SPATIAL LIGHT MODULATOR (SLM)-BASED OPTICAL ATTENUATOR

A method and apparatus are provided for attenuating an optical beam. The method includes selecting a level of attenuation to be applied to the optical beam. A pattern of on-state and off-state pixels in a two dimensional spatial light modulator (SLM) is selected such that the pattern will modulate t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors WAGENER, JEFFERSON L, STRASSER, THOMAS ANDREW
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
French
Published 18.02.2010
Subjects
ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
ELECTRICITY
OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS, OR APPARATUS
OPTICS
PHYSICS
TRANSMISSION
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Summary:A method and apparatus are provided for attenuating an optical beam. The method includes selecting a level of attenuation to be applied to the optical beam. A pattern of on-state and off-state pixels in a two dimensional spatial light modulator (SLM) is selected such that the pattern will modulate the optical beam to provide the selected level of attenuation. Finally, the optical beam is directed onto the SLM while the pixels are arranged in the selected pattern. The pattern is periodic along a first axis and symmetric along a second axis along which an intensity distribution of the optical beam extends.
Bibliography:Application Number: CA20092734130