Inverted Gabor holography principle for tailoring arbitrary shaped three-dimensional beams

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel wavefront shaping technique using inverted Gabor holography to create arbitrary three-dimensional light intensity paths, surpassing traditional limited modulation methods.

Contribution

The authors present a general wavefront shaping method that enables arbitrary 3D light intensity profiles through hologram contrast inversion, including intensity switching-off.

Findings

Successfully simulated arbitrary 3D light paths.

Experimental validation of the holographic method.

Demonstrated control over intensity and phase distribution.

Abstract

It is well known that by modifying the wavefront in a certain manner, the light intensity can be turned into a certain shape. However, all known light modulation techniques allow for limited light modifications only: focusing within a restricted region in space, shaping into a certain class of parametric curves along the optical axis or bending described by a quadratic-dependent deflection as in the case of Airy beams. We show a general case of classical light wavefront shaping that allows for intensity and phase redistribution into an arbitrary profile including pre-determined switching-off of the intensity. To create an arbitrary three-dimensional path of intensity, we represent the path as a sequence of closely packed individual point-like absorbers and simulate the in-line hologram of the created object set; when such a hologram is contrast inverted, thus giving rise to a diffractor, it creates the pre-determined three-dimensional path of intensity behind the diffractor under illumination. The crucial parameter for a smooth optical path is the sampling of the predetermined curves, which is given by the lateral and axial resolution of the optical system. We provide both, simulated and experimental results to demonstrate the power of this novel method.