Abstract

The characterization of the wavefront produced by a two-dimensional spatial liquid opto-electronical light modulator was made by simple diffraction and interference experiments. The electrical video signal is injected in the thin oil film by an electron gun as in a CRT. This signal contains both the RGB carriers and their modulations. The electron activated area of the liquid opto-dectronical device is illuminated by a xenon arc discharge lamp. To get an uniform illumination on that area, the light from the lamp is refracted in two lenticular plates. The thin oil film is located between the grids of a schlieren optical system. Then, the video signal injected in the active area is projected onto a screen by a projection lens. By varying the illumination of the active area and the schlieren and projection optical systems, it is possible to select appropriate experimental conditions to determine the coherence of the light emitted by the liquid opto-electronical device. Then, very interesting interferential and diffractive experiences can be performed in order to test the ability of the device to project computer synthetic wavefronts.

© 1995 Optical Society of America