Recursive wavefront aberration correction method for LCoS spatial light modulators

We present two accurate and relatively simple interferometric methods for the correction of wavefront aberrations of about 3 wavelengths (3λ) in spatial light modulators (SLMs) of the liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) type. The first is based on a recursive use of a wavefront fitting algorithm in a Wyko™ interferometer, in which Zernike polynomials are employed as the basis functions. We show here that the successive use of only three measurements is required to obtain a peak-to-valley (PV) error as low as λ/10, with an uncertainty of λ/30, in the compensated wavefront. The second method makes use of the actual optical path difference (OPD) computed by the interferometer at each pixel of the image of the interferogram of the LCoS modulator (LCoS-M). From numerical interpolation of these OPD values we were able to assign the required OPD compensation at each pixel of the LCoS-M. With this method, PV errors of the compensated wavefront as low as λ/16, with an uncertainty of λ/30, were obtained for the entire LCoS-M, or of λ/33 for the disk that we used as the domain of the Zernike polynomials in the first method.

Research highlights► High aberrations can be compensated on an LCoS with a phase-modulated grating. ► There is no need to spend the whole phase modulation depth to correct the LCoS. ► There is no need of high optical quality polarizers to use with the LCoS. ► It is easy to adjust the amplitude of the corrected wavefront.