2D beam shaping via 1D spatial light modulation

Abstract: Many emerging reconfigurable optical systems are limited by routing complexity when producing dynamic, two-dimensional (2D) electric fields. Using a gradient-based inverse designed, static phase-mask doublet, we propose an optical system to produce 2D intensity wavefronts using a one-dimensional (1D) intensity Spatial Light Modulator (SLM). We show the capability of mapping each point in a 49 element 1D array to a distinct 7x7 2D spatial distribution. Our proposed method will significantly relax the routing complexity of 2D sub-wavelength SLMs, possibly enabling next-generation SLMs to leverage novel pixel architectures and new materials.