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arXiv · 2409.01289

Fast and light-efficient wavefront shaping with a MEMS phase-only light modulator

José C. A. Rocha·Terry Wright·Unė G Būtaitė·Joel Carpenter·George S. D. Gordon·David B. Phillips
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Abstract

Over the last two decades, spatial light modulators (SLMs) have revolutionised our ability to shape optical fields. They grant independent dynamic control over thousands of degrees-of-freedom within a single light beam. In this work we test a new type of SLM, known as a phase-only light modulator (PLM), that blends the high efficiency of liquid crystal SLMs with the fast switching rates of binary digital micro-mirror devices (DMDs). A PLM has a 2D mega-pixel array of micro-mirrors. The vertical height of each micro-mirror can be independently adjusted with 4-bit precision. Here we provide a concise tutorial on the operation and calibration of a PLM. We demonstrate arbitrary pattern projection, aberration correction, and control of light transport through complex media. We show high-speed wavefront shaping through a multimode optical fibre -- scanning over 2000 points at 1.44 kHz. We make available our custom high-speed PLM control software library developed in C++. As PLMs are based upon micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology, they are polarisation agnostic, and possess fundamental switching rate limitations equivalent to that of DMDs -- with operation at up to 10 kHz anticipated in the near future. We expect PLMs will find high-speed light shaping applications across a range of fields including adaptive optics, microscopy, optogenetics and quantum optics.

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José C. A. Rocha, Terry Wright, Unė G Būtaitė, Joel Carpenter, George S. D. Gordon, David B. Phillips. 2024-09-02. Fast and light-efficient wavefront shaping with a MEMS phase-only light modulator. https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.01289

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