Abstract

The implementation of diffractive optical elements (DOE) on spatial light modulators (SLM) is a subject of growing interest. SLM’s permit to achieve reconfigurable and programmable electro-optical systems with wide applications in photonic switching, optical computing, beam shaping and beam steering. However, current SLM’s usually suffer from relatively low space-bandwidth product and various non-ideal characteristics. In addition, when utilized as part of an electro-optical system, other aberrations should be also considered. When a DOE is designed by computer, it is difficult if not impossible to take into account all these factors. Therefore, the practical result will present a reduced performance: wave-front distortion, poor signal-to-noise ratio and low efficiency. Some of the well defined system limitations could be taken into account by using optimization algorithms, but they are computationally intensive and they cannot consider all system parameters, some of which are not known.

© 1996 IEEE