High speed spatial light modulators with analogue phase control for next generation imaging, photonics, and laser manufacturing

用于下一代成像、光子学和激光制造的具有模拟相位控制的高速空间光调制器

基本信息

批准号：
EP/M016218/1
负责人：
Timothy Wilkinson
金额：
$ 42.9万
依托单位：
University of Cambridge
依托单位国家：
英国
项目类别：
Research Grant
财政年份：
2015
资助国家：
英国
起止时间：
2015 至无数据
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FM016218%2F1
关键词：
speed spatial light modulators analogue

项目摘要

Liquid crystal (LC) technology has become a dominant force in the displays market. To date, a lot of research and development has been focussed in optimising the LC material properties for displays; however, there are an increasing number of other non-display applications that could benefit from LC technology if it were used to modulate the phase of the light rather than its intensity. Specifically, a dynamic optical element based upon LC technology that can modulate the phase rapidly and with analogue control will be of significant importance in the development of next-generation adaptive optics (AO) for a range of technologies whereby aberration correction and/or dynamic parallelisation are required. Notable advances have already been made using AO in areas such as microscopy, optical tweezing, holographic projection, and laser machining. For example, AO is expanding the capabilities of biomedical microscopy by enabling imaging of biological process in thick and even live tissue specimens, through compensation of aberrations. Such research is now being extended to super-resolution microscopy, which reveals cellular structures an order of magnitude lower than the diffraction limit. AO devices are also used for opto-genetics and photo-activation, where it is necessary to reconfigure 3D light fields at high speeds so that specific cells can be selectively activated. New and improved LC devices would therefore enable a range of research that underpins the life and medical sciences. Equally, adaptive control of ultra-fast lasers for optical nano-fabrication would benefit considerably from new LC technology, allowing pulse shaping and parallelisation at high speeds to be realised, supporting future advances in high-value manufacturing. The potential of using dynamic optical elements, such as LC devices, in all of these applications is well substantiated, but current performance is constrained by the switching speeds and/or phase modulation capabilities of the display-type devices. Increasing device speed will satisfy an as-yet unmet demand from these applications and could enable a greater impact in all of these application areas. Moreover, the development of a new fast-switching SLM with analogue phase control may potentially pave the way to new application spaces that are yet to be realised.

液晶（LC）技术已成为展示市场中的主要力量。迄今为止，许多研究和开发都集中在优化显示屏的LC材料特性上。但是，如果使用LC技术来调节光的阶段而不是其强度，则越来越多的其他非发挥应用程序可以从LC技术中受益。具体而言，基于LC技术的动态光学元素可以快速调节相位并通过模拟控制对一系列技术的下一代自适应光学器件（AO）的发展至关重要需要。已经在显微镜，光学镊子，全息投影和激光加工等区域中使用AO取得了显着进步。例如，AO通过补偿像差的补偿，通过启用厚甚至活组织样品的生物过程成像来扩展生物医学显微镜的能力。现在，此类研究已扩展到超分辨率显微镜，该显微镜揭示了细胞结构比衍射极限低的数量级。 AO设备还用于光学生物和光激活，在此需要高速重新配置3D光场，以便可以选择性地激活特定的细胞。因此，新的和改进的LC设备将使一系列研究能够为生活和医学科学提供支持。同样，对光学纳米制作的超快速激光器的自适应控制将从新的LC技术中受益匪浅，从而可以实现高速脉冲成型和并行化，从而支持高价值制造业的未来进步。在所有这些应用程序中，使用动态光学元素（例如LC设备）的潜力得到了充分证实，但是当前的性能受到显示型设备的开关速度和/或相位调制功能的限制。设备速度的提高将满足这些应用程序尚未满足的需求，并可以在所有这些应用领域中产生更大的影响。此外，开发具有模拟相位控制的新快速开关SLM可能有可能为尚待实现的新应用空间铺平道路。