Abbie T. Watnik

Reducing the risk of laser damage in a focal plane array using linear pupil-plane phase elements

A compact imaging system with reduced risk of damage owing to intense laser radiation is presented. We find that a pupil phase element may reduce the peak image plane irradiance from an undesirable laser source by two orders of magnitude, thereby protecting the detector from damage. The desired scene is reconstructed in postprocessing. The general image quality equation (GIQE) [Appl. Opt.36, 8322 (1997)] is used to estimate the interpretability of the resulting images. A localized loss of information caused by laser light is also described. This system may be advantageous over other radiation protection approaches because accurate pointing and nonlinear materials are not required.

Weak-signal iterative holography.

An iterative holographic table-top experiment is presented, where a recorded hologram is used to re-illuminate the initial target. With this beam shaping setup, more light is directed to the target for each iteration until a convergence limit is met. We experimentally examine convergence properties of this iterative hologram reconstruction approach for weak object signals and compare with theory.

Limits of bootstrapping in a weak-signal holographic conjugator

We explore the effect of noise on the energy convergence for extremely weak signals in the object field of a holographic experiment. The impact of noise for the energy-on-target in the iterative, bootstrapping process of a holographic phase conjugator system is theoretically derived to obtain a recursive analytical solution. Theoretical results are compared with numerical simulations for a weak-signal holographic conjugator.

Dynamic holography for extended object beam shaping

We describe a laboratory experiment to improve the energy-on-target for an extended object. We utilize an iterative approach combining digital holography for detection and SLM beam shaping for object re-illumination. We developed a technique to modify the SLM phase to prevent oversharpening of glints and other high intensity return signal points that cause the beam to collapse to a single point with further iterations. Instead, the gain is increased as more light uniformly hits the intended target with each iteration. We present laboratory results to verify this approach and demonstrate the increased gain resulting from this dynamic beam-shaping.

Experimental observations of a laser suppression imaging system using pupil-plane phase elements

To help diminish the undesirable effects of laser irradiation on an imaging sensor, a pupil-plane phase element was introduced to broaden the point spread function, thereby reducing the focused laser irradiance. A sharpened image was subsequently restored via Wiener deconvolution. Successful experimental demonstrations employing a spatial light modulator in the pupil plane are reported for the vortex, axicon, and cubic phase. Furthermore, to circumvent information loss owing to zero values in the modulation transfer function, we demonstrate how images with different phase elements, combined with a joint deconvolution operation, provide an improved image.

Machine learning approach to OAM beam demultiplexing via convolutional neural networks

Orbital angular momentum (OAM) beams allow for increased channel capacity in free-space optical communication. Conventionally, these OAM beams are multiplexed together at a transmitter and then propagated through the atmosphere to a receiver where, due to their orthogonality properties, they are demultiplexed. We propose a technique to demultiplex these OAM-carrying beams by capturing an image of the unique multiplexing intensity pattern and training a convolutional neural network (CNN) as a classifier. This CNN-based demultiplexing method allows for simplicity of operation as alignment is unnecessary, orthogonality constraints are loosened, and costly optical hardware is not required. We test our CNN-based technique against a traditional demultiplexing method, conjugate mode sorting, with various OAM mode sets and levels of simulated atmospheric turbulence in a laboratory setting. Furthermore, we examine our CNN-based technique with respect to added sensor noise, number of photon detections, number of pixels, unknown levels of turbulence, and training set size. Results show that the CNN-based demultiplexing method is able to demultiplex combinatorially multiplexed OAM modes from a fixed set with >99% accuracy for high levels of turbulence-well exceeding the conjugate mode demultiplexing method. We also show that this new method is robust to added sensor noise, number of photon detections, number of pixels, unknown levels of turbulence, and training set size.

Large angle nonmechanical laser beam steering at 4.6 μm using a digital micromirror device

Abstract. Large angle, nonmechanical beam steering is demonstrated at 4.62  μm using the digital light processing technology. A 42-deg steering range is demonstrated, limited by the field-of-view of the recollimating lens. The measured diffraction efficiency is 8.1% on-axis and falls-off with a sin2 dependence with the steering angle. However, within the 42-deg steering range, the power varied less than 25%. The profile of the steered laser beam is Gaussian with a divergence of 5.2 mrad. Multibeam, randomly addressable beam steering, is also demonstrated.

Incoherent imaging in the presence of unwanted laser radiation: vortex and axicon wavefront coding

Abstract. Vortex and axicon phase masks are introduced to the pupil plane of an imaging system, altering both the point spread function and optical transfer function for monochromatic and broadband coherent and incoherent light. Each phase mask results in the reduction of the maximum irradiance of a localized coherent laser source, while simultaneously allowing for the recovery of the incoherent background scene. We describe the optical system, image processing, and resulting recovered images obtained through this wavefront encoding approach for laser suppression.

Wavelength agile nonmechanical laser beam steering from Fresnel zone plates imprinted on a liquid crystal spatial light modulator

Abstract. Multibeam, multicolor, large-angle beam-steering is demonstrated in the visible spectral region by imprinting Fresnel zone plates (FZP) on a liquid crystal spatial light modulator. Spectral dispersion, both diffractive and refractive, is observed but does not prevent the use of this technology for beam steering applications. The experimental results show that while diffractive dispersion dominates over refractive dispersion, wavelength-specific FZPs can be rendered to direct those beams on target, either simultaneously or consecutively. Only a slight correction in the FZP positon is necessary to compensate for refractive dispersion. The position, intensity, and wavelength of each beam can be controlled independently.

Computational imaging for reducing peak irradiance on focal planes

A phase-only filter is placed in the pupil plane of an imaging system to engineer a new point spread function with a low peak intensity. Blurred detected images are then reconstructed in post-processing through Wiener Deconvolution. A Differential Evolution algorithm is implemented to optimize these filters for high SNR across the MTF. These filters are tested experimentally using a reflective Spatial Light Modulator (SLM) in the pupil of a system and successfully show the peak intensity reduced 100 times the diffraction limit. Results are compared to expected performance.