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Updated: Jun 22, 2026
Shaping the Amplitude and Phase of Laser Beams by Using a Phase-only Spatial Light Modulator
Published on: January 28, 2019
Characterization of a High Efficiency, Ultrashort Pulse Shaper Incorporating a Reflective 4096-Element Spatial Light
Jeffrey J Field1, Thomas A Planchon, Wafa Amir
1Department of Physics, Center for Microintegrated Optics for Advanced Bioimaging and Control, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401.
Abstract:
We demonstrate pulse shaping via arbitrary phase modulation with a reflective, 1×4096 element, liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). The unique construction of this device provides a very high efficiency when the device is used for phase modulation only in a prism based pulse shaper, namely 85%. We also present a single shot characterization of the SLM in the spatial domain and a single shot characterization of the pulse shaper in the spectral domain. These characterization methods provide a detailed picture of how the SLM modifies the spectral phase of an ultrashort pulse.
