2-DIMENSIONAL SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATORS - A TUTORIAL

Two-dimensional Spatial Light Modulators (SLM) are devices that can modulate one of the properties of an optical wavefront (amplitude, phase, polarization) as a function of two spatial dimensions and time in response to information-bearing control signals (either optica! or electrical). These devices form a critical part of optical information processing systems by serving as input transducers as well as performing several basic processing operations on optical wavefronts. This paper gives a tutorial overview of the 2-D SLMs by outlining their applications, presenting a classification scheme for them and describing major types of SLMs that are under active development. © 1990 IEEE