Abstract

Various types of optically addressed spatial light modulators (OASLMs), which consist of a photosensor layer and a light-modulating layer, have been developed. Some of these devices have been demonstrated to be capable of performing four-wave-mixing operations, such as two-beam coupling and phase conjugation. Most of these devices produce a degree of modulation that is proportional to the incident light intensity, i.e., they produce analog modulation. There is also a class of OASLMs that are binary, i.e., the degree of modulation has one of two possible states, which depend on whether the incident light is above or below some threshold. However, because of information loss in the process of binarization, it is not obvious to what extent these devices can perform four-wave mixing. In this work we have theoretically explored the general character of light scattered by an idealized binary OASLM and have evaluated the device's capabilities for four-wave-mixing applications of two-beam coupling and phase conjugation.

© 1990 Optical Society of America