Preparing arbitrary pure states of spatial qudits with a single phase-only spatial light modulator

Abstract

We present a new method for preparing multidimensional spatial qudits by means of a single phase-only spatial light modulator (SLM). This method improves previous ones that use two SLMs, one working in amplitude regime and the other in phase regime. To that end, we addressed diffraction gratings on the slits that define the state and then we performed a spatial filtering in the Fourier plane. The amplitude of the coefficients of the quantum state are determined by the modulation deep of the diffraction gratings, and the relative phase is the mean phase value of the diffraction gratings. This encoding result to be more compact, less expensive and use the photons more efficiently.