Relative limitations of increasing the number of modulation levels in computer generated holography

Phase and amplitude spatial light modulators (SLMs) capable of both binary and multi-level modulation are widely available and offer a wide range of technologies to choose from for holographic applications. While the replay fields generated with multi-level phase-only SLMs are of a significantly hig...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Optics communications Vol. 462; p. 125353
Main Authors:	Christopher, Peter J., Wilkinson, Timothy D.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier B.V 01-05-2020
Subjects:	Amplitude holography Computer generated holography Phase holography Spatial light modulators Computer generated holography Spatial light modulators Phase holography Amplitude holography
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Phase and amplitude spatial light modulators (SLMs) capable of both binary and multi-level modulation are widely available and offer a wide range of technologies to choose from for holographic applications. While the replay fields generated with multi-level phase-only SLMs are of a significantly higher quality than those generated by equivalent binary phase-only SLMs, evidence is presented in this letter that this improvement is not as marked for amplitude SLMs, where multi-level devices offer only a small benefit over their binary counterparts. Heuristic and numerical justifications for this are discussed and conclusions drawn.
ISSN:	0030-4018 1873-0310
DOI:	10.1016/j.optcom.2020.125353