spatial filtering of light frequencies at the Fourier plane of certain imaging system. The correct implementation of this method allows arbitrary phase and amplitude information to be retrieved at the output of the optical system.

It is an on-axis, rather than off-axis encoding technique, with a direct processing algorithm (not an iterative loop), and free from coherent noise (speckle). The complex field can be exactly retrieved at the output of the optical system, except for some loss of resolution due to the frequency filtering process. The main limitation of the method might come from the inability to operate at frequency rates higher than the refresh rate of the SLM. Applications include, but are not limited to, linear and non-linear microscopy, beam shaping, or laser micro-processing of material surfaces.

Introduction

Almost all laser applications are in close relation with the management of the optical wavefront of light. In the paraxial approximation, the complex field associated with the laser radiation can be described by two terms, the amplitude and the phase. Having control over these two terms is necessary to modify both the temporal and the spatial structure of laser beams at will. In general, the amplitude and the phase of a laser beam can be properly changed by several methods including the use of optical components that range from single bulk lenses, beam splitters and mirrors to most complex devices like deformable mirrors or spatial light modulators. Here, we show a me....

Protocol

1. Encoding the Complex Field into a Single Phase Element

1. From the technical specifications of the SLM, find its spatial resolution (for instance 1920 pixels x 1800 pixels).
2. Define and generate the desired amplitude A(x,y) and phase φ(x,y) patterns as digital images.
   1. Set the spatial resolution of abovementioned digital images equal to that of the SLM display.
   2. Set abovementioned digital images in gray level format.
   .......

Discussion

In this protocol, practical parameters as the pixel width of the phase-only SLM or the number of pixels contained within pixel cells of a computer-generated pattern are key points to successfully implement the encoding method. In steps 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 of the protocol, the shorter the pixel width, the better the spatial resolution of the retrieved amplitude and phase patterns. In addition, as the codification into the SLM of abrupt pixel-to-pixel phase modulations can originate unexpected phase responses (pixel crosstal.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Achromatic Doublet	THORLABS	AC254-100-B-ML	Lens Diameter 25.4 mm, focal length 100 mm
Achromatic Galilean Beam Expander	THORLABS	GBE05-A	AR Coated: 400 - 650 nm
Basler camera	BASLER	avA1600-50gm GigE camera	sensor size 8.8 mm x 6.6 mm, pizel size 5.5 microns
Mounted Zero-Aperture Iris	THORLABS	ID12Z/M	Max Aperture 12 mm
Pellicle Beamsplitter	THORLABS	CM1-BP145B2	45:55 (R:T), Coating: 700 - 900 nm
PLUTO Spatial Light Modulator	HOLOEYE Photonics AG	NIR-II	Phase Only Spatial Light Modulator (Optimized for 700 -1000 nm)
Two thin film laser polarizers	EKSMA OPTICS	420-0526M	material BK7, diameter 50 mm, wavelength 780-820 nm