Experiments with the HoloEye LCD spatial light

modulator

HoloEye model LC2002 spatial light modulator

The HoloEye (http://www.holoeye.com/spatial_light_modulator_lc_2002.html) LC

2002 Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) contains a Sony SVGA (800x600 pixels) liquid
crystal microdisplay and drive electronics. It can be used with a standard personal
computer or laptop by plugging the device to a VGA graphics connector. The phase
distribution of a beam input to the SLM can be modulated by a voltage on the
electrodes (800x600 pixels) of the LCD. The phase modulation is a side-effect of the
liquid crystal material and is caused by its birefringence property. It yields a more or
less linear phase shift with voltage of maximum 2π radians at 532 nm. This phase
shift is used to introduce a phase modulation of a coherent input beam by setting a
voltage on each pixel of the modulator. In this exercise three different phase
distributions are used leading to a ring-shape intensity distribution, a diffractive
optical element (DOE) acting as a positive lens and a phase hologram respectively.
These phase distributions are calculated with Matlab programs provided. Also,
simulations can be performed using LightPipes for Matlab (Practicum version).
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENT
Experiments with the HoloEye spatial light
modulator.
Aspects:
Spatial phase distribution, axicon, lenses,

Theory to be studied before the practical session:

Pedrotti, Introduction to Optics, 3rd edition, chapter 17-5: especially Liquid-
Crystal Displays(LCD)

Equipment:
• Optical rail
• HeNe laser
• Several lenses from the lensboxes in the lab
• HoloEye LC2002 spatial light modulator + power supply
• Extra VGA monitor
• VGA splitter + power supply
• 2 ”thick” VGA cables to connect the extra monitor and the student’s
laptop to the splitter
• 1 “thin” VGA cable to connect the HoloEye LC2002 to the splitter
• White screen + alignment screen with hole.
• Ruler + caliper
• Several Matlab programs
• LightPipes for Matlab (practicum edition) optical toolbox
Diffractive Optics.
Diffractive Optical Elements (DOE’s) differ from the classical optical elements like
lenses and mirrors because they are based on their diffractive properties rather than
reflection and refraction. When dealing with the traditional optical elements,
diffraction phenomena are considered as undesirable features, which influences the
performance of an optical system build with these elements and hence should be
minimized. DOE’s on the other hand, make use of diffraction to manipulate the
waveform of an incoming beam of light. Because of the nature of diffraction mostly
highly monochromatic and coherent light is used with DOE’s. The first application of
wavefront manipulation was holography. An interference pattern of two light beams, a
reference beam and a beam coming from an object, is recorded on a photographic
plate after which the recorded information of the object in three dimensions can be
extracted from the hologram by illumination with a laser beam. Holography inspired
people to wavefront processing in which the surface of a substrate was processed to
change an input wavefront into another form. In principle lenses and other classical
optical elements are all wavefront processors, but their functionality is limited to
relative simple actions. DOE’s on the other hand allow for more complex wavefront
manipulations and resulted in modern optical applications as ‘holographic head up
displays’ in fighter jets and recently in automobiles.
Nowadays the complex recording techniques using holography are more and more
replaced by direct writing micro-structures on substrates using computer-calculated
diffraction patterns, or as we will apply in this practicum: using electronically
addressed spatial light modulators (SLM).

Initial instructions:
1. Complex amplitude.
A coherent beam of light can be described by its complex amplitude
~
distribution: E ( x, y ) = E 0 ( x, y ) exp(−iϕ ( x, y )) . E0(x,y) and ϕ(x,y) are the
amplitude and phase as a function of the transverse coordinates. The amplitude
can be determined easily with screens or CCD cameras by taking the square
root of the intensity distribution. The phase distribution is much more difficult
to measure. The phase, however, plays an important role and can never be
neglected in optics. A lens, for example, will change the phase distribution but
leaves the amplitude distribution unaltered.
2. Phase distribution of a lens.
The phase distribution of a coherent monochromatic light beam after passing a
lens can be calculated by considering the optical paths of rays through the
lens.
 ∆0
∆01 ∆02

r θ
R1>0 Focal point

R2<0

The phase can be found by calculating the optical path of a ray parallel to and
at r above the optical axis. It is (glass + air):
ϕ (r ) = k 0 n∆(r ) + k 0 (∆ 0 − ∆(r ) ) = k 0 ∆ 0 + k 0 (n − 1)∆ (r ) , with:
2π
∆(r ) = ∆ 01 −  R1 − R1 − r 2  + ∆ 02 −  (− R2 ) − R2 − r 2  , and k 0 =
2 2
,
    λ0
the propagation constant in vacuum. This can be approximated (by expanding
 1 1  r2 r2
the square roots) to: ϕ (r ) = − k 0 (n − 1) −  = −k 0 , with
 R1 R2  2 2f
 1 1 
f −1
≡ (n − 1) −  , the ‘lens-makers formula’ for the focal length of a
 R1 R2 
thin lens. Note the sign conventions for the lens radii. (The constant phase,
k 0 n∆ 0 is not relevant and can be neglected.) This formula is used in the
Matlab programs and is executed by the LightPipes for Matlab
‘F=LPLens(f,0,0,F)’ command, which inserts a lens at the optical axis in the
field (complex amplitude) F .
r
The ray-angle with the optical axis is: θ (r ) = − . So, as expected, all rays
f
point to a single point on the optical axis, the focal point of the lens. The
approximation made holds for rays close to the optical axis (small angles) and
is called the ‘paraxial approximation’. If the approximation is not valid, we are
dealing with (spherical) aberration and the rays to far from the axis will not
pass through the paraxial focal point.
3. Phase distribution of an axicon.
An axicon is a conical optical element as shown in the figure below.
 n

Φ θ(r)

To find the phase distribution and the ray-angles, θ(r), after passage through
the axicon, a similar calculation as with the lens can be performed. Calculate
the phase distribution (paraxial approximation) and show that the ray-angles
Φ
are given by: θ (r ) = (n − 1)α , with α = 90° − , the sharp angle of the axicon
2
and n the refractive index of the axicon material.
4. Connection of the HoloEye spatial light modulator (SLM) to your laptop.
The HoloEye SLM can be operated by your laptop by simply connecting it to
the extra VGA port on your laptop (normally used for beamers). The set-up
you use is shown in figure 1.

HoloEye LC 2002
spatial light modulator

screen f=200 - f=100 -

600mm 300mm
f=10mm

HeNe laser

laptop extra
monitor

in out 1 out 2
VGA splitter

Fig. 1. Set-up of the experiments with the SLM.

You have to set your laptop in ‘dual monitor’ mode. This is probably done by
pressing the ‘F8’ key a few times. Furthermore the second monitor must be set
to 800 x 600 pixels with 256 bit color depth. This can be done by running your
 graphics driver software on your PC. Probably it can be accessed by left-
clicking on your desktop. The voltage on the LCD pixels is proportional to the
gray levels (0-255) of the image displayed on the HoloEye ‘second monitor’.
Once the HoloEye has been connected to your laptop you should plug-in the
power supply cable of the HoloEye. A splitter and an extra VGA monitor is
used to display a copy of the picture send to the HoloEye. Run the Matlab
‘Axicon.m’ program to test the SLM. A ring should appear in the focus of the
lens placed behind the SLM. Sometimes it is necessary to un-plug the power
cable and to plug it in again to reset the SLM.

Assignment 1. Determination of the pixel spacing of the

LC2002.
Build the setup shown in figure 1 (lenses mentioned are an indication. Experiment to
find the optimal configuration of your set-up).
1. Start with the HeNe laser. It must be aligned parallel to the optical rail.
2. Place the 10mm lens of the beam expander and adjust its position such that the
expanded beam does not deflect.
3. Place the 300mm lens of the beamexpander and verify that the expanded beam
does not deflect and is not diverging or converging. Check the distance
between the 300 and 10 mm lenses. What distance do you expect?
4. Place the HoloEye modulator such that the beam fills the whole aperture of the
device.
5. Place the 400mm lens behind the HoloEye and place a white or mm screen in
its focal plane.
6. You should observe an array of bright spots.
What is the cause of the array of bright spots? Determine the spacing of the pixels of
the SLM.

Assignment 2. Holographic Optical Element (HOE).

In this assignment we are going to make a holographic optical element which has the
same function as that of a positive lens. This hologram can be made in practice by
letting coherent light originating from a point source and that of a plane wave to
interfere as shown in figure 2. Of course the initial phases of the two beams must be
stationary, which is best organized by originating them somehow from the same
source.
 Photographic plate
Plane wave

spherical
wave

Fig. 2. Recording of a hologram acting as a HOE lens.

Once the interference pattern (intensity distribution) on the photographic plate has
been transformed into a phase pattern (this can be done by etching the surface of a
glass plate, i.e. transforming the gray levels of the intensity pattern into hills and
valleys in the glass, causing fluctuations in the local optical path lengths and hence in
phase fluctuations of an incoming beam of light).
As an alternative, the phase distribution of the interfering beams can also be
programmed in the SLM. The hologram can be compared to a Fresnel zone phase
plate in (see Hecht 4th ed., chapter 10.3.5) in which the λ /2 rings are replaced by
smooth cosine functions. Figure 3 shows a cross section of such a phase plate.
4

3
Phase [radians]

0
−3 −2 −1 0 1 2 3

radius [mm]
Fig. 3. Cross section of a cosine phase plate (red). The blue curve is a Fresnel zone
plate. (Here the plot must be considered as a set of concentric annular screens
blocking the odd Fresnel zones and passing the even zones or annular structures
producing a λ/2 phase jump from zone to zone.) f = 1 m, λ = 632.8 nm.
 π   r2  
The phase as a function of the radius is given by: ϕ ( r ) =  cos 
 2 π  + 1  ,
2   2λf  
where f is the desired focal length of the HOE lens.
1. Use the set-up shown in figure 1 but with the f=400mm lens removed.
2. Use the Matlab ‘HOElens.m’ program to verify the theory.
3. If you like, play with the LightPipes simulation.
4. A disadvantage of the holographic lens is that it has low efficiency because
there is not only a converging beam, but also a diverging and a plane wave
emerging from the holographic lens. Modify the Matlab program such that the
phase distribution of a thin lens is transferred to the SLM.

Assignment 3. Hologram of a 2D picture.

Here you learn how to make a computer generated 2D hologram using the so-called
Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm. This an iterative process in which Fourier and inverse
Fourier transforms are taken after substituting the intensity pattern of the input wave
and the desired pattern at each iteration step keeping the phase distribution
unchanged.

Input wave (here plane wave:

amplitude = 1, phase = 0)

Take 2-D Fourier transform

Substitute desired intensity

distribution, leave phase
unchanged

Take 2-D Inverse Fourier

transform

Substitute input intensity

distribution, leave phase
unchanged

Fig. 4. Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm to calculate a phase hologram. See the Matlab

‘Hologram.m’ document for details.

Try several examples included and see what happens when you increase the number
of iterations. If the HoloEye SLM is connected, you have to perform the 2-D Fourier
transform (line 58 in the program) optically to see the image on a screen. How can
you do that?

Assignment 4. Ring focus with an axicon and a positive lens.

A ring focus can be made using an axicon followed by a positive lens. In the focal
plane of the lens a ring shaped intensity distribution will appear. An axicon is a cone-
shaped optical element as depicted in figure 4. In this assignment we are
programming the phase distribution of an axicon and a positive lens in the SLM. This
will be done using (part) of the LightPipes optical toolbox ‘LightPipes for Matlab’.
The Matlab program calculates the propagation of a plane monochromatic wave
through an axicon and a lens. The phase distribution is extracted from the complex
amplitude and displayed in a Matlab figure. This figure, with gray values from 0
(black) to 255 (white) is loaded into the SLM and a collimated beam will be
transformed into a ring at the focal plane of the lens.
1. Use the set-up build in assignment 1.
2. Remove the 400 mm lens because a lens will be programmed in the SLM.
3. Run the ‘Axicon.m’ Matlab program.
4. Measure for various values of the top-angle of the axicon and focal lengths of
the lens the diameter of the ring.
5. Derive an expression for the ring diameter for an axicon with top-angle, φ, and
refractive index, n, and a lens with focal length, f.
6. Compare the measurements with the calculations. (Use a graph to present the
results).
7. Place the 400 mm lens back in the set-up and remove the lens in the Matlab
program (just put a comment (%) in front of the command).
8. Repeat the measurements and compare again with the calculations.
Remarks:
1. If the top angle of the axicon is too small, the ring will be larger than the
spacing between the orders of the grating due to the pixels of the SLM and
overlap of rings will occur. Can you derive an expression of the minimum
allowed axicon top angle for our 600 x 600 / 19.2mm x 19.2mm grid?
2. You can also simulate the set-up and compare with the experiments using
LightPipes for Matlab. Un-comment the appropriate lines in the ‘Axicon.m’
program. You must increase the focal length of the lens (f~1000mm) and the
top angle (~179 deg) in the program because of the limitation of the grid.
3. Besides a phase modulation, our SLM also changes the local polarization of
the beam. You can use a polarizer to enhance the contrast. Also rotate the laser
to change and optimize its polarization. Where must the polarizer be placed?
Can you give an explanation?
4. For those who are interested in modern optics: It is possible to simulate with
the ‘Axicon.m’ program a so-called Bessel-beam. (See Hecht Optics 4th
edition, chapter 10.2.7. The axicon method is even ‘more elegant’ than the
annular slit described in Hecht, because no beam power is wasted by the
annular slit). These Bessel beams do not diffract and have a constant beam
size during propagation over very long distances (several meters) in free
space. Simply remove the lens in the simulation by commenting the
appropriate command line (line 30). Now f is the distance where the Bessel
intensity profile has to be observed. Use large top angles (>179.7 deg) to get a
reasonable resolving power with our 600 x 600 grid. Try to observe the Bessel
beam experimentally as well by removing the 400 mm lens from the set-up.