Compact vectorial optical field generator based on a 10-megapixel resolution liquid crystal spatial light modulator

Abstract Vectorial optical fields have attracted great attention with potential applications such as optical micromachining, optical nano-fabrication, surface plasmon excitation, optical micro-manipulation, optical imaging and so on. In this study, a compact vectorial optical field generator that can generate arbitrary complex beam with greatly reduced space and optical elements is designed, constructed and tested. Based on a reflective liquid crystal spatial light modulator with 10-megapixel resolution, the generator can control the four degrees of freedom in the spatial distributions of an optical field including phase, amplitude, polarization ratio and retardation on pixel by pixel level. Several typical complex vectorial optical fields are experimentally generated and quantitatively characterized by the Stokes parameter measurement to demonstrate the feasibility and versatility of the compact generator.