Transmission-matrix-based point-spread-function engineering through a complex medium

Abstract: We report a method to design at will the spatial profile of transmitted coherent light after propagation through a scattering sample. We compute an operator based on the experimentally measured transmission matrix, obtained by numerically adding an arbitrary mask in the Fourier domain prior to focusing. We demonstrate the strength of the technique through several examples: propagating Bessel beams, thus generating foci smaller than the diffraction limited speckle grain, donut beams, and helical beams. We characterize the 3D profile of the achieved foci and analyze the fundamental limitations of the technique. Our approach generalizes Fourier optics concepts for random media, and opens in particular interesting perspectives for super-resolution imaging through turbid media.