Yuta Goto

Digital phase conjugate mirror by parallel arrangement of two phase-only spatial light modulators

In a conventional digital phase conjugation system, only the phase of an input light is time-reversed. This deteriorates phase conjugation fidelity and restricts application fields to specific cases only when the input light has uniformly-distributed scattered wavefront. To overcome these difficulties, we present a digital phase conjugate mirror based on parallel alignment of two phase-only spatial light modulators (SLMs), in which both amplitude and phase of the input light can be time-reversed. Experimental result showed that, in the phase conjugation through a holographic diffuser with diffusion angle of 0.5 degree, background noises decrease to 65% by our digital phase conjugation mirror.

Measurement of differential mode delay using reference-free low-coherence digital holography

In the mode division multiplexing (MDM) system, differential mode delay (DMD) restricts the quality of transmission. Thus, it is necessary to precisely measure DMD for compensation and system design. The DMD measurement method using low-coherence digital holography (LCDH) has been proposed. This method can obtain not only accurate DMD but also spatial mode fields. However, in this method, an SMF as the reference arm is needed and its length should be particularly adjusted to a fiber under test (FUT) for low-coherence interferometric measurement. We propose a DMD measurement method by reference-free low-coherence digital holography (RF-LCDH). In the proposed method, we generate a new optical path from the light emitted from the FUT, which is regard as internal-reference light. The proposed method enables us to obtain DMD and spatial mode fields without the SMF as the reference arm by using internal-reference light. In the experiment, we measured DMD of a 10-mode fiber to confirm the basic operation of the proposed method. As the result, without using additional SMFs for reference arm, the proposed method achieved the measurement accuracy which was in good agreement with that of the conventional method.

Highly accurate spatial mode generation using spatial cross modulation method for mode division multiplexing

We propose a spatial mode generation technology using spatial cross modulation (SCM) for mode division multiplexing (MDM). The most well-known method for generating arbitrary complex amplitude fields is to display an off-axis computer-generated hologram (CGH) on a spatial light modulator (SLM). However, in this method, a desired complex amplitude field is obtained with first order diffraction light. This critically lowers the light utilization efficiency. On the other hand, in the SCM, the desired complex field is provided with zeroth order diffraction light. For this reason, our technology can generate spatial modes with large light utilization efficiency in addition to high accuracy. In this study, first, a numerical simulation was performed to verify that the SCM is applicable for spatial mode generation. Next, we made a comparison from two view points of the coupling efficiency and the light utilization between our technology and the technology using an off-axis amplitude hologram as a representative complex amplitude generation method. The simulation results showed that our technology can achieve considerably high light utilization efficiency while maintaining the enough coupling efficiency comparable to the technology using an off-axis amplitude hologram. Finally, we performed an experiment on spatial modes generation using the SCM. Experimental results showed that our technology has the great potential to realize the spatial mode generation with high accuracy.

Spatial-mode conversion using random diffuser and spatial light modulator for reduction of modal crosstalk

The mode-division multiplexing (MDM) technique enables the transmission of multiple signals within a multi-mode fiber (MMF) or a few-mode fiber (FMF). To construct an efficient and flexible MDM network in the same way as a wavelength-division multiplexing network, a mode conversion method with low modal crosstalk is required for switching between arbitrary spatial modes. However, in general, modal crosstalk is strongly dependent on the intensity pattern before mode conversion, and it is increased particularly for higher order modes. In order to reduce modal crosstalk, we propose a method using a random diffuser and a spatial light modulator (SLM). In the proposed method, firstly, the input spatial mode is dispersed uniformly by the random diffuser. Subsequently, the diffused phase distribution is canceled and converted into the desired spatial mode by the SLM, which displays phase difference between desired and diffused modes. Consequently, every spatial mode can be evenly converted into a desired mode. Here, we numerically simulate and confirm that the proposed method can reduce modal crosstalk compared to the conversion method without the random diffuser.

Reference-free holographic diversity interferometry via iterative measurements for high accuracy phase detection

To obtain a phase distribution without the use of an optical path besides an object beam, a reference-free holographic diversity interferometry (RF-HDI) has been proposed. Although the RF-HDI can generate an internal reference beam from the object beam, the method has a problem of measurement accuracy due to insufficient power of the internal reference beam. To solve the problem, we newly propose a RF-HDI via iterative measurements. Our method improves the measurement accuracy by utilizing iterative measurements and feedback of each obtained phase image to the measurement system. In the experiment, the phase image, which has a random pattern, can be measured as an object beam with a higher accuracy than in the conventional RF-HDI. To support this result, we also evaluated the wavefront accuracy and optical power efficiency of an internal reference beam in this method. As a result, we verified that our method enables us to generate an internal reference beam that has the wavefront of a near single plane wave and a higher power efficiency than the conventional RF-HDI. In addition, our method can be applied to measurement for the modal content in an optical fiber, atmosphere turbulence, etc., where it is difficult to prepare an external reference beam with a high coherency.

Digital confocal microscopy using a virtual 4f-system based on numerical beam propagation for depth measurement without mechanical scanning

We propose a digital confocal microscope using a virtual 4f-system based on numerical beam propagation for depth measurement without mechanical scanning. In our technique, the information in the sample target along the depth direction is obtained by defocusing the virtual 4f-system, which consists of two virtual lenses arranged in a computer simulation. The principle of our technique is completely different from that of the mechanical scanning method used in the conventional confocal microscope based on digital holography. By using the virtual 4f-system, the measurement and exposure time can be markedly reduced because multilayered tomographic images are generated using a single measurement. In this study, we tested the virtual depth imaging technique by measuring cover glasses arranged along the depth direction.

Improvement of measurement-speed by virtual optical-system for confocal laser scanning microscope

We propose a virtual optical-system for the confocal laser scanning microscope, which enables to measure tomographic images with the high acquisition rate. In our technique, by utilizing the virtual optical-system based on complex-amplitude detection, multi-layered tomographic images can be measure collectively without mechanical scanning.

Experiment on three-dimensional display using spatial cross modulation method with an optical random diffuser

We performed an experiment on a three-dimensional (3D) display using the spatial cross modulation (SCM) method with a single phase-only spatial light modulator and an optical random diffuser. The experimental result revealed the SCM has great potential to realize the 3D display with unprecedented high resolution and light utilization efficiency.

High-resolution and simultaneous measurement along the depth direction using virtual phase conjugation for optical tomography

To improve the measurement speed of optical tomography based on the virtual phase conjugation, a virtual measurement position control technique is proposed. Tomographic images were observed with high depth-resolution and high acquisition rate in the numerical simulations.

Optical tomography using a random diffuser and digital phase conjugation

We proposed a new technology for tomographic imaging based on beam diffusion and wavefront reconstruction through digital phase conjugation (DPC). The principle of this technology is highly unique and completely different from that of well-known optical coherence tomography (OCT) because it does not utilize the coherence property of light. In our experiment, it was shown that the depth resolution of smaller than 5μm is obtained when using the objective lens with NA of 0.42. In addition, we achieved the extraction of the information from a specific specimen among several specimens arranged along optical axis.