Encoding fully-complex transmittance with coupled amplitude-phase liquid-crystal modulator

Abstract

We propose a holographic code for synthesis of fully-complex transmittance, which can be implemented employing a twisted-nematic liquid-crystal display, two linear polarizers, and a He-Ne laser. This simple setup provides a reduced phase range and amplitude modulation with significant variance. Our holographic code efficiently exploits this constrained modulation for the accurate encoding of arbitrary complex transmittance. Two experimental examples illustrate the good performance of the holographic code. © 2005 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers.