Abstract

The parallelism and interconnection provided by an optical system is a major potential advantage for data transmission. However, a spatial light modulator (SLM) is required to process the optical information. Either amplitude, phase, or polarization would be modulated by the SLM, but coherence may not be affected. This would allow coherent or holographic processing to take place. However, information can also be carried by only the intensity in incoherent optical processing applications. The electron trapping (ET) SLM described in this paper demonstrates potential applications to both incoherent and coherent processing, although application to incoherent processing will be emphasized in this introductory demonstration.

© 1990 Optical Society of America