Broadband structured light using digital micro-mirror devices (DMDs): a tutorial

Abstract

Laser beam shaping is a venerable topic that enjoyed an explosion in activity in the late 1990s with the advent of diffractive optics for arbitrary control of coherent fields. Today, the topic is experiencing a resurgence, fuelled in part by the emerging power of tailoring light in all its degrees of freedom, so-called structured light, and in part by the versatility of modern day implementation tools. One such example is that of digital micro-mirror devices (DMDs), for fast, cheap and dynamic laser beam shaping. In this tutorial we outline the basic theory related to shaping light with DMDs, give a practical guide on how to get started, and demonstrate the power of the approach with several case studies, from monochromatic to broadband light.