The simulated annealing algorithm was applied for optimizing binary phase masks used in the conversion of optical modes through spatial light modulation in free space. The method changes the phase distribution to be displayed on a spatial light modulator, in such a way maximizes the correlation between de converted mode and the theoretical mode. The method allowed the optimal conversion of the linearly polarized modes through a diffractive process. The analysis of the correlations between obtained and theoretical modes showed the effectiveness of the method and its capability to generate optical modes similar to those in an optical fiber. The optimized phase masks could be applied in a dynamic and arbitrary mode converter.
Linearly polarized modes were generated from the fundamental LP01 using Lee holograms displayed on a digital micromirror device. The phase in the holograms was optimized using simulated annealing algorithm and complex amplitude correlation to improve the quality of the converted modes. The correlation measurements, and comparisons between numerical and experimental results, show the fidelity of the obtained modes and the effectiveness of the optimization. Furthermore, the optimized holograms can be combined to generate multiple modes spatially addressed with individual control. The results, and the use of a digital micromirror device instead of the most common liquid crystal modulators, make this method suitable for Modal Division Multiplexing systems and compatible with other optical telecommunication techniques like Wavelength and Polarization Division multiplexing, and reconfigurable optical networks.
Plane waves generated and alternated using a Digital Micromirror Device (DMD) were evaluated for modulating the spatial coherence of a laser beam. The spatial coherence and its modulation can be represented as a sampling problem in the temporal domain. In this way, the integration time in the detector, the frame rate of the DMD, and the laser coherence time were properly adjusted or chosen to achieve the effect of a beam with a particular state of spatial coherence. Two methods were applied to superpose the plane waves and produce controlled visibility variations in the interferogram of a Young’s experiment. The visibility measurements show the variation of the modulus of the complex degree of spatial coherence, controlled by simple phase modulation, and between a pair of points on the wavefront. This procedure, which uses no mobile parts, could be applied in digital holography denoising, beam shaping, optical communications and optical metrology and imaging.
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